Did you know that you can technically keep learning things after you’ve left school? That's right, your dusty old brain is still capable of acquiring new skills even long into adulthood. You’re in the right place to do it, too: Seattle’s rife with fun classes and workshops geared toward adults, from cooking romantic to speaking Icelandic. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn some crunchy ancient-seeming skill, like how to weld, or how to repair your favorite holey sweater? You can! All kinds of skills are out there in the city, waiting to be learned by you, and there’s no time like back-to-school season to give ‘em a try.

Dance classes at Century Ballroom Like List

You walk by this place all the time. Next time you’re at Molly Moon’s or the Elliott Bay Book Company, look up—on the floor above is a gorgeous dance hall where folks are cutting it up seven nights a week. Live swing and salsa bands aren’t uncommon here either, and the shows all fucking rule. Anyway, suppose you’d like to join the party but think you'll break your ankle if you try? Century Ballroom saw ya coming! Dance classes are held Sunday through Thursday, in styles including but not limited to lindy hop, country, bachata, tango, hip-hop, collegiate shag, Latin hustle, and West Coast swing. If you break your ankle after this, it’s on you.
(Century Ballroom, Capitol Hill, $80 for four classes or $25 per class, often with free admittance to that evening’s dance) 

Coffee nerd classes at Watson’s Counter Like List

 

Welding for beginners and non-beginners at Hazard Factory Like List

A while back, my boyfriend signed us up for Welding for Noobs at Hazard Factory, couching it as a date night. He LOVED it, and I was absolutely terrified of burning myself the entire time. However! It was immensely educational and I do recommend it. In an old warehouse in South Park, Hazard Factory offers welding classes at all levels, as well as an informal site tour and AMA workshop, a class that’s enigmatically titled Make a Thing, and a course on automotive sheet metal welding for repair, all of which sound fascinating. Per the course description, “No one can help you learn welding faster than we can,” and I can corroborate that. There is so very much I didn’t know that I didn’t know about welding, beyond the fact that I’m severely pyrophobic. So, please don’t be deterred by my rank wussiness—everyone else in the class was super into it, as I’m sure you will be, and I just love that this place exists.
(Hazard Factory, South Park, $20–$400)

Multitudinous cooking classes at PCC Community Markets Like List

All of the PCC supermarket locations offer cooking classes all year round, and there are dozens of them! Some meet online and others meet in person, and there’s tons of variety, such as classes designed especially for kids and plenty of veggie and vegan courses. This is the cutest date idea—and accordingly, there’s even a Date Night class, where you’ll learn how to stuff dates (get it?) with walnuts in some kind of specific way and make a saffron crème fraîche to drown them in, then pan-sear a duck breast and serve it in a red wine reduction. (Excuse me, re-duck-tion.) Any of these classes would be cute as hell, though, either solo or in company. Hand-shaped pasta class! NYC-style pizza class! Kawaii bento box class! Afghan dumpling class! Collect them all!
(All PCC locations and online, $30–$90)

Textile (and other kinds of) art classes at Monster, like darning and dyeing Like List

 

Scando language, weaving, and woodcarving classes at the Swedish Club Like List

 

Cocktail classes at the Smith Tower Like List

Wine by the class at Miller’s in Carnation Like List

If you’re feeling like a drive through the countryside, it’s hard to beat the picture-perfect Snoqualmie Valley, with lazy rivers, trestle bridges, and rustic barns straight out of a Monet. And since you’re already out there, we must recommend visiting the village of Carnation, where wine bar/venue Miller’s is hosting regular musical events, drag shows, and wine workshops out of a beautifully restored century-old general store. For the next wine class on September 24th, “Sipping Sicily,” Miller’s co-owner and wine consultant Nancy Colton and sommelier Willow Scrivener will educate sippers on the mosaic terroir, sea wind, and volcanic soil of the Mt. Etna region—and how these elements affect the indigenous grapes of Sicily. (This class was so popular in September that they're adding a second date in October—stay tuned!) Past workshops have focused on rosé, valpolicella, and green wines, and there's an upcoming class about Riesling in the works. These events tend to fill up fast, but thanks to their, ahem, bubbly enthusiasm for wine, Colton and Scrivener tend to schedule new ones almost as quickly.
(Miller’s, Carnation, $60)

Pioneer-era human survival skills at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum Like List

 

All kinds of miscellany at the Seattle Public Libraries