Things old ladies do...

[scotpens]

RoJoHen wrote:

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I just keep envisioning a world without afghans, and it feels worse than Hell.

Yes, they're beautiful dogs.

RoJoHen wrote:

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I will say that, while I find the casual racism kind of funny sometimes, it's probably okay that it's a dying trend. Though how often to do you get to hear somebody say the word "Negro" in regular conversation?

Hey, when I was growing up, that's what you were supposed to call them.

[Spot's Meow]

Grey wrote:

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Actually, that's part of my issue! I have yet to sit down and crochet a whole afghan mostly because it just isn't that cost effective. You really need to buy all the yarn up front (to be sure the dye lots are the same and the color will be consistent throughout) and it's just...cheaper to buy a blanket or a sweater than to make one a lot of the time.

I really love cooking and baking but its discouraging to see how frozen, pre-packaged, or processed foods and ingredients are often cheaper than buying the fresh ingredients to make a dish from scratch. It used to be that making things yourself, whether food, clothes, or otherwise was economical. Now it's something I have to set aside because I can't afford the supplies a lot of the time!

I completely agree, it's really unfortunate that it costs me so much more to crochet a blanket than to just buy one. But, I really enjoy working with my hands, and I find the rhythmic motions of the crochet stitches calming and therapeutic. It took me a while to get the hang of it (I actually gave up for five or so years because I thought I just wasn't very good at it), but now the movements come naturally and without conscious thought, and there's something pleasant about that. Maybe sewing would provide the same feeling, but it feels like it would somehow involve more thought processes or careful attention.

[Rhubarbodendron]

I love doing all the old fashioned stuff Needle work, cooking (pferably using wild plants), crafting, you name it I do it. It's so much fun! At the moment I am rediscovering the art of preserving things without a freezer.

[Smellincoffee]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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I love doing all the old fashioned stuff Needle work, cooking (pferably using wild plants), crafting, you name it I do it. It's so much fun! At the moment I am rediscovering the art of preserving things without a freezer.

Like canning, making jerky, that sort of thing?

[Ood Sigma]

My wife, who is in her mid-30s, has been crocheting for the last 15 years. I gave it a try once, but I've never been good with knots/tying things and it was a complete disaster. I did do some cross-stitching once and it was kind of relaxing and fun (and much easier than crocheting), but I haven't done it for many years so it's not something that appealed to me enough to keep going. Plus, it takes a lot of concentration to ensure you are using the right color in the right spot.

[milo bloom]

My wife, upper 30's, started knitting and crocheting when our son was born 5 years ago so she could make wool covers for the cloth diapers. She's made several different things, with the latest and greatest being my Christmas present:



206579_10151522766090101_1640988944_n by mithmaster, on Flickr

[propita]

RoJoHen wrote:

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You must be great in job interviews.

[teacake]

Knitting and Crocheting never went out of fashion in Australia and I know many people in their 20's and 30's who do both. Yarn bombing has kind of taken it to the street and is an example of it's continual revival in new forms. In the last week I've seen 5 yarn bombs in the city and the suburbs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bombing

People also make jam and bottle (can) very commonly here, young single people as well as older people. If I've got a bunch of fruit that is not going to get eaten or about to turn I'll throw it into a pot with some sugar and make some jam (I don't measure anything, nothing has ever failed). I've had phases of doing tons of it, especially when I've had friends with laden fruit trees.

[T'Bonz]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Preparation of enough Christmas cookies to feed several armored divisions.

Not in our family. All 3 of my girls were taught how to make Christmas cookies and they all do.

Sewing. I sew, but 2 of my daughters have no interest in it and 1 is too frustrated by it (it takes a while to get past the hassles of sewing).

I can't knit or crochet, so once my mum is gone, that's it in my family.

Cooking - my youngest has a knack for it. I can cook, but I don't like to do so and so just do what needs to be done. She does fancy stuff and exotic stuff and great stuff. This was all self-taught. I don't make mini-cheescakes and such.

Pretty much, if the young ones get interested in something - they'll figure it out and do it. I don't think crocheting and knitting will ever die out. I do worry about sewing. Many more seem to knit/crochet than sew.

[Rhubarbodendron]

Bonzie, do you do patchwork/quilts?

Smellincoffee wrote:

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Like canning, making jerky, that sort of thing?

Precisely And drying, pickeling and candying. (No smoking, though - I live in an appartment building and my neighbours might complain)
I have only a very small freezer but a big attic and cellar where I can store a lot of food. And homemade jerky or pickles are so much better than the bought stuff (less sugar and atrificial sweeteners, mainly)

Btw, I also make my own toffees and fudges =) And traditional Bavarian bread (a sour dough rye bread with lots of caraway, anise, fennel and coriander) and baguette.
I'd be grateful for a good recipe for the (apparently traditional) brick-shaped white bread one always sees housewives baking in American TV series. It looks a bit like toast bread and I've always wanted to give it a try.

