I'd probably bring in my RG280V. It was my first handheld emulator. I had emulated games on my phone in the past and even used a Bluetooth controller but playing on it felt different. More real in a way.
I grew up with the Game Boy so the idea of having thousands of games on the go is pretty neat to me.
I've since moved on to the RG405M.
What about you? Do you have anything neat or special to you that you could talk about for a couple minutes?
I would bring all the different handicrafts I tried...
From crocheting animals (amigurumi), needle felting, diamond painting, miniature building kits, tatting (tho I haven't have much experience with this), cross stitching, polymer clay, bracelet making, braiding (Kumihimo), beading, "light" jewelry making - depends how much time I have :D
BTW I am open for more craft ideas - I do try to find new ones I haven't tried before. :)
If you are into this stuff I'm sure we could be virtual craft besties :)
I kinda miss this thing from 100+ years ago when women (mostly only women) gathered together and did handicrafts while sung songs or told tales and gossiped about everything :)
Also, if you're at all lefty and within a reasonably drive of a major city you can probably find a group of anarchists or communists who still do quilting bees and crafting bees. A lot of what I know I learned from people who absolutely do not look like they'd be sewing and knitting. Haha. Spike mohawks and full punk vibes, plus knitting needles and gossip. It's awesome.
:) Right now I'm back to digital crafting = programming. So nothing to write home about.
I did try to find some like-minded people over here, but it's not easy here.
I'm living in Las Vegas. And that means we are immigrants from dozens of different countries and basically 10% of born Americans were raised here. No history and virtually no community in this facade of a city. Probably I would have more luck in a small one gas station town :D
What are you crafting these days?
I immediately thought of tatting just because it's kind of interesting that you can do it two such different ways with such different tools, and also because using a shuttle looks like actual witchcraft.
Alas, not really! I have a cheap shuttle and am still trying to get the hang of "the flip" but I'll get it eventually. I did manage a sort of wonky snowflake but that's about it so far. Trouble is, as you know, all the other hobbies getting in the way 😄
Currently working on cross stitching a dragon from the Discworld books, knitting some crazy speckly socks and a shawl that is way behind where it needs to be to be finished on time, and planning various sewing projects. RIP my free time.
Just left another comment with links to some of the more active craft communities on here, we'd love to see what you're working on if you ever want to share!
I'm trying needle tatting, but my experience is to end up with exactly what I started with, namely a thread waiting to be used :)
While it's easy in theory, I still have problems of grasping the building blocks.
My last big project was a "never again" cross-stitch from aliexpress. Totally understandable where you are :)
And thank you for the links, I missed one of those from my subscriptions!
It isn't that hard. You need a crochet hook, some yarn and stuffing. And maybe one needle with a big eye - but that's not that important.
I watched some youtube tutorials and learnt that way. The big trick with it is to use the "magic circle" to start the project.
Here is a random video for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ushHnIxLdYw&ab_channel=olliehollycrochet
Hope you can try it :)
*forgot that you need a marker too to see where the "row" starts. (I usually just use a piece of those twisty ties that comes with packaging, but you can use a simple paperclip or even a big safety-pin.)
The magic circle can be a struggle. If you do check it out and this ends up as a point of frustration keep looking for more tutorials. I went through a few before someone did it in a way that made sense to me lol
I've taught a few people to crochet and all it really takes is patience, and and accepting that you're going to feel like you've somehow got both too many and also not enough hands for the first little while. There's no shortage of tutorials online so it's just a question of finding a beginner one that clicks with you and going from there.
And if you get stuck, need to ask newbie questions, or just want to show off the first few wonky rows of stitches you make to people who will understand what an achievement it is, [email protected] is the community for you!
Nothing wrong with a month long hobby. Life is too short to not try new things. ;)
I had a bad mindset "cheap one minute joy" was negative in my mind. Now I know there is no such thing. :) Joy is joy - and by it's nature fleeting.
And if you don't mind sharing, what were your hobbies that you really liked even if they haven't lasted?