A Needle Pulling Thread

I've been feeling lately like I need some new skills. It's a thought that keeps floating through my conscious. There are things that I should know how to do, useful things.

I mentioned yesterday that I sewed on a button. The last time I tried to sew on a button was before I met Bryan, so probably ten or eleven years ago. The button-attaching was truly a domestic triumph. Sewing is such a stressful experience for me, but I would love to be able to sit down at my sewing machine and actually make something. I think part of this nagging feeling comes from the blogs that I read. I know some very talented people. (I know other talented people with blogs, but they're either private or don't have any examples of their wares on their site.) Lest you think I'm going all crafty on you, rest assured, I'm only interested in things of a practical nature.

Here's my current list of talents that I think it would be good to develop:

• Sewing. I would love to be able to mend our clothes, make simple clothes like skirts, hem pants without the use of staples or duct tape, you get the idea.
  
• Quilting. I think this could come in handy. I suppose it's really a subset of sewing, but I would certainly have to tackle these separately.
• Crocheting. I have crocheted for several years. I can do one stitch that turns into an uneven and gradually shorter, um, potholder? My brother gave me a crochet instruction book a few years ago (he makes beautiful afghans and scarves) that I think I need to dig out of my sorely neglected sewing box.

I guess that's all for now. They're in the same skill family, but distinct enough to warrant their own bullet.

My biggest impediment to gaining these abilities is my lack of time. I'm sure I could stop doing other things to make time. Things like sleeping and reading and spending time with my children. But I consider the first two to be vital to my sanity and the last one vital to my soul, so I won't be cutting back on any of them.

And this whole want of skills post raises the question: what would I do with them if I had them? Rather than serve as an outlet for my creativity (none of my creative tendencies flow in these directions), it would serve my deep-seeded need to be frugal. I really hate spending money and I would love to make the things that we have last longer if possible, even if I change their form. My sophomore year of college I had a pair of jean overalls that I wore out. I decided that I should save all my non-functional jeans and make a blanket out of them. So I cut up the overalls. And then did nothing with them. And that seems kind of wasteful to me.

Maybe I'll start with something small, like a potholder that has four sides of equal lengths.