[Captain Ice]

RoJoHen wrote:

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With my grandma it has always been Hershey's Kisses, though in recent years she has taken to doing those little bite-size Dove bars.

With mine, it was always candied walnuts. She had a walnut farm not far from her house when i was growing up and the owner would let her, my Mom, and my aunt come over and pick through the leavings on the ground once all the nuts had been picked from the trees. So she was always making walnut dishes and candying them as well.

Gul Re'jal wrote:

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And putting IKEA furniture together is fun for me

I think putting together IKEA furniture should be a 400 level university course sometimes, but I also enjoy assembling TKD (Total Knock Down) furniture myself. There is something about being able to look at the finished product and know that you assembled it yourself that cannot be described.

T'Bonz wrote:

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Pretty much, if the young ones get interested in something - they'll figure it out and do it. I don't think crocheting and knitting will ever die out. I do worry about sewing. Many more seem to knit/crochet than sew.

Agreed. Even if every grandparent in the world sat their grandkids down and taught them all the different things they know (like whittling, baking, or car repair), these things would not stick with the grandkid unless there is a genuine interest in doing it. And if the young person is interested, these days there are places like Michael's where you can go and take classes.

For me, it's cooking/baking. A few years ago, I realized that one of the things that made holidays and special occasions truly special for us was my Grandma's cheesecake. So, with her getting older and less able to travel to attend a lot of these occasions, I sat down with her and asked her to share her recipes with us.

[trekkiedane]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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(No smoking, though - I live in an appartment building and my neighbours might complain)

While smoking, indeed, originally was done to preserve foods, these days smoking is mostly done for taste.

A 'grill starter' can actually be used as a smoker! (for smaller portions of course).

You light some charcoal in the bottom of it, add the moistened hay, place the things you need to smoke in a sieve on top and cover with a wet tea-towel... a couple of minutes later you have delicious smoked something-or-other AND it can be done on the parking lot of an apartment-building

[ladyheather69]

My daughter, 19, can knit, but hasn't for a couple years. She was taught in middle school by one of her teachers who thought it would be nice to teach anyone who wanted to know. SEveral of her friends also learned. She is too busy to keep at it now, being in college, but she was getting good at making scarves
Both my grandmothers made afghans as well, and I still use them to this day. I wish I had learned how to do that and maybe I will in the future.
My mother-in-law can crochet/knit really, blankets and has done so for her grandchildren and other babies in the family .
She makes a great spaghetti and meatball dinner,but I can't get the sauce the same as hers....I do ok, but not quite the same
My grandmother used to make homemade fruit pies from scratch-ah so flaky and delish!!! She also used to make chicken and noodles, not soup, just chicken and noodles, but no matter how hard I try, I can't get the noodles right.
Love my mom, but she really never did the sewing, knitting, baking thing, so unfortunately I don't bake cookies from scratch. I can, but they are just ok...I do make fudge during the holidays, chocolate, peppermint, white, but that's about it(I ususally just buy the cookie dough already make and plop them on the cookie sheet and voila! done )
I don't think these 'arts' are dying off yet, but with technology and the need for instant gratification, younger people don't seem to want to spend time learning anything that takes time away from their phones, tablets, tvs, etc.

[Rhubarbodendron]

Captain Ice, my mom made chocolate covered walnuts this year. Absolutely awesome, especially the ones with white chocolate! And really easy to make. She used whole walnuts (shelled, of course, but not split in 2 halves) and put them on a toothprick before covering them with chocolate. Walnuts on a stick =)

I'll make candied ones next month (gotta visit my parents first and replenish my walnut store. We have a big walnut tree that brought a record harvest last fall.)

Trekkiedane, thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I have no parking lot only a subterranean garage with a very sensitive fire alarm system. (I live in one of a row of penthouses on top of a shopping mall - it's like a small village on the roof). I could maybe do it on my terrace, but I'd hav eto give the neighbours a warning. It'd be unfortunate if they'd hang the laundry out the minute I start to smoke something.
It's interesting that you use wet hay to smoke things. We use sawdust from different trees. Beech and juniper are best.

[trekkiedane]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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Trekkiedane, thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I have no parking lot only a subterranean garage with a very sensitive fire alarm system. (I live in one of a row of penthouses on top of a shopping mall - it's like a small village on the roof).

That sounds great

I could maybe do it on my terrace, but I'd hav eto give the neighbours a warning. /.../
It's interesting that you use wet hay to smoke things. We use sawdust from different trees. Beech and juniper are best.

If dry it catches fire, so you give it a dip in a bucket of water and it is perfect for smoking, it is used Here on Fyn to smoke a (very) fresh cheesy thing called rygeost ~smoke-cheese. Some are particular about it and harvest stinging-nettles for this

A friend has an allotment kinda garden-place with a house where she lives half the year, when I call on her there she likes me to bring something we can either grill or smoke -and, yes, some sawdust