Amanda and I have been talking during our Twitch streams of Stardew Badly about what activities we’re learning or doing as the Quarantimes continue, and we wanted to ask everyone the same question. What hobbies have you picked up or expanded during the Quarantimes?
I started to teach myself to sew in January and February after receiving a sewing machine for Hanukkah. My (and yours, too, maybe!) local library subscribes to CreativeBug, which has a massive video collection of lessons and projects in all sorts of creative areas, including painting, sewing, woodworking, paper craft – it’s really inspiring. So I used some of those lessons to sew napkins for the house, and repaired some clothes. Then: masks. So many masks.
I am still cross stitching but now I’m taking my finished projects and making pillows out of them.
I’m going to try quilting next, thanks to yet another set of terrific online video tutorials via my library and Missouri Star Quilt Company.
Elyse: I am definitely knitting a lot more than before. Partially all meetings are now calls which means I can knit while I listen and contribute.
Sarah: I stitch and listen to a lot of things, too!
Elyse: Also we’ve been fostering kittens. We did it last year as well but since I’m home I can take bottle babies who need to eat about every 3 hours or so.
Elyse: Hungry baby
Sarah: I think bottle feeding neonatal kittens every 3 hours counts as an intense hobby. How is there not a Girl Scout or Epic Adult badge for that?
Elyse: Rich and I split feedings so it’s not as bad. Also unlike human babies, once they eat they just pass right out. You don’t have to settle them. It’s all eating and sleeping right now.
We will have them for 6-8 weeks in total and the last 3-4 weeks are super fun because they are weaned and cute and fuzzy
Amanda: Resin art! It’s been a learning experience and I already need to buy more resin. It’s definitely a lesson in patience and you don’t quite know what things are going to look like until you open the mold.
Sarah: What are you making with the resin?
Amanda: I have molds of varying shapes and depths and right now I’ve been putting dried flowers in them. I’m experimented with color with disastrous results. Everything is just purely decorative 😛
Claudia: I’ve mostly expanded my “from scratch” cooking horizons, mostly making bread, and ice cream. I’ve also returned to some long-forgotten knitting and crocheting UFOs but no new tricks. I feel I have less time now than before, even counting no commute.
Shana: I took a beginners knitting class in January, and have been teaching myself from library books and YouTube videos since then. I’ve made scarves, hats, shawls, socks, and I’m finishing up my second sleeveless top right now. I’m hoping to tackle a sweater next.
My interest in my regular hobbies (music, gardening, baking) has been nonexistent thanks to a hot summer and pandemic grief. I’m really thankful to have a new hobby! I do miss the camaraderie of knitting with other people, though.
Sarah: Would you be interested in virtual knitter gatherings? I know there are some. Though approaching as a stranger is a risky venture on many many levels
Shana: Also, I’m so excited that’s you’re sewing, Sarah! I remember you were talking about that in December.
Sarah: I am excited too! Thank you! I have a book on hold at the library of some simple clothing patterns so I might try that next. I’m very very excited to try quilting though. I found a pattern I want to make for myself that is all cats.
Sarah: And I’m buying different fabric with books on it to make it. It’s rather on -brand.
Shana: CATS! And oh yes. I would love ideas for virtual gatherings. At least on Zoom it’s easy to run away if people scare you.
Sarah: I have been setting a goal to do at least one happy hour a month with someone far away. Perhaps you can reach out to knitting friends for a gathering of crafting and chat?
Shana: That’s a good idea. I do have a knitting friend on the other side of the country who would be fun to do that with.
Shana: Also, my sister sent me a bunch of fun fabric from Japan
Sarah: Shana. The noise I just made at that chocolate fabric, oh my stars and bobbins.
Amanda: Love the chocolate print!
Sneezy: I learned how to ride a bike, and I think I’ll be picking up acrylic again!!!
Sarah: HECK YEAH.
Carrie: That fabric is gorgeous!!!!
Carrie: It’s not a new hobby since I’ve been studying tarot for over 10 years, but I’ve been working my way through Mary K. Greer’s “Tarot For Yourself” workbook which is pretty intense and discussing it every few weeks with my tarot mentor. (And yes, I do readings professionally…).
Also we are fostering 2 kittens but they are older so very much less work than Elyse’s babies!!!
Does maniacally cleaning out closets and organizing things badly count as a hobby?
Sarah: Yup. It’s definitely cathartic!
Shana: Marie Kondo turned it into a whole career, so I definitely think it counts.
Sarah: For sure.
Carrie: I don’t think Marie Kondo would feel I did an excellent job – but the stress cleaning took up most of March and April before I settled down to tarot and foster cats!
Claudia: I was doing well re. organization but went back to my old habits — and feeling more enabled by the pandemic!
Elyse: I’ve been buying a lot of emotional support yarn.
Catherine: For me, it’s not so much picking up new hobbies as finding new ways to keep old ones. I’m someone who normally sings in a lot of choirs, and while my main choir still meets socially on Zoom I really miss singing in harmony, so I’ve been playing around with GarageBand and my phone and recording choir pieces, singing all the parts myself.
And of course, I’ve started gathering my friends fortnightly on Zoom for our Shakespeare readings, which are hilarious and fun and full of ridiculous props and silly voices (necessary when twelve people are reading a play that has 60 speaking parts). They are getting really international now, and include friends living in Germany, London and Taiwan, as well as Darwin and Melbourne, and I’m really enjoying having my friends from different parts of my life get to know each other.
