The Competence Project is growing by the minute and I’m nothing if not a joiner. Only I’m gonna make my own list, see. And I’m gonna put it right here, see. Right after I stop typing like this, see.
Ok, I’m done now.
Anyway, these are the skills I want to learn over the next year. Why a year, you ask? Mostly because there are some I need to research, some that are seasonal, and some I will need help with. I’m going to start with the ones I can do soon and then work my way to the long-term ones.
- Knitting–this one is underway. I can knit. I can purl. I just need to learn to bind off and I’m ready to do a real, live project.
- CPR–I’m signed up for class on the 30th.
- Making cheese–I haven’t done this yet. Can you believe it? This weekend, I swear.
- Making butter–this weekend. This one is a Lucy request.
- Baking bread–maybe this weekend as well but most likely after Thanksgiving
- Basic sewing repairs–Started today! Fixed a glove and a footed sleeper with a bag strap and ripped jeans left to do later today.
- Basic sewing with an eye toward eventually quilting–the advent calendar will be my foray into the use of batting.
- Basic sewing with an eye toward clothes-making–I have some fleece to make into cloth diaper covers.
- Cooking with meats–I have 3 oxtails in my freezer that I’m a little intimidated by.
- Cooking with beets and other root veggies–we get so many beets each year and only the baby likes ’em. There must be a way to prepare ’em for the rest of us.
- Make spice blends–I thought Gina’s idea was so cool that I’m totally going to steal it 😉
Eventual Projects:
- Grinding grain
- Eating from a container garden
- Saving seeds
- Getting certified in First Aid
- Basic woodworking–I’m talking making a bookshelf here, not anything fancy
- Oh how I’d love to learn to spin wool but I’m hesitant to commit the $$$ before I try it out.
- I may be ready to learn how to ride a bike. Then again, I’d just be happy if I could get a really big three-wheeler.
- Basic plumbing, like fixing a leaky faucet, clearing a plugged drain, that sort of thing.
There’s probably more that I’ll add, but for now this gives me something to work on.
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The costs to learn to spin aren’t that high. You don’t need a wheel (though that certainly helps if you’re going to spin any serious quantity), and you can get a drop spindle and some wool for under $30…less if you can find a used one. 🙂 There are also plans on the internet for making drop spindles out of dead CDs, but those are mostly useful for demonstrations; they break easily and aren’t well-balanced, so you’ll get frustrated quickly if that’s all you have.
I don’t know why I thought it was more expensive than that! Woohoo 🙂
I’ve ordered myself a drop spindle and some wool for early holiday present! I’m so excited!
You could get a really big three wheel and in addition to being more stable you could haul more with it. Just a thought- good luck!
I didn’t realize there was such a thing as an adult trike! Now I have serious trike-lust 🙂
A yummy trick to do with your beets: pickle them, lacto-fermentation-style. You’ll learn *another* new skill and be halfway to delicious borscht. Make some broth with those oxtails, warm the pickled beets in the broth (don’t boil the beets or they’ll lose their lovely color), add some cabbage or sauerkraut (‘nother lacto-fermentation project), potatoes, some dill and caraway, then top some homemade yogurt or sour cream.
Ooh, I’ll have to try that. Lacto-fermentation intimidates me a bit but I really do need to learn how to do it! It sounds so yummy.
Oooh. I am so flattered. Let me know if you need recipes. Now that I have emerged from my birthday/Thanksgiving blog hiatus I will try to post some on my blog as well.