Since we moved back to Knoxville last spring, I have been toying around with various hobbies, old and new.
I spent an afternoon messing with Sculpey clay and the molds I bought nearly twenty years ago, before I got frustrated with my rusty skills and decided I’m not into Sculpey anymore. I bought a bunch of pastel colored blank note cards, a few new rubber stamps to use with my old ones, and colored pencils. I stamped and colored a couple of cards over a few days and decided my heart wasn’t in that anymore either, though I plan to eventually use my teeny tiny bumblebee stamp on the remaining ones because I can finish all the cards I have left one evening while watching TV.
My mom is teaching me how to knit. I’m still undecided on that because although I am having trouble grasping it when I’m home alone, I do fine when I’m in the room with her because she sits right next to me and exclaims “NO!”, “NO!”, “NO!”, and “Oh, that’s it! You’ve got it!”. That keeps me on track pretty well. I wonder why. (That made me laugh.)
I signed up for a library card and got active on Goodreads so I can keep track of what I want to read. I promptly signed up for a 2018 Reading Challenge and made a goal of twenty-six books for this year. If I even get close I’ll be so proud of myself because that total is higher than the number of books than I have read in the last ten years put together, seriously (No time + different priorities). I have read two books in the last three weeks so I’m off to a great start. Making time to read again feels good.
Finally and most recently, there’s glass blowing. Last weekend Jim and I went to a local glass shop and we each got to assist their experts in making our own hand-blown glass. We got to pick the glass shape (whiskey glass for Jim, tulip-shaped glass for me) and color (blue for Jim, red for me), and it wasn’t long before we were standing in the fierce heat of the work area. We have been to this shop many times and always hang out watching the artists work because it’s so fascinating.
Oh wait. People hang out and watch the glass being made.
Having an audience was not something I remembered about until it was time to get started, and I was very nervous about having so many eyes on me while dealing with hot glass for the very first time ever . My butterflies went away immediately after being handed the rod with hot glass on the end though, so I highly recommend this method for all of you who get stage fright. It’s amazing what concentrating on slowly turning a rod so the glass doesn’t flop onto the floor will do to put you at ease regarding spectators. I didn’t think to ask Jim to take pictures when it was my turn so here’s Jim in the middle of the process!
We had a great time and apparently I’m continuing my streak of falling in love with really expensive things (my mom always said I had “excellent taste” when she took the young me shopping) because glassblowing is a pricey hobby I can, unfortunately, totally see myself doing! (Sigh.) The two of us will probably take a multi-week class at some point in the future or at least go in again for a quick glass workshop like we did last weekend. For now I’ll just sit and stare at our latest creations while trying to figure out the next potential hobby I’d like to try.
2 Comments
DIANE D LANG
They’re beautiful!
MelisaLW
Thanks! I want to go back and try again so my glass is REALLY red. But I like the swirls on this one!