My rather girlie skill sets. :)

I have a couple of skills that I rarely use anymore, but I'd like to use more in the future. They were taught to me by my mom.

1. I know how to sew. I don't design anything, but I can follow a pattern like a mother f*cker. We had an old, avocado green sewing machine when I was growing up. It was the kind that folded down into a sewing cabinet that just looked like a piece of furniture otherwise. I was proud to know how to use it. There were no arrows on it directing you how to thread it like there are on my Kenmore. It also did not have a foot pedal. The sewing cabinet had a metal knee pedal, for lack of a better term, that you used to run the machine. Mom used to make clothes sometimes for herself, for us, even for my Barbies I think. I don't use the skill very often, though I have made lots of curtains over the years, and I can hem my own jeans. I'd like to make a costume or two in the future... just to test my skill, and feel like I made something. I really need to find my mom's electric scissors. I know that sounds useless... but OMG when you're cutting a big pattern they are the most awesome thing on earth.

Mother of all Blankets

2. I know how to crochet. Mom made a blanket of mine. It is wonderful... and wider than it should be. She made it for me while I was a Freshman in college... she laughed that it ended up being wider than she intended, and we affectionately named it "The Mother of All Blankets." I've made a number of baby blankets over the years. I made a blanket once in high school, and mom and I discovered that our crochet stitches (not sure if that's the proper term... stitches... but it'll do) were the same size. Most people can't pick up another person's crocheting and continue crocheting without it being noticeable where one person stopped and the other started. But mom and I could. I always thought that was pretty cool. I'd like to crochet again... I have a great pattern for a blanket, but I often feel like I don't have the time to do it. I don't sit in front of a TV for hours anymore, so it's hard to allocate time to just sit. But maybe it would do me some good... even if it's just an hour or two a week. It almost seems like it might be a kind of meditation to put on music, and just crochet.

3. I can cook. Okay... just kidding! My cooking style does actually come from my mom, though. The only vegetables I ate as a kid were called Del Monte. She had dinner on the table every night... but I know she wished you could just take a pill for dinner instead of deciding what to eat every night. I used to think "pot luck" dinner nights were so awesome! Now I see mom just didn't feel like cooking. :) I have to say when I do cook I do branch out a little more than she did... but my comfort foods tend to be a bit bland... old recipes passed down from a woman who didn't bother with spices. :)

So there you have it... a list of hobbies I feel like adding back into my life. I hope I can find the time. :)