Whilst looking for something else I've just found an excellent site (http://www.mudrashram.com/adultlifeskills.html) regarding adult life skills.  

I have no idea what 'Mudrashram Institute of Spiritual Studies' is but this comprehensive article is well worth reading, even if merely for the information given therein.  



It would be too much to reprint the whole article here, especially as through a link you can read it yourself.  To precis, it suggests what we might want out of life, then points out the reasons why sometimes this doesn't happen.  It then points out that there are nine areas of 'skills for life':

1. Environmental skills, such as making your bed, going food shopping, basic plumbing skills.
2. Financial life skills: such as post something with the right postage, pay bills, open a bank account.
3. Social/Civic skills: such as being well groomed, apologise to someone, graciously accept a gift.
4. Parenting skills:  such as understanding your child's developmental stages and what behaviour is appropriate at each stage.
5. Employability skills:  such as have job skills for which an employer would consider hiring you, know how to answer questions at an interview, arrive at work on time.
6. Friendship/Intimacy skills:  such as help someone who needs your help, share your feelings with someone.
7. Learning/Educations skills:  such as be able to write clearly and appropriately for the the reader, be able remember information for tests, for job-related tasks and for personal interest.
8. Life Planning Skills: such as be able to decide what is really important to your life, set goals to achieve these dreams and take effective action towards achieving them.
9. Self Management skills:  such as be able to care for self during illness, control diet and lifestyle, be able to keep your word, to do what your promise, be able to grieve for a loss of someone or something important.

This article then goes on to suggest ways of achieving the above, such as: 

Life Planning Skills - You can learn to set goals and plans. There are resource materials available from your school counsellor and at your public library. There are private programmes that teach life planning skills. You can also learn about goal setting and planning on-line on the Internet. You can learn how to do a personal inventory like this one and begin to make changes in areas you want to improve.

Here are other sites which give ideas - both serious and fun - on what we should be able to achieve as adults:

An excellent article of life skills usefully mastered by the time we're 30 (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/20-things-every-twentysomething-should-know-how-do)

31 life skills in 31 days - optimistic, by the time I got to day 31 I'd have forgotten the first lesson!  But good try: 
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/09/01/heading-out-on-your-own-31-life-skills-in-31-days-series-wrap-up/

Life skills your mother never taught you: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/20/living/real-simple-lessons-mom-didnt-teach/index.html

25 skills every man should know: http://www.esquire.com/features/life-skills-0509#slide-1.  How to skin a moose, how to get a bartender's attention, how to cook eggs.

7 skills to develop in your 20s: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/7-skills-develop-your-twenties

Evening Classes for Men

Note: due to the complexity and  level of difficulty of their contents, each course will accept a maximum of eight participants each.

• Topic 1:  How to fill ice-cube trays.  Step by step, with slide presentation.
• Topic 2:  Lavatory paper rolls: do they grow on the holders? Round table discussion.
• Topic 3:  Differences between the laundry basket and the floor.  Pictures and explanatory graphics.
• Topic 4:  The after-dinner dishes and silverware: can they levitate and fly into the dishwasher?  Examples on video.
• Topic 5:  Loss of identity: losing the remote to your significant other. Helpline and support groups.
• Topic 6:  Learning how to find things, starting with looking in the right place, instead of turning the house upside down while screaming.  Open forum.
• Topic 7:  Health watch, brining her flowers is not harmful to your health.  Graphics and audio tape.
• Topic 8:  Real men ask for directions when lost.  Real-life testimonials.
• Topic 9:  Is it genetically impossible to sit quietly as she parallel parks?  Driving simulation.
• Topic 10:  Learning to live: basic differences between mother and wife.  Online class and role playing.
• Topic 11:  How to be the ideal shopping companion.  Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing exercises.
• Topic 12:  How to fight cerebral atrophy:  remembering birthdays, anniversaries, other important dates and calling when you're going to be late. Cerebral shock therapy sessions and full lobotomies offered

Upon completion of the course diplomas will be issued.


Future sessions will be held on:

• multi tasking 
• 
  

This came from a series of articles in The Times newspaper about 20 years ago, now reproduced in book form (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-Village-Idiot-John-OFarrell/dp/0552999644).  

Crocheted rug

It's nice to have a project on the go during the winter months, something which can be picked up and put down again as required

Recently, I was given a large bag of miscellaneous balls of yarn - some of those 'not enough to do anything with' balls.  That's probably why it was given to me as the charity to whom it was donated weren't quite sure what to  do with it.  

I've made many rugs and blankets in the past, both knitted and crocheted so thought that would be an ideal project for all these odd balls.  But this time I wanted to do something different; something straightforward, yet fun.

So I plan to make a blanket of hexagons (like the ones above) (http://www.loopknits.com/2011/05/26/crochet-hexagon-blanket-getting-started/) and keep on crocheting until most of the yarn is used up, then join the shapes together and perhaps make a fancy border.  So, here are some ideas for interesting borders: http://gatuxedo.blogspot.co.uk/, http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?, q=crochet%20blanket%20edges&rs=ac&len=13

and http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=crochet%20edges

And this looks like a good site for crochet tutorials in general: http://www.pinterest.com/nebreiska/crochet-tutorials/

Also Crocheting School: http://issuu.com/lesliss/docs/crocheting_school

Look out for photos of this project ....

Learn to Speed Knit

Here are four tips for fast knitting:

Are you the kind of knitter who feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day for knitting? If so, you are not alone! 

Many of us quickly become so consumed by our love of knitting that it can sometimes feel like an addiction. At the same time, there is a limit to how much time any of us can spend on knitting in any single day. So we need to get as much out of those precious knitting moments as we can. Here are some tips for how to get more knitting done, and faster.

1. Practice, practice practice!
If you are relatively new to knitting, chances are you will be a bit slower at the craft than those with several years of experience. Give yourself a few moments every day to practice working on a project and soon you’ll notice yourself working much faster than before.

2. Check your hands.
If you have the yarn tensioned around or between your fingers, this means that your hands can actually grip the needles without having to “let go” of the yarn.

3. Try a new technique.
Many of the world’s fastest knitters are Continental knitters. The Continental or left-handed method of working the knit stitch is a more efficient manoeuvre than the English or right-handed method, and many Continental knitters can easily turn out a few sweaters in a single month. There is another style called Irish Cottage knitting, which involves holding one needle under your arm to reduce the amount of movement required by each stitch. Try a different method and see if you can find one you like better.

4. Find hidden knitting time – or hidden knitting places.
Many highly productive knitters report that their output comes not from speed and is not the “world’s fastest,” but that their knitting output comes simply from spending more time with it. It’s not just that hour or more of watching television after dinner that offers productive knitting time, but many different kinds of moments throughout the day. If you are a commuter or as a passenger in a carpool turning this into knitting time could easily have you finishing a few more projects in a month! 

Consider what kinds of projects would be good for “waiting around,” and take these with you when you know you will have to wait in line at the bank or post office. Are there small projects that would fit in a desk drawer at your workplace, to be pulled out while on coffee break? All kinds of potential knitting moments fill our day, and making use of them will help you finish projects faster.

From: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/03/speed-knitting-tips/

Tutorial on how to speed up your knitting: http://community.knitpicks.com/notes/Speed_Knitting