(No time for other hobbies as those two are fairly big ones – and my work is, if anything, busier than it was pre-pandemic!)
Lara: I’m trying to teach myself how to paint with watercolours. So far, I’ve painted approx 287 cacti and that’s about it… I need to branch out (ba dum tish) into other flora soon…
Sarah, I would love to see a pic of that quilt pattern. It sounds PHENOMENAL!
Sarah: Oh sure! It’s this one – Pins & Paws.
Lara: That is so so cool!
Ellen: I had been saving up for an iPad for a while and I recently finally got it and I am teaching myself how to do digital art! I have historically been very much a classic art mediums person and not a digital mediums person but the ease of digital for sharing, making prints, etc was too much to resist…
Sarah: That is seriously awesome.
What about you? Are there new hobbies you’ve picked up recently, or older ones you’ve rediscovered? What sorts of things are you doing?
I wasn’t able to attend the _Festival du Roman Feminin_ in Paris in April. It would have been my first trip to France! Instead, I downloaded the Duolingo App and have been learning a little French every day, in preparation for when I can travel safely again. I can order a pizza, tell you your owl is attractive, and ask where the toilet is. The important stuff. When I practice, I feel hopeful for the future.
@Nicola O., I am nearsighted and can’t see as well up close when my contacts are in, so I can only cross stitch in the morning and with good light. It makes progress slow and a bit frustrating. Work has also been extremely busy for me since March so I’m feeling envious of people who have time on their hands.
Cross stitch is the one hobby I’ve picked up again during lockdown though. I made a small Harry Potter project for my nephew’s birthday and started a project for myself but it’s slow going (see above). I’ve also done a few jigsaw puzzles–living in a tiny apartment makes finding space challenging, but I salvaged a large foamcore sign leftover from a work event and it’s a game-changer.
My other major pastime is Animal Crossing Pocket Camp on my phone. I don’t have a Switch and this version is free to play, and I’ve put in an embarrassingly number of hours since April.
No new hobbies, as my mental capacity seems to be at zero and like others my reading has been a struggle for me lately. I have been spending more time on my current two biggest hobbies besides reading, which are cooking & baking and Kickboxing/MMA. I bought a heavy bag setup for my garage so I can practice every day and I’m pleased to say my technique and flexibility have substantially improved! It’s also my primary stress relief so when I can’t spar or do pad work with my trainer it’s a life-saver to have this as an option after work.
As for my baking, I don’t know if it’s improved but it’s gotten easier and faster for me, and I’ve been branching out into candy making and ice cream— my new project for Fall is to make homemade versions of Halloween treats throughout October, so red wine cherry sour patch kids and Twix bars here I come!!! Anyone have a favorite Halloween candy they’d like to see a homemade version of?
Like so many others, I started bread making with a sourdough starter. It started as practical as much as anything; making bread meant one less thing to go to the potentially plague infested grocery store for, and the aforementioned grocery store ran out of yeast for a while early on, so having a renewable yeast supply seemed sensible. Now, there’s bread and yeast on the grocery shelves again, but well, I’m not just gonna throw my starter out! We’ve bonded! His name is Globert! He’s not a true sourdough (I cheated by scraping together leftover dough from my last batch made with commercial yeast) and he’s prone to throwing tantrums if he isn’t fed every day even though I keep him in the fridge, but he’s mine and he’s a GOOD jar of goop!
I also dipped into the wild world of fanfiction writing briefly. Just a couple stories a couple months ago. But they went over well and I’m toying with plot bunnies for more. Particularly since original fiction is a struggle right now.
Also been bingeing the hell out of visual novel romance games. There was a bunch in that giant charity bundle from itch dot io a few months back and I’ve been working through them. Mission: It’s Complicated and Arcade Spirits have been particularly delightful.
I’m relearning my German and learning Danish for the first time, via Duolingo. Also, there are tons of old Western movies and tv shows available, so I’m doing Audie Murphy, Randolph Scott, etc. binges.
Late to this one, but I started card making. It’s like creating tiny pieces of art that I then send out to friends!
@CC Bridges-and you’re supporting the post office at the same time, well done!
@Karin reminded me of another hobby I’ve had for 12 years-Postcrossing! Sending postcards internationally is a great way to support the post office. It is pricey to send one globally, $1.15-but you send one and get one back from another member, not the one you sent to-so it is very random and lovely. I’ve become deeply interested in stamps since joining, many of the members enjoy stamps, and I try to find things they like. I realized that stamps are an art form all their own. Postcrossing reinforces something I know, but am always happy to be reminded of-wherever we live, we are so much more alike than different. We love our family, pets, books, movies-plus it’s wonderful to see what other people’s interests are.
postcrossing.com-can’t recommend it enough! I love getting physical mail, and having a fun postcard show up? Definitely brightens my day.
Ugghhh! I forgot about the postal increases-international first class postage is $1.20!!! This is why I always buy forever stamps 🙂
@SB Sarah
https://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/assets/images/storyboards/JaneAustenAtHome.pdf
It’s a kit. I bought a pillow kit, too. My friend is going to coach me since I haven’t made a quilt since I was in college.
@Denise – I LOVE this pattern. I’ve been looking at it for awhile now, too. Good luck!!