{"id":16374,"date":"2020-12-22T11:32:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T16:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=16374"},"modified":"2020-12-22T11:38:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T16:38:03","slug":"get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2020\/12\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"Get yourself a hobby, friend | Molly’s Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As some of you may know, I have been knitting since eighth grade. The origin story of this hobby of mine is a little strange, but I\u2019ll paint the picture for you anyway. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was cast as Mrs. Paroo in Jefferson Middle School\u2019s production of The Music Man Junior. Mrs. Paroo was most often found sitting in a rocking chair on her porch, knitting peacefully until her son Winston came home and chaos ensued. To channel the energy of this middle-aged mom of two, I only had to master an Irish accent (my accent ended up being terrible, but I think everyone was expecting that). Nobody asked me to learn how to knit. Not a single soul on the cast or production team told me I needed to learn, but, being the overachiever I tend to be, learning to knit was a necessity for my performance to be authentic. I was really dramatic about the whole situation and I probably should\u2019ve just shut my yap, but that was a lot to ask for 13 year old me. <\/span><\/p>\n

I then enlisted the help of a fellow cast member who knew how to knit to teach me. I picked the skill up pretty quickly because it isn\u2019t really that hard. I ended up enjoying knitting immensely. I went to the store later that week and bought my first set of knitting needles and some yarn. I lost interest in knitting pretty quickly after the show ended, so I never thought I would be where I am today, literally knitting until my fingers feel like they\u2019re going to fall off. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the first quarantine hit in March earlier this year, I found myself bored out of my mind by the end of June. Even though some of the restrictions were lifted by then, my mom still wouldn\u2019t let me go anywhere. I did my best to keep myself occupied, but I was still finding myself lost. Around the end of June, I saw people on TikTok were recreating the JW Andersen cardigan that Harry Styles wore on the Today Show. I have a small obsession with the British singer (and by small I mean borderline unhealthy obsession), so I whipped out my needles and decided to give knitting a try again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Three months later, I had a finished recreation of the cardigan. I was so proud of myself for finishing it. It\u2019s such a satisfying feeling to be able to say \u201cOh, I made it myself\u201d when people ask you where you bought something. Since October, I\u2019ve been making Christmas gifts for my friends. As of when I am writing this, I made five hats, a pair of socks, four crop tops, a scarf, and a sweater. Handmade gifts are superior to any other kind of gift, so I\u2019m really proud that I was able to make things for all my friends this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hobbies make us each unique. They allow us to de-stress when we need to. Especially now, when the world couldn\u2019t be doing any worse, it\u2019s important to keep up with your hobbies, if only to stay sane. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10249,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2418,2745,2743,2373],"class_list":["post-16374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-column","tag-hobbies","tag-knitting","tag-molly-birch"],"yoast_head":"\nGet yourself a hobby, friend | Molly's Madness - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2020\/12\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get yourself a hobby, friend | Molly's Madness - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2020\/12\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-22T16:32:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-22T16:38:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly Birch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly Birch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Molly Birch\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/64b1eb1f15bf2c263b54b110f10bf714\"},\"headline\":\"Get yourself a hobby, friend | Molly’s Madness\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-22T16:32:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-22T16:38:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":541,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Column\",\"Hobbies\",\"Knitting\",\"Molly Birch\"],\"articleSection\":[\"OPINION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Get yourself a hobby, friend | Molly's Madness - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-22T16:32:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-22T16:38:03+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/get-yourself-a-hobby-friend-mollys-madness\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. 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