We were up at the cabin last week and the lily pads were in full bloom. You might remember last year I sent my husband out on the canoe to get them for me, but this year I have a new kayak/paddleboard and was able to do it myself. I probably looked ridiculous to anyone watching. It's a sit on top and it's really stable because it's meant to be both a kayak and a paddleboard. So I would pick the lily pad that I wanted and steer myself towards it. Then I'd put my foot in the water and try to catch the stem between my toes. The smaller ones I could break with just my foot, the larger ones I'd have to pass from foot to hand and pull hard. Again, I probably looked ridiculous, but it got the job done.

I've learned from the past that I need to use the lily pads within a couple of days (and to keep them sealed in the refrigerator). I made a few different plates and platters. These lily pads were definitely more brittle than some of the ones in the past and only a few were reusable. The rest were torn to pieces to pull them off.




I used a mixture of 50/50 iron oxide and gerstley borate on this bowl. I know that I'm going to love the look when it comes out of the kiln, but this is soooo messy. Iron oxide just gets on everything and has to be wiped down multiple times. This is why I don't use it more often.

One other thing - I was careful to not put the water I was using from this back into my Cink. Last year I put the water in and within a couple of weeks the water stunk so bad. It was also so very gross when I cleaned out all the traps.

I decided I wanted to try some texture on a few of the ornaments I made last week. The first one I tried carving, but it was a little too thin in areas. Then I remembered my DiamondCore Tools Impression Set that I bought a couple of months ago and haven't had the time to try out.

I had a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to make things symetrical one a shape that isn't the same diameter at any given spot, but I like how