Hobby - 31 Things Day 27

I couldn’t live without my hobbies. Andrés says I have “too many”, but I can’t comprehend how someone can have too many hobbies. Really.

Growing up I considered reading and writing my hobbies, but now I feel like they are so integral a part of who I am, they aren’t exactly a hobby. 

Throughout high school I played sports: volleyball, basketball, softball, and softball again in college. I considered them hobbies at the time, something I did that I enjoyed (even if I was never the star of the team).

Two years ago I got into jogging. I could probably say that jogging is my hobby now, but I don’t always enjoy it, and lately have been avoiding it entirely. Isn’t a hobby something you enjoy?

Thirteen years ago I made a quilt for my mother-in-law with the neckties of her father, who had just passed on. It was hand-stitched and something I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I haven’t quilted since, but I enjoy dreaming about the quilts I would like to make.

I started stamping in 2002, and scrapbooking was a natural step from there, especially when Agustín was born. Scrapbooking is most definitely my number one hobby right now, although it is so difficult to find products here. Even white cardstock (good quality white cardstock) is a huge hassle. I absolutely love scrapbooking – I have always been a stationery girl, collecting and loving papers and pens and notebooks and stickers. My kids have definitely inherited this from me, and sitting down to do “obra de arte” with them gives me a real sense of peace. That is, until I have to sweep up the mess.

In an attempt to find a hobby that would be less expensive and more readily available in Ecuador, I decided to re-teach myself crochet last October. My Grandma Bauer had taught me when I was young, but it had been years since I’d picked up a hook. It came easily, then became unbearably difficult, and now feels easy again. I so love buying yarn, rolling it up into a ball, then scanning through patterns to find something fun to make. I love watching a piece of yarn turn into a design right before my eyes. I have even started buying patterns online and in magazines.

  

I would like to learn how to sew, knit, do embroidery and needlepoint. These are the next hobbies on my list. 

I enjoy hobbies. They make me feel productive and happy. They’re therapeutic and something I have always turned to to find motivation and release stress.

As I said, I couldn’t live without my hobbies.

Love. Love. LOVE.

Oh heavens to Betsy! Today I had to leave the house to get a passport picture taken (which the girl decided to photoshop - she didn't like my hair and gave me a whole new 'do, no lie! - and I was like, ummmm, you probably aren't supposed to photoshop a passport picture, but well, whatever) and the photo studio was next to my lovely yarn store. Couldn't go by without passing through, and couldn't pass through without spending the twenty that was burning a hole in my pocket.

I am beginning to see the love people have for yarn. Oh yarn! The lady gave me a tour of all the new yarns that had come in, and then I was set loose to look around (and they let me touch them!) and to keep saying, "Wait, just one more," when the lady asked me if that would be all.

So here is the stash I came home with, but oh in my mind I bought so much more.

Next month, next month.

Did you notice that I found a lovely use for both of my thirty-one bags? Yes, pure organizational happiness every time I reach in there to grab something.