Last week, while I was at knitting class, two young ladies joined who were just learning to knit. I was trying to teach one of them how to cast stitches on by herself, and the other gal was practicing knit stitches. It was nice to see some younger ladies taking an interest in the craft.
During the evening, the group was talking about skills they have learned: knitting, crocheting, sewing, baking, canning, etc. One of the group remarked that the 'old' ways are coming back into fashion. That got me to thinking.
Since the recession of 2008, the world has changed. My world definitely has. I will never be the person that I once was, who spent money on a 'thing' without thinking of how it fit into the bigger picture for us, aka our budget. I will never again go grocery shopping without a list and using sales to stockpile certain items. I know that I must put away money for my future, should I ever want to retire. I am no longer afraid to try new recipes in the kitchen, because I have learned that any homemade meal is less expensive than eating at a restaurant, even if it is steak and lobster. I make and can jam and apple butter, I can make bread, and I will always have the ability to make do with what I have in nearly any situation.
People in large numbers, are showing an interest in learning skills that were the norm for our grandparents. Have you been learning some 'old' ways to keep your family going, or have you been doing those things all along?
Still working on smocking a dress. My sister has taken up the knitting so far. And I"m looking at honing my sewing skills. We grew up with handmade everything for a good portion of my childhood - sweaters, dresses, toys etc.
ReplyDeleteI think these are skills that will come back into mainstream and have already been making their way back as ways to save money, produce good quality items and present the person with wearable hand-me-downs that last far longer than the synthetic machine made stuff.
I'm still thrying to teach myself to crochet, but I tend to do it backwards. I'm like finding my way, my mother made most of our clothes, hats. scarves, mittens,etc. I wish that I had kept all the sweaters that my mother made for me over the years!
ReplyDeleteMy DD loves to cook from scratch and bake too! She made split pea soup this week, along with homemade bread, muffins and cupcakes.
8I have known how to knit and crochet since I was a little girl. I want to learn to sew in the worst way, but I don't have a machine, LOL.
ReplyDeleteWe do a lot of baking and cooking from scratch, and I find myself looking through my mother's recipe box on a regular basis and making some of the old frugal recipes.
I would LOVE to learn how to sew - even basic things like fixing tears, hemming pants and making curtains would be SO (sew? ahah) useful.
ReplyDeleteI've been teaching myself to cook/bake in the last few years. I figure why pay for cookies if I can make em myself?
I'm 22, and I know a lot of girls who knit. Knitted stuff is super cute, especially the baby knitted things. I think that's why so many younger girls are learning. I need to learn!
ReplyDeleteI can sew, crosstich, bead and I tired to learn how to quilt. I tried knitting too but I just can't get into it. I friend of mine Rob can knit and does. I've been bugging him to tach me. My BF just bought a sewing box and sewed a few patches on to his bag, I'm very proud of him!
ReplyDeleteOh and I can bake and cook. Hoping to learn canning when I get a place of my own!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother spent countless hours teaching me to crochet & sew. I'm very okay, but I really wish I had paid more attention when she had the energy (and eye sight) to help me.
ReplyDeleteOh I've definitely learned new skills as I began to get serious with our budget. I taught myself how to sew, quilt, photography skills, baking bread & foods from scratch, etc... I think everyone should have some "basic" skills in life!
ReplyDeleteAs a student and then a single parent I've always had to be frugal. Now that the budget is less tight I'm still frugal as I save every dime for retirement. We've never been big fans of eating out - a good meal = one week's worth of groceries!! I guess my most frugal habit would be rarely buying anything NEW.
ReplyDeleteI don't have time for knitting etc (too busy reading lol!) but I know there are many things I'm going to get back into when I retire: making my own bread, sewing (I'm very good at it, just no time), growing a huge garden and so on.