As the cold weather persists and winter seems to show no signs of saying goodbye anytime soon, I thought that it might be fitting to go through and recommend some hobbies to pass the time until the warm weather returns. These hobbies will be a variety of time commitments, sizes and costs.

The first hobby that I will recommend is one that I have written about before, but will always recommend for people who are looking for something to do with their hands: knitting. A hobby that can be practical, with the amount of useful clothing and accessories, is never a bad thing to have on hand. However, this is a hobby that is a bigger undertaking.

Learning the skill itself is not necessarily the hardest part—there are ample amounts of tutorial videos on YouTube and beginner-friendly patterns all over the internet—but it is time-consuming, and patience is needed to build up the skill as well as simply do the act of knitting. It is also a more expensive hobby: there is the upfront cost of buying knitting needles, tapestry needles, stitch markers, and other such tools, but there is also the cost of the yarn. Consistently buying yarn—especially high-quality yarn—quickly adds up, and it is important to keep in mind when looking into taking up the hobby.

If you are looking for a cheaper and much more easily accessible hobby, however, I might suggest writing. Whether it is pen and paper or typing at a keyboard, writing is a good way to be creative and let out some thoughts. It can be any form—novel, short story, poetry—and the best part is, because this is a thing that is for YOU, it doesn’t actually have to be good. If you do not want anyone other than you to see it, no one will, though there is a very fun prospect in writing with others. This could be writing separately and sharing with others or even creating a piece of writing together, but whether you write alone or with others, it is always a fun, accessible hobby.

The final hobby is quite obvious for me to recommend, considering the articles I tend to write: gaming. There are so many video games available on many different platforms and there is no doubt that you would be able to find at least one game that you enjoy. Gaming can be expensive—something like The Sims 4 with its hundreds of dollars worth of DLC coming to mind—but there are also a lot of games that are relatively cheap or even free that are just as fun and engaging. There are also so many videos, posts, and forums all over the internet that can be used to find a game for you to enjoy.

So, while we (not so) patiently wait for spring to come again, think about the ways that you can spend your time—all the skills to learn and the things to explore.