Contest!

Step by step, FO's are dropping, flopping, plopping off the needles.

Yarn:  Judy of Smatterings, colorway "Dress Blues".  Yes, I was a rock 'n roll honeychile, and always think of it as Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
Needles: #1 Crystal Palace
Pattern:  simple st st sock;  20 rows of K2P2 ribbing, slipstitch heel flap, kitchenered toes

The snowstorms have been making life interesting.  Last Thursday, there were not enough hours between 5pm and morning to drive home, clear the driveway, sleep, and drive back to work.  Mr. E and I stayed in town with a last minute hotel reservation.  It was fun until the next morning.  Then I discovered that I had no comb, no deodorant, no floss, yesterday's socks and yesterday's underwear.  Sunday's storm was more fun.  The roads were too slippery to get out for a newspaper, so we cross-country skied in the cul-de-sac on the unplowed road instead.  I made a turkey chili, and found a good Cotes du Rhone to keep it company.  The volcano pictured below is a construction formed by a deck table, two storms, and two lazy shovelers who didn't. 

I will soon be celebrating a significant comment number AND a blogiversary.  Both events will probably coincide in January.  So, of course, I'm having a contest. 

I came to knitting and spinning later in life than most.  I learned to ski (both downhill and cross-country) after residency finished.   These learning experiences taught me wonderful things that have made my life brighter, happier, more colorful, more connected.

I don't want to postpone learning important new stuff.  The older one gets, the tougher a job it is to build the pathways in the brain that make skill acquisition possible.  The contest is this:  leave a comment with something you think I absolutely should learn while the brain is still young.  All suggestions will be random-numberized, and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from the Loopy Ewe.  I couldn't figure out a yarn or a colorway to please all contributors, so you get to choose your own. 

Please do not suggest crochet, quilting, bungee jumping, or learning to fly a small plane.  They are all equally dangerous in my world-view.  Those who possess those skills are far braver than I.

There is one other rock 'n roll reference in this post.  (It is not my name for the sock color.)  Can anyone identify the song and the group?

Comments

[Wendy]

Jefferson Starship, "The Baby Tree." I think you and I are of similar vintage. ;-)

Suggestions of stuff to learn? Learn to tat!

[Wendy]

But I still think of them as Jefferson Airplane.

[Carole]

I think you are much wiser than I and you already know more than I do so it's hard for me to come up with something else you should learn. Do you know how to bake bread? That's a very satisfying thing to do and if you've never done that then I highly recommend it.

[margene]

Yes, but Rosalie Sorrells wrote the song and she sings it so beautifully. Do you know she's from Utah? (We know her X.)
You should learn to play the guitar...classical guitar.

[Stacey]

Oooh.. I like the guitar idea. I'm doing that now. My suggestion is learn a new language. Russian, French, Italian... even Norwegian.
As a bonus, you could treat yourself to a trip to that country.

[Teresa C]

Heh, I will be coming back with suggestions all day. I keep thinking that I will take ballroom dance lessons (I want to be that couple at a reception that can really waltz or foxtrot), learn french and german, take photography lessons (I have no clue what my camera can do), go back to the voice lessons, play oboe. How is that for a start, we could do one together! Wouldn't that be fun? Oh, and Pete has me signed up for surfing lessons. I'm not into that one. Or scuba diving. You should definitely do that one!

[Caroline M]

So it's not just about learning something new but something new that will impact on your life in a positive manner. How about music lessons - you get that automatic link between seeing the note on the paper and knowing what your lips or fingers should be doing. If it's something that you can play in an ensemble then you add the social element too.

[Angie]

I'll repeat the music lessons suggestion and margene got here first with the classical guitar suggestion. I think that music and playing an instrument definitely fire up brain.

[Kate]

I think if I were you I would learn some sort of paper craft. I.E. Scrapbooking, card making, paper folding.

[Chris]

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas 12th hit for Motown: Honey Chile.

I think you should learn how to groom a fuzzy bunny. I might know someone who can teach you. Hee.

How about painting with watercolors?

[Phoebe]

I once heard someone say that if you don't learn to read music by the time you are three or four, it will never come naturally to you. I don't know if that's true, but I really wish I'd had music lessons when I was little. I desperately want to learn to play the piano, but I worry that it's too late (I'm 30). Oh well.

[Jan]

How to shear a sheep!

(Although I like the music-related ideas better!)

[Cheryl]

Ooh, this is a tough one, there are so many things I'd love to learn. Languages, photography, painting, cooking techniques, pilates, yoga, some martial art, massage, wood working, origami, that weird craft with all the tiny bits of rolled up paper . . .

