During the warm summer months, you often end up spending your free time outdoors, whether visiting with friends, partaking in an activity or just sunning yourself on the front lawn. You don’t really need hobbies because you never really feel cooped up.
But that all changes when fall hits. For a person without hobbies, fall and winter can be a drawn-out, boring and soul-sucking collection of months, spent flipping through Netflix offerings and scrolling your Instagram feed.
Don’t let fall boredom take over. Try one of these easy-to-pick-up hobbies that celebrate the season and turn the cold months into an opportunity for personal growth.
1. Knit Something for the Incoming Winter
You can’t do yoga on the bus, for instance, nor can you tend to your garden while you catch up on your favourite shows. Knitting, on the other hand, is one of the rare hobbies that you can do while you do other stuff. And for those who think it’s too difficult, you have to see this – there’s an entire online community to help you get started, complete with how-to videos and forums. If you start in the fall, you’ll be able to have yourself a beanie or mittens by the time the winter weather hits.
Challenge Yourself in the Kitchen
What’s more satisfying on a cold, wet day than sitting down to a hearty home cooked meal? You can have that every night (plus dessert!) when you dedicate yourself to a cooking and/or baking hobby. Focus on a corner of the world that interests you, like Indian cuisine, or try a preservation project, like pickling. You can get into bread making, cheese making or even beer making. Or, perhaps, you just want to learn how to make healthy food. There are lots of ways to personalize this hobby.
Take Pottery Classes
There is something instinctively satisfying about moulding a hunk of clay into a useful tool, a feeling you’ll understand when you try pottery throwing for the first time. While this is not a hobby you can easily do at home, there are usually fall beginner’s classes you can sign up for. Just check your local rec centre’s fall schedule, or look up We Teach Me online.
Paint a Fall Scene
Fall may be cold and wet, but it is quite often beautiful. Capture some of that beauty by taking paintbrush to canvas on your very own fall painting. You can trade dabs of orange, yellow and red to capture the leaves turning, or paint the moody grey streets of a big city in the fall. Making art has also been shown to reduce stress, so if fall is a restless season for you, consider painting it out of the picture.
Sew Your Own New Year’s Outfit
This one is ambitious, especially if you don’t already know how to sew, but the reward is one hell of an entrance on December 31st. Cocktail dresses take some skill to sew, but it’s nothing you can’t do with a few months’ learning and a steely determination. Plus, if you don’t finish, it’s not the end of the world; just save it for next year!
There’s no reason to be cooped up and bored this fall. Grab your knitting needles, whisk, clay, paintbrush or bobbin and express your creativity.
Nina Smith