A New Hobby?

I’ve never had what I would call a real hobby. I love to read, and I’m an on again, off again knitter, but I’ve never really gotten into anything that I only did for pleasure*.

Part of the reason for that is I’ve always had work that I really enjoyed and I put my whole heart and soul into. Even when I had time to spare after the work was done, I didn’t have energy. I still have a job I love and I spend a lot of time and energy on, but I’m making a concerted effort to work in a more sustainable way. It must be working, because I’m finding that I reach the end of my work day, and I still have energy left to think about other stuff.

About the same time as my energy started to free up, a friend invited me to take a stained glass class with her. Instead of worrying about the expense or the fact that I knew nothing about stained glass I said yes. The class was broken into two parts. I tried to get a photo narrative of the experience but I got really into the work and missed some steps. Here are the photos I got.

Getting started by learning about different kinds of glass.

Cutting out the pattern pieces. In order for them to be the right size, you have to cut on either side of the line.

deciding where to make my cuts. I broke this piece so many times.

Uh, hammers and glass don’t really go together. . .

U channel lead. This goes around the outside of the piece

glass is to big? To the grinder with you!

H channel lead. This goes between pieces on the inside of the design. This is what it looks like when you cut it correctly.

see those nails. That’s what the hammer was for.

This is as close as you get to a soldering photo. Sorry!

I thought we’d be done after the solder. I was wrong. Next is putty. . .

I’m really pleased with how the piece turned out, and I had a great time. Such a great time that I signed up for anther class, this one is 8 weeks and we buy our own equipment so I’ll leave with everything I need to keep going on my own.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

*On further reflection playing boardgames is a legit hobby. But why let accuracy get in the way of a story?

2 replies on “A New Hobby?”

Beautiful! I took a lampwork beading class and fell in love. When we finished our basement I had my craft room set up so that I can make them at home. 🙂 Hobbies are a good thing.

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