[Sharon]

A new language. I'm a linguist and speak a few (Spanish, Macedonian, Swahili), and hope to pick up French this coming summer. Learning a new language, immersing yourself in another culture and another way of thinking, has totally opened my eyes to the world around me. You appreciate things that you take for granted - like, how most other language actually use "lunch" as a verb, not like us, or how, in Spanish, to give birth is to "give light", but in Swahili, it's "to be opened." The first born is known as "the opener"...hmmm. Anyways, learn a new language. It's a lot of work, but fun.

[Kristen]

the mere idea that my brain will be able to handle new information is comforting.

do you have birds that reguarly visit your yard? (I think so, but cannot remember...) If so, how about learning their birdcalls?
I second the bread idea - there's nothing like bread fresh out of the oven.

I'd love to hear about you and the Mr. learning how to ballroom dance, or tango.

(the rest of my list is things that I hope to attempt, not things to learn per se - writing a sonnet, doing the butterfly stroke, designing my own lace project and seeing it to completion, memorizing the "Cremation of Sam Magee" etc.)

[Chris]

Hey, you've got skiing to take you traveling to wonderful mountain tops, how about learning to scuba dive so you have exotic water vacations?

[claudia]

Play the banjo. That would be my answer, although the guitar idea is nice too.

Or a drawing class. But not naked folks since the human body is your day job.

[Siew]

I'm tossing my hat into the new language suggestion. Its one of those cognitive and hearing things that must be done while young. I can remember my immigrant mom, trying to learn "proper" English from her know it all daughter. I'd try to get her to correctly pronouce something and she would be sure she had said it exactly like me. We still tease her today of some pronounciations.

[Shanti]

I love all the music suggestions, but the first one that came to my mind was sailing. It's something I end up re-learning every few years and it's always such a great feeling, and one that you can use for years. I'd second Teresa C's suggestions of surfing and scuba diving, too.

[Ladona]

I think you should learn to play acoustic guitar. Learn a few chords and you can learn enough to play real songs. The real key for me was the strumming hand. The first couple times, it couldn't get a rhythem. My father swore one day it would just fall into place. Third time was the charm, within three days. It felt like the first time I realized I was knitting and hadn't even looked at my work!

[Lori]

I think learning a language is an excellent idea. I'm homeschooling my kids this year and we are planning to learn a language together. But I think it should be something exotic, like Russian or Japanese.

[Cheryl S.]

Put me down for learning another language, too. That's on my list. And darn it, I see someone already got the Vandellas.

[Kathy]

I second the drawing idea. The hubby suggested combat aircraft dog fighting -- yeah, I rolled my eyes too.

[Catherine]

Learn to play the harmonica.

[Sylvia]

I rather like you the way you are. Personally, I'm working on learning humility this year. Or, perhaps, reality is teaching me humility...

Are you intrigued more by the active or passive? A new skill or an in-depth study? Something that can be done at or near home, or something that requires a different setting (an ice rink, for instance)? A more mental endeavor or an activity that hones and preserves hand-eye coordination? A solo or duo or group activity?

I'm a great fan of archery but it might not go over so well with the neighbors. Darts just don't have the same oomph as a longbow. What's Mr. E. think?

[Kat]

I see everyone beat me to the language, music, sailing, and tatting ideas. AND the Vandellas' reference. How about taking a class in Improv comedy?

[Andrea (noricum)]

I'd love to learn to play the fiddle. I'm having a blast with watercolour and acrylic painting. I suggest giving one of those a try. One of the nice things about acrylics is that it's pretty cheap to start. Buy yourself a few primary colours, some brushes, and a piece of hardboard from the hardware store. (Get them to cut it into smaller pieces... small enough, at least, to get into your car.) If you don't like the painting, simply prime over it and try another. :)

[kate]

You need to learn fearlessness so you can let go and just spin something and then knit it up into socks or whatever... you told me so yourself. :) I suppose if you want to cultivate fearlessness with another hobby, you should try mountain climbing or something. It's not as dangerous as crochet.

[Linda]

I think you (everyone, actually) should learn (or maybe improve) how to let the little things go (aggravations)and enjoy the things that are really important - to you.

[Pat]

1st you can learn to cable right, left, front, back more intuitively :-)
THEN - learn to play the piano? (That's my plan - I played as a child and never followed through) or with fibery arts- how about quilting? There are some amazing fabrics out there! or weaving...

[Kim]

Add another craft: lace making. Bobbin lace, or tatting. These are things you shouldn't learn when you are old.

[Teyani]

nice FO - they look really comfy.

