It’s great to have time finally for your old hobbies. After a few months, though, they can get stale. Well, why not look at your old hobby and see if you can find new hobbies that are related?
No, it’s not an illness, though my husband may disagree! From childhood I sewed, and when we moved to Vermont, it was time to try quilting. That was fun for quite a while. I was still quilting when I joined a local fiber arts group. After about a year they finally got me to try spinning on a wheel. I really took to it. Trouble was, I soon had all this yarn and nothing to do with it!
So I got a book and learned how to knit. That helped some but by now I was getting going on my rate of production. Hence, weaving. Surely weaving would take up a lot of yarn!
Weaving took up time, space and some money. And I love doing it when I have a day or two to set up the loom. That’s the most intensive part. Then it’s just weaving when there’s time, and that’s pleasant and productive.
I made curtains, dishtowels, placemats, scarves and even just fabric, because I do sew, and a light blanket once. But most of my yarn was too fat to weave with decently.
About then I found out about dyeing wool. The first thing I found out was that it was fun. The second thing was that my husband, whose perennially stuffy nose can detect zucchini fumes in parts per billion, would not stand for the smell of wet wool, however clean.
So, bowing to his allergies and sensitivity, I developed a way to do it all on the deck and dry it where it would not offend. By that time I’d learned not only to buy prepared wool to dye and spin, but also to buy a fleece and prepare it by hand. That takes time and lots of water and it’s smelly work even outdoors. Then I learned to card and comb it. That took care of Vermont summer weekends, if it didn’t rain.
Having joined a handspinner’s organization I could go to biennial weekends full of workshops. They teach spinners how to do fancy knitting, felted rugmaking, nuno felting, rigid heddle weaving, dyeing with plant-based dyes, how to run a drop spindle… They haven’t yet run out of tricks. I’ve run out of time though. At least till I retire.
From making yarn on a spinning wheel I’ve gone and at least tried a host of related skills and there are more to be attempted. Plus I’ve begun to put my sewing and quilting skills back into play making bags and organizers for the tools. The one thing I won’t do is have livestock of any kind, though I know people who enjoy raising sheep, goats and angora rabbits.
Here’s a few ideas about things to do and where they can lead.
Make a list of things you like to do and then, as you think of them or find out more, write down what possibilities exist. Even watching TV could lead to activity! Imagine that. People love to read reviews of shows that you could write as well as the next person.
In retirement we have that most wonderful resource, time. Time to explore and widen our worlds through hobbies and pastimes that were once limited to “spare time.” So make the most of it and see where it takes you.
What hobbies and interests can you grow into other things?