In what appears to be a new tradition, every other January we run this episode on Hobbies, one of our favorites. It first appeared in January 2019. Enjoy!
Perfectionism can get in the way of starting or enjoying hobbies. This week Shannon and Janine talk about their hobbies (and attempted hobbies) and share strategies for getting past perfectionism so you can enjoy your hobbies.
Discussion topics include:
- How every hobby Shannon’s had has been marred by perfectionism
- How perfectionism can get in the way of starting and enjoying a new hobby
- The fact that new hobbies usually have to be bad before they can get good
- How Shannon inspired Janine to start knitting fourteen years ago (spoiler alert: only one of them is still knitting)
- Process versus results in doing hobbies (like knitting)
- Janine’s 12-year adventure with Barbara Walker’s Learn-to-Knit Afghan
- Why starting a hobby by shopping can be a mistake
- How Shannon is managing to stick with her latest hobby: Learning Portuguese
- How guided lessons can help provide structure to make learning a new hobby fun
- Figuring what counts as engaging in your hobby when you’re starting out
- How frequent practice can make learning a new hobby easier
Links:
- Barbara Walker’s Learn-to-Knit Afghan book (tip from Janine: After you buy the book, take it to a copy shop and have it spiral bound so it lies flat)
- Janine’s blog post on finally finishing her Learn-to-Knit afghan (with pictures of the finished product)
- Blog post on how Janine organizes her yarn and knitting supplies
- Janine’s genealogy blog, Organize Your Family History
- Duolingo, which is helping make learning Portuguese fun for Shannon
- Memrise, which is teaching Shannon European Portuguese
P.S. During the episode, Shannon asked Janine what she was knitting. The answer, which Janine couldn’t share at the time, was that she was finishing a cat bed for Shannon’s cat, Cleo! She used the leftover yarn from the afghan and sent it to Shannon and Cleo as a surprise.
Thankfully, Cleo loves the bed. And we love her. So we just had to share a couple of pictures.
