Parallel Hobbies

I mentioned yesterday that I am getting schooled on beer through Paul's excitement for it.  You guys (and gals), let me tell you, he is in it deep!  The deeper he gets, the more I see the many parallels between our hobbies.

For example, when Paul needs some supplies for his craft, he goes to his LHBS (local home brew store) and I go to my LYS (local yarn store).  When he gets a catalog from a supplier in the mail, he looks at every page of it just like I do with yarn catalogs! He has friends that he geeks out with about brewing and beers and I, um, I have just the same thing with my knitting people (see: weekly knitting groups, many of my friendships and that little site called Ravelry).

He started small and at this point, there are whole areas of our house devoted to the needs of his hobby.  Yep, I have that, too (see: craft room, ball winder, yarn swift and stash). Paul is thinking about taking a trip (or two) focused on breweries and I have done just the same with yarn (proof).  He goes to events centered around beer and I go to Shepherd's Harvest, Rhinebeck, Yarnover, and more!   We have both belonged to guilds that represent our crafts.

And, this one here, this one takes the cake: both of our hobbies involve lace.  When a beer leaves these marks on a glass, it is called "lacing".  I could totally chart that.

Now, sometimes brewing and/or knitting is not all joyful.  When I am working through a knitting project at the beginning, especially if it something I am designing, it can be a headache.  Paul here, he spends a lot of time developing recipes and researching the right combination of malt, barley, hops, etc to make the beer in his mind become the beer in his glass. 

With both of our hobbies, sometimes the execution of the plan works out and you enjoy the fruits of your labor.   Other times, it is a bust.  Your sweater doesn't fit or your beer tastes like metal.  So, you sulk a little bit and then you learn the lessons you need to learn to do better next time.

Even though I don't love beer, I totally get why he does.