Last week there was a beautiful moon near the horizon and a stunning sunrise, in opposite directions. I couldn’t photograph them in the same shot. I thought that if I had a mirror, I might be able to capture both with some experimentation with angles, but alas, I had no mirror and the minimal focal distance of my lens is longer than my arm. So I put a composite image together in Photoshop. I think it came out nicely, and it was certainly fun to experiment!
I made another spoon! This time for my sister. I used more of the applewood, and it went a little faster this time (80 grit belts on my belt sander helped).
Today is World Down Syndrome Day (3-21, for three copies of the 21st chromosome, also known as trisomy 21). Not only on this day, but on all days we should appreciate what people with Down Syndrome bring to the world. My life has been transformed by my youngest, but not in a bad way. I have discovered new priorities and have re-evaluated what I consider a successful life, for the better.
To bring awareness to Down Syndrome, and go from awareness to acceptance, many people wear silly socks, or mismatched socks on WDSD. Chromosomes look a little sock-like, especially when given false color!
Since this is a craft blog, I want to give a huge shout out to Paper Daisy Creations for her amazing knit along #lotsofsocks fundraiser! I did not finish my socks, but I have learned a lot, have the desire to learn more and improve, and have a beautiful skein of blue and yellow that will eventually be a pair of matched mismatched socks. (What? I have an unfinished project? Yes. Even I sometimes do not make a deadline. Life goes on. There will be time for socks.) For now, here is a picture of my test socks, in progress. 
I’m glad I did test socks with yarn on hand first before I use my special yarn. I’ve learned at least three new knitting techniques regarding sock knitting, and there has definitely been a learning curve!
My eldest and I started a new land art project. We took a length of grapevine and twisted it into a wreath and wedged it between two trees. After I took the picture we started to weave bits of twigs and grasses into the wreath. We’ll take more pictures as the art develops.
My Dad recently had a birthday, and as he has suggested that I get back into wood working, I decided to make him a spoon.
When I was younger I really enjoyed wood working and carving. Then kids came along and when they were young I needed to keep an eye on them, so I couldn’t disappear into the garage for hours. And bringing sharp objects into the house was a safety hazard (not to mention that the idea of having to clean up saw dust and wood chips inside unthinkable.) So I turned to more child-watching friendly options for creativity: crochet, jewelry making, and other things that could easily and quickly be put down to figure out why it was suddenly quiet upstairs.
The kids have been in school for many years now, but somehow I didn’t really get back into wood working. Turns out I missed it. Picking out a piece of wood and taking chisel and bandsaw and sander to it to turn it into something functional and beautiful is incredibly satisfying. I haven’t tried spoons before, but I will again! I took progress photos to share:
I cut a piece of applewood and used a fishtail gouge to shape the bowl of the spoon
This is after I used the bandsaw to cut away most of the excess. I wanted a flowing wavy shape to the spoon.
The back of the spoon after some time (and a few belts) on the belt sander.
Front of spoon after using the belt sander and following up with hand sanding.
After sanding down with progressively finer grit sand paper, I wet the spoon with water. The water helps raise the tiny splinters in the wood, and also gives you a good idea of what the final color will be.
After the spoon dried, I sanded again with 320 grit, I used a wood burner to make apple seed designs.
Back of the spoon with wood burned “apple” and my mark.
To finish the spoon I rubbed it with olive oil once each day for three days. I love the swirl of color in the wood on the back of the spoon bowl!
Critters and Craft 