Do-It-Yourself

Becoming Riflemyn - Rifle Marksmynship
This course will supply knowledge and skills required to become a Riflemyn. A riflemyn is a person capable of hitting 20" targets from 500 meters with standard equipment. Information covered will range from fundamental to advanced skills, depending on progress of the students. The goal of this course is to expand responsible rifle knowledge into urban culture. Students will be able to transfer their knowledge to members of their respective communities.
The course will likely be several meetings, beginning with classroom orientation of safety and basic firearms knowledge. This will include discussion of types of rifles for prospective buyers. A comprehensive text will be provided. This will be followed up with one or more range days where one will be able to learn the concepts and knowledge of becoming a Riflemyn. Students are encouraged to provide their own rifles, though this is not necessary. An ideal student will be open to eventually purchasing a rifle and being comitted to learning the trade of Riflemynship through dedicated practice. Please email the facilitator upon registering to explain your level of interest.
It should be noted that while this is an introductory course, it is complete in riflemynship content. If one is dedicated to learning and open to absorbing the information, one will have the skills to acheive a standard of marksmynship that exceeds 99% of rifle owners. We call this the Riflemyn standard. Those who acheive this standard will be considered a Riflemyn, and will recieve a nifty patch. This course is in no way a statement of political belief or motive. It is simply the knowledge of skill. While all are welcome, outwardly oppressive or offensive perspectives will not be tolerated.

Natural Building & Permaculture Design
Get out of the Cities this summer and join us for free, outdoor, hands-on experiences with Natural Building and Permaculture Design at Lily Springs Farm located an hour from the Cities in Osceola, WI. Throughout this short summer series, you will have the opportunity to get your hands dirty with rainwater gardening, terracing and earthworks intensives, natural fencing building, and native planting. Carpooling will be organized and food and beverages will be available onsite. Stay after for bonfires, boating, and swimming if you like! To learn more check out our website at www.lilyspringsfarm.com.
Location

Knit & Such
Come and knit with us! We can teach you the basics (we have some supplies to get you started), help you through a rough spot in your pattern, or just keep you company while you work on your own fantastic creation. Crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, latch hook, origami, bookbinding, friendship bracelet making, macrame, calligraphy, collage, and anything mostly portable and not too messy or noisy are also very welcome.
This is a friendly knitting group. We sometimes meet at folks' houses, we potluck, we celebrate silly birthdays. We would love to see some new faces, whether you can only make it once in a while or every week. There's a facebook group, Knitting and Such, if you'd like to check us out before you join us for an afternoon.
Locations

Loom Building and Weaving
Participants will be building their own small looms and learning some basic weaving techniques. At the end the 3 week session we hope to hold an art show with work from the class participants. The class and show will take place at the "They Won't Find Us Here" gallery - 3500 Bryant Ave S, Minneapolis.
We will have a total of three classes on July 7th, 14th, and 21st with a final show on the 24th. Each class will take place from 4 to 7 pm.
Supplies will be provided but participants are encouraged to bring the following if they are able:
A hammer, Yarn, Fabric, Twine or other creative weaving materials. Snacks to share are also a plus!
Call Britt (414 732 9481) or Molly (612 720 3030) with any questions!
Location

Example Workshop
Describe your workshop here.

Community Owned Agriculture (COA): A Step Beyond Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Place: Cahoots Coffee Bar, 1562 Selby Ave., St. Paul
How can city folks farm in the country? What would it take to become
a food producer on actual farmland, without living in the country?
And why would city folks want to do this, when they can grow food at
a community garden close to home, or contract with a CSA farmer, or
shop at a farmer's market?
Some reasons:
* To produce essential crops that need more acreage than the city
usually provides, such as grains
* To actually own production on a long-term lease or purchase of the
land
* To invest assets into real, productive property
* To become part of a group that works together based on interest
and investment, without necessarily doing farm work
* To participate in a new type of land and farming reform
* To opt further out of the industrial agriculture system
* To slowly learn the essentials of farming, if desired, for future
purposes
This workshop presents a new concept in farming--how to become a co-
producer, with others, of food on agricultural land leased or
purchased by the group. It describes the first COA effort and how to participate in it.
Presenters: Wilhelm and Leslie Reindl
Sponsored by Wilderness Connections, St. Paul
FFI alteravista@usfamily.net, 651-633-4410=

Collective Home Buying Workshop
This workshop comes out of the experience of collectively buying a house, a process that took two years, but finally resulted in an actual house last fall. We'll focus both on philosophical questions behind collective ownership and on the nuts and bolts of house-buying. Our collective still hasn't figured out how to make the house collectively owned on paper, but we will talk about the different options we are exploring.
The format of the workshop will be a skillshare where we will discuss the following questions. We've also created some resource lists to hand out. The class will be held at our house in South Minneapolis. Sign up for the class and check your email for directions.
- What sort of space are you trying to create?
What are collective members' shared values, and how do you ensure the collective stays true to these values (if that's something you want)? (Suggestions: Points of unity, bylaws, processes for entering and leaving the collective.)
- If your collective has a community focus, who is "the community"?
What's the difference between creating an intentional living community and being a community resource? Does your collective want to be accountable to a community? How do you achieve this? What are opportunities for neighborhood involvement? What are you feelings about gentrification?
- How to pay for it?
Mortgages, personal loans, contract-for-deed, co-signers, short-sales, special programs, land trusts.
- Who to ask for help?
Real estate agents, inspectors, lawyers, contractors, friends.
Location

DIY Wind Turbine
In this class participants will build a working wind turbine from scratch - based roughly on DIY plans from MAKE Magazine and the following websites:
http://www.greenterrafirma.
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_
http://www.velacreations.com/
Location

Knitting for the Kneedy
Our class will knit or crochet things which we will donate. There will be folks around who can teach you to make your first dishcloth if you've never made a stitch in your life, or to keep you company while you stitch if you're working on your 346th Norwegian sweater, or to give you a pointer or two if you're somewhere in the middle. There will be yarn for you to work into something useful, and needles and patterns to help you. There will be organizations happy to recieve the useful something you've made. You provide your hands and time, the rest will be there waiting for you.
We're looking into a couple of organizations to which to donate, but don't yet know for sure which ones it will be.

Knit & Such
Come and knit with us! We can teach you the basics (we have some supplies to get you started), help you through a rough spot in your pattern, or just keep you company while you work on your own fantastic creation. Crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, latch hook, origami, bookbinding, friendship bracelet making, macrame, calligraphy, collage, and anything mostly portable and not too messy or noisy are also very welcome.
This is a friendly knitting group. We meet at folks' houses, we potluck, we celebrate silly birthdays. We would love to see some new faces! We've got a facebook group, Knitting and Such, if you'd like to check us out before you join us for an afternoon.
