Sewing


What skill would you like to learn?

I user to know how to knit and sew but because of disuse, I lost the skill. Same thing happened to my sign language skills.

If I could, I would learn lip reading.

I don’t want to say I want to learn to swim because that’s a dead horse already. But it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to do so.

I would also like to learn cornering at high speed. Whenever I am out cycling, I slow down at corners when I am going downhill and lose valuable seconds.

There is rock face climbing that I would love to learn in preparation for getting to the highest peak of mt Kenya.

Academically, I would like to be better at writing essays. Writing better literature reviews, using search engines better to get the material I need.

Finally, I would like to learn to be a better writer.

About makagutu

As Onyango Makagutu I am Kenyan, as far as I am a man, I am a citizen of the world

20 thoughts on “Sewing

  1. I knitted, & sewed most of our clothing for years, & baked my own breads, too.
    I love to swim & took scuba lessons at one time too. If I could live under water, I would.
    As for sign language, I learned to spell along with a few signs, as my husband’s grandparents were deaf.

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  2. mother taught me and my best friends to knit when we were all about 10 yrs old. We were hysterically bad, but she left us to it, and I finally got good enough that I could make and sell woolly hats at craft shows. But as you say, the finer bits (how the hell do you cast on stitches???) have faded away.

    I can make bread, and my husband’s grandmother’s old treadle machine is my go to choice for sewing. Embroidery, until my hands started to fight back. I think sometimes we forget that there is a right way and a wrong way to do almost anything. I love puttying windows, and for years I split all the wood with an axe and a chopping block. That too is a skill. Mess up and you’ll pay for it.

    However. if you once had a skill, sometimes all you need is someone to show you how to get started and it will come back. The skill is there, just not the finer bits.

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    • makagutu says:

      You have done many things with your hands, Judy. I did embroidery too. Split firewood. I have not tried puttying windows.
      But I think you are right on relearning a forgotten skill

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      • I stopped knitting because we no longer have a TV. I can’t knit without having something else going on in the background. No idea why.
        You’re right, I never thought about it, but I do a LOT of handwork. And puttying windows is an exercise in satisfaction. (It also drives my husband crazy to watch me, because my putty knife is a butter knife =)

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  3. rautakyy says:

    I would want to learn proper medieval riding & horsemanship. I can ride and I have weilded a lance and a sword while riding, but to really master the skills would seem to need more time and dedication, than I seem to have.

    I know how to sew. I first learned it in the military. I served long before zips and velcro, so we had to sew dozens of buttons and this or that insignia all the time. Since then I have repaired quite a lot of my clothes and made a few sets of historical clothes. Some of it quite tricky, like the undergarments for my armour and some museum reproduction pieces too. How to knit, I know not.

    Sign language and basic first aid should be civic skills taught to everybody at school. I guess there is nothing for it; I need to learn the local sign language.

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    • makagutu says:

      I have never tried horse riding. I tried to ride a donkey and man, that donkey was something else.
      I can still fix a button, repair a hem line etc but knitting I think I will have to attend YouTube school but whence the time to do this?
      Especially first aid!

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  4. maryplumbago says:

    I have knitted, I paint landscapes and distress furniture to make it look old, made jewelry, sew and minor landscaping at my home. I would like to learn about plumbing and being an electrician. Since I, a woman alone, I wouldnโ€™t have to call a plumber then or an electrician. Ha. But I draw the line at roofing!

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  5. Nan says:

    Over the (many) years of my life, I have knitted (a multitude of garments), sewed (my children’s clothes),, baked excellent pies and cakes (per others’ comments), rode in horseshows (and won), was an excellent swimmer (won races, performed in aquacades), and have written a book.

    So what skill would I want to learn at this stage of my life? Unfortunately, the body would complain far too loudly, but I would love to learn kayaking. From what I know of it, the sport is not all that difficult, but it does take a certain amount of skill. And energy. *sigh*

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  6. renudepride says:

    My Kenyan brother, you are very ambitious and honest! Additionally, you are very talented already! Seriously, as for me, I would truly like to become skilled in lip-reading. However. being bilingual (Greek and English) too many words look alike when the mouth moves and comprehension becomes almost insurmountable! ๐Ÿ™‚ Naked hugs!

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  7. I have never been so good at handwork. I can’t swim, I simply sink. I tried to treadle the sewing machine but I lost interest. I am learning how to cycle ๐Ÿฅ and it is lovely. I want to learn how to swim in future

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  8. I think a lot of the stuff I do (or did) is partl;y because my mother was good at handwork, and partly because I was an only child, and there wasn’t a great deal of distraction at home. I learned to teach myself most things, including sewing machines and embroidery, because if I didn’t, no one else would. All of it has paid off, one way or the other.

    I do wish I had learned pottery. Something magical about turning a pot on a potter’s wheel…

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