Suggestions on what to learn next? Learn to sing & harmonize. it's portable (goes everywhere you do - no other purchases/equipment required) and is good for the soul :-)

[Laurie]

My area of specialty is adult learning and you can keep learning complicated subject matter pretty much up to the day you drop (barring any medical conditions other than age). Speed, however, does decrease. So anything where your cognitive processing needs to be quick, enjoy it now.

I say, learn the things that require more physical activity. Tennis, ice skating, sea kayaking. Those will be something you cannot due when you are older.

[sue]

A different language. I have a hispanic son-in-law, my husband is a Spanish teacher and my daughters took Spanish in High School. I can't catch on. I have already conquered many of the other suggestions since high school, yoga just this year at 53. Took up spinning, weaving at 30, really learned music in college with lots of practice, and computers...well learned to type on a manual and now am a school librarian with my on LAN.

[susan]

I think you should learn how to brew your own beer. My friend does it and the stuff he makes is fantastic. I haven't learned because . . . well . . . I have this friend.

[--Deb]

Driving a stick-shift, if you don't already know. Programming your DVR. How to train a dog (house-training, or just, you know, training). How to take really great photos. How to bake good, fresh bread.....

[Lynn]

I think you should learn that, given enough exercise, one's brain is never too old to learn new pathways. Or, if you don't like that answer, I think you should learn to weave (so I can have company in my struggles), learn to catch and hold a dragonfly unharmed (this is a very, very, VERY cool thing! and I can teach you!), and [not or, mind you] learn what it's like to live for several years in a different country. In fact, you should learn (and by now, I hope you realize I'm really talking about myself in this long-winded answer) to follow your whims and obsessions wherever they lead you, without guilt, without fear, and with much joy.

[Deneen]

I don't think crochet is dangerous, although I do think knitting is (LOL).

What I think is the most important thing I have learned is....are ya ready? Learn to laugh at yourself and embrace who you are and not care what anyone thinks-the most important things in life.

[Suzanne]

Colored Pencil drawing. I loved Pen and Ink in school and someday will have to look into it again. Black and white and the colored pencils seem very interesting to me.

A few years ago I was watching the Lucet people at Rhinebeck and the following year had to have one. I still haven't taken it out of the bag and that had to be at least 2 years ago. So, for something crafty, that would be my idea, to learn how to use it.

[Fulvia]

Italian!

[Diane]

I'd suggest something you could do for many years to come, that you may not want to learn later in life and will take you many new places, if you so desire. Now, since you ski, you have the cold weather months covered.(Yeah I know there are other sports/activities in the winter, but skiing is tops.) I assume you like the outdoors therefore for a warm weather choice, that can take to many new places and be a little different where ever you go(like skiing)and I say... without any more blather... it's on my list...SCUBA!

[Genie]

I agree with Lynn that you are never too old for the brain to learn new pathways.
I suggest you learn about aging. Check it out.There are lots of old people learning new things.

[Pensguys]

I think you should learn to play a musical instrument. I learned to play the flute as an adult and it has been GREAT! My instructor told me it is EASIER to learn as adult.

[MrsFife]

Crochet and bungee jumping in the same sentence? I do the one but the other???

How about learning to ride a two-wheeler (what we call a scooter in India)?

[Nicole]

Music and language were my first thoughts, but since so many people have already suggested them I'll suggest another thing I've always thought I'd like to do: learn to make kites.

[Maximus]

I would like to see a continuation of the topic

[Kim]

Hmm....one thing I would love to learn and we are both about the same age is to play the harp.

[PumpkinMama]

I was thinking music too - guitar or some other musical instrument perhaps? Or more along the crafty lines - stained glass or glass blowing would be really cool to know how to do.

[heather]

i love this topic ... but of course what immediately pops into mind are the things at the top of my own list: learning italian and learning to surf. when i was in high school my dad taught himself to play the clarinet, and how to make stained glass and kiln-fired class, so i like to keep him in mind when i think i've already missed out on the chance to learn things.

[Sara]

I'm one of those who thinks one is never too old to learn something, anything. You may learn it differently than you would as a kid, but you can still do it.

Take learning a language for example. Adults are AS FULLY capable of learning a new language as children. Their mastery of the phonetic part (their pronuniciation of words) may suffer and not be like it would be as a native speaker or child-learner, but their ability to acquire the grammar, vocabulary, and conversational rules will be fine. Adults have a really good system of "analysis" (this is like whatever in my native language, this is different) that kids don't have. It's just a different way of learning.

Same thing with athletic endeavors. I know a lot of adult-onset figure skaters. In general, they may not look like skaters who started as a kid, but they can still reach high levels - I know someone who does double jumps and didn't start til her late 20s for example.

:D