Hobbies For the Old Woman Trapped Inside Me

Before I delve into my spinster witticisms, I must give a snippet of the two young bittie’s continuing catscapades. While walking to Tower District for a cup of coffee, we stumbled upon a handsome tabby—we couldn’t resist ourselves.

Although we could not lure him back to our small bungalow, our spirits were not completely broken, due to the cat infestation taken place at the empty house next store. We find ourselves frequently peeping through the blinds and watching them squander the vacant lot and our wee little spinster hearts; As of late, we’ve been a bit lonely and distraught over the absence of the youngest member of our family: Eliot.

If you have seen him, please call this number 867-5309

No need to fret, though. A brilliant idea came to me while I was grocery shopping today. My roommate and I have been wanting to create a garden in the back of our yard. While picking out various vegetables and herbs, I found this little gem: 

Soon our yard will be filled with cats, hopefully Eliot amongst them. We're not crazy cat ladies , we just love animals. Not truly. 

As of late, I have been looking into acquiring some new hobbies--something that will keep this old soul preoccupied after I graduate this coming May. Gardening definitely appealed to me (and soon, with the help of catnip, I'll be preoccupied with litters upon litters of cats), it's been something i've been wanting to begin for quite some time, but I could not think of many new hobbies that attracted me. Then, I  picked up a needle and thread. 

Sewing would be the perfect hobby for an old bitty like me. I was anxious to begin right away. I had several patches I have been meaning to sew onto an old ratty tat tat backpack of mine so I thought I'd begin there; one problem: I had no sewing utensils! Luckily, I only spent a few minutes fretting. Thanks to my bitty in crime, there were already needle and thread in the house, stowed safely away in her craft box. I began immediately. It took me a while the get the thread through the eye of the needle--shaky hands (how convenient for the blog)--but eventually it went through and I began threading some patchwork. I was rather impressed at how natural it felt. While threading away, I began to muse on the idea of a young adult sewing. The act seems a rarity among my generation and among society in general. It occurred to me that this new found hobby was another attribute in conveying the idea that an old, lonely woman lives inside these young bones. Although I am not spinning, per se, I am utilizing the thread made by my fellow spinsters, which, humorously, is another definition of spinster is a person whose occupation is spinning:

Here is where creativity lies, behind the wheel.

Before the wheel, these ladies (and perhaps a few gents) spun by hand, thread twisted between the palm and the thigh. This method was replaced by the wheel during the Industrial Revolution. To learn more about the evolution of spinning, click here. So thanks to my spinning ladies, I now have lots of thread to sew with! I must say, I have quite the knack for it. I also found it to be quite therapeutic (after about the fourth prick of the finger and slip of the tongue). Gardening or sewing or any "aged" hobby you would find your great aunt Barbara, doing are actually lovely mundanes that should be brought back to the younger generations. I should not be called an old woman, or a spinster, because what I do is considered old and atypical of a young adult female. Activities like this should not be excluded to the elderly and should not be discarded. One cannot point their finger and say that I am a crazy old bitty who lives alone (besides the other crazy old bitty that occupies the house) with her garden of catnip and  her band of felines and her growing patchwork. This should be considered a normality of being twenty-something, right? 

One last thing:

My first (but not last) piece of patchwork.