alders and acorns

When Adam showed me this beautiful bowl that he turned out of red alder wood, the first words out of my mouth were "I love it. Is it for me?" He laughed and told me that I could have any bowl I want. This one is just so simple and beautiful. I love the little foot it rests on and the colors in the wood. And it is the perfect size for me to fill with little treasures...

So I finally made my felt acorns! It might seem like felt acorns would be better suited for an oak bowl, but I've never been a huge fan of oak...so alder will have to do!

lightning bowls

Here is another set of bowls that Adam turned. They are from a huge tree that used to be in my parents' front yard. It had to be taken down last year when it got struck by lightning and all its bark blew off. We somehow got a big old chunk of it from Ohio to New Hampshire and although it was pretty cracked, Adam managed to create two little bowls from it. We have no idea what kind of wood it is - maybe some ornamental, maybe hickory? - but it is really interesting wood. It is lightweight and has little tiny holes throughout it from the tree's xylem (water-drinking vessels). It also has this really crazy striping in addition to the normal tree rings. You can see that in the above picture - the vertical light stripes. I have no idea what caused that.

The above bowl was made from a piece of wood with a lot of worm damage - that's why there is the darker band near the rim. Adam loves wood with "character," so he's a huge fan of spalting and worm holes and other imperfections. The bowl below has a really amazing shape. It's small and perfect and we're sending it to my parents so they can always remember their tree.

spalted maple

It really feels like spring now. Levi and I have finally emerged from the house to take walks in the woods. I tried to show him birch bark and pine cones, and seeing as he is only 4 months old, these things were met with little enthusiasm. It seems I need to do better at enjoying each stage in his life instead of being so excited for when I can show him all the amazing things in this world.

I haven't had time to photograph the last knitting projects I finished, but I do have some pictures of two more turning projects that Adam finished. These two bowls were made from spalted figured maple that he salvaged from an old fallen maple tree in the woods behind our house. I'm told that spalting (the black lines in the wood you can see below) is actually caused by fungus. The type of spalting in these bowls is from where two different types of fungi have interacted and left little barriers to protect their own resources. Fungi fences.

The figuring in the wood makes almost iridescent stripes of light and dark. It was much less evident when the bowl was first turned, but then Adam finished the bowl with some butcher block oil and the figuring just popped out. Apparently figuring is pretty common in old large maple trees because the weight of the tree pushes down on the wood at the bottom of the trunk and causes disruptions in the normal even tree ring pattern.

I think this (the bowl above and below) is my favorite bowl Adam has made so far. The spalting is striking and maple is pretty amazing in general. It is so smooth and hard, it is almost glasslike.

This picture below is the second spalted maple bowl, turned from the same hunk of maple. I love the slightly fluted shape of this one. It was given to Adam's brother for his birthday. The first of these maple bowls is staying with us for a while - I can't stop looking at it.

first bowl

This...

...is the first hand-turned bowl that Adam has finished. It is ash, from a tree that our neighbors took down last year. I love the different swirls of color in the wood, and the flared shape of the bowl. I am amazed that his first bowl is so gorgeous...and judging by the few other bowls that he has almost finished, this was not beginner's luck...he's a natural!

congratulations, adam!

Adam finished his dissertation and we're heading to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for his defense. I'm so happy for him and now he will have more time to work on his wood lathe...he is learning how to turn wood bowls, and I can't wait to see what he creates! I'm also really excited to visit Portland...I miss that wonderful city!

I am hoping to do a lot of knitting on the airplane. I've almost finished knitting my bitter orange yarn into a plain garter stitch scarf (inspired by a similar scarf by jared at brooklyntweed), and now I think I'm going to make a Baby Surprise Jacket with my handspun bark yarn. Next up is the Minimalist Cardigan, which will definitely satisfy my current desire to make a sweater (which I haven't done in years), and I know it is something I will actually wear for a change! And on the sewing front, I can't wait to make some things with this new fabric line, Cake Rock Beach...I really want to make these pillows, and I have some other ideas up my sleeve too!

I have to quell some of my creative urges for a while though, because now that Adam is done with his dissertation, it is my turn to finish mine!