What nice hobbies do you have? I fancy something new

[Ozgirl75]

I feel like I’d like a new and interesting thing to do - not something to excel at particularly, just something fun to do. I already go to the gym and Pilates and don’t have loads of time as I have older primary kids and a job.
I was thinking of something crafty? But what could I do from home? Or a short course and then do from home?
I need inspiration from your hobbies!

Mosaic?
Stained glass?

running
clay pigeon shooting
gardening
drawing/painting

A nice mix of sociable, solitary, energetic and peaceful 😊

I started painting a year ago (just got stuck in without a class) and love it. Relaxing and challenging all at once. Don’t need to leave the house so I can do it as and when I have time

Embroidery.

A friend of mine loves doing something called

Ooh sorry didn’t mean to post! I was trying to look up what it was called, but maybe someone will know. It involves bodging coloured wools into a canvas with a needle and making really beautiful pictures. She does it freehand, I think. Says she loves it. It does sound very therapeutic!

Clay pigeon shooting, weightlifting and kickboxing

Knitting
Painting
Sewing

YouTube is your friend!

Paddle boarding
Wild Swimming
Hiking
Climbing
Yoga
Embroidery
Witchcraft

I go for a full Mind, Body, Sprit approach to my hobbies! A bit of a versatile mix but it works for me

Sewing clothes
Decorative embroidery
Flower arranging lessons - did with a friend and really enjoyed
Painting - place local to me does painting and cocktails combined.

And also, tennis (not crafty but really enjoying it and great for fitness)

Photography, gardening?

I do wet felting. It's messy and you have to devote considerable time to it (meaning you can't just do it for an hour or two, you need a good amount of time each session). So I usually do most of my work in all day workshop sessions. There's needle felting but I prefer wet. I sew too but need a new machine!
My sister knits. She started out by going to a local course at a knitting shop and still goes occasionally but is good enough to do quite complex patterns. That's portable snd you can do it watching TV of an evening.
I also know a quilter.
There's loads of workshops out there. We've done wood turning (fun but expensive and I'm not going to invest in my own equipment), room diffuser and bath bombs, always do Christmas wreath workshops, and are looking in to pottery.

If you have a few £ to spend, Indian Block printing? Have a look at theartycraftyplace.co.uk/ (and never buy a birthday card again).

I learnt knitting during lockdown after being interested and sort of stopping and starting once or twice over the years. Didn't have to take any classes, just stared with a very simple pattern which was almost more like a tutorial and googled anything I didn't understand. I watched youtube videos of people slowly doing the stitches so I could copy.

I'm fairly good now, I've done a little bit of fair isle colourwork on a hot water bottle cover and I've knitted my 6 year old a jumper which he absolutely loves (a speckled purple monstrosity - it can be fairly difficult to find colourful boys clothes in the shops and he doesn't always like the girls styles so this is brilliant. He can have jumpers as gaudy as he likes :D). I've done lots of other things - scarves, hats, blankets for babies, toys, a huge throw for my parents... Part of the process is looking at different patterns (ravelry.com is great for this), imagining different materials, different colours etc. I enjoy all of the research that goes into making an item which is exactly what I want, but when I can't be bothered with that I knit really mindless recycled cotton dishcloths which always come in handy and are better for the environment than shop bought alternatives.

It's something which I can easily do in front of the tv, can do in little bursts or longer stretches and is portable. I take mine to work sometimes and knit on my lunch break or to appointments where I'm expecting a long wait.

I also like gardening as a hobby but am aware that it's not quite so easy. You need to have a garden and I prefer to do it in decent weather. It's satisfying to grow things from seed, but if it goes wrong they are just dead and all your effort is wasted. Knitting can be undone and fixed.

I love knitting and crochet. It's easy to take up and put down and even take in the car when waiting for the children to finish activities.

I've done a few woodworking courses and find it really absorbing. I learned how to carve things out of green wood and make larger things like benches. And knife-sharpening!

Quilting? Can pick up and put down, do a little or a lot, and can be as modern or as old-fashioned as you like.

Crochet
crewel embroidery
embroidery
tapestry
cross stitch
tambour
they all have millions YouTube tutorials

This is great, thank you! I love the idea of flower arranging, I hadn’t thought of that but I do really like gardening and that would be a lovely follow on.
I have knitted before and wasn’t very good but this was before the days of the internet <old> so I might be better with a handy instructor!
thanks so much, these are such good food for thought.

I taught myself to knit from YouTube in lockdown, it's very addictive once you get into it!

I like the idea of a hobby you can use to make nice things for your house. Maybe lino printing or upcycling furniture.

I also really want to learn tiling and plastering!

You could create yourself a cut flower garden. It doesn't need to be big and now is the perfect time of year to sow seeds.

Paint pebbles/ stones. Do mandala if not artistic.
Volunteering
Birdwatching.

I enjoy;

Gardening - currently revamping my front garden and get a lot of pleasure from it, and will also enjoy the results.

Bridge - I joined a local social bridge club 4 years ago (never played bridge before) and I REALLY enjoy it.

Dog agility - unfortunately had to give this up due to i) absolutely useless recall with dog and ii) arm/shoulder issue, miss it a lot.

Reading - love my kindle and use bookbub to download several free books a week.

Spending time with family.

Walking with a friend (and the dog).

I joined the WI, it's great if you can find a forward thinking group near you. I love the huge variety of things I've learned about and every month is different. We've done dance, curling, painting, learned about life on cruise ships, as a polar explorer, micro plastics, the shipping industry, loads of different crafts, and loads of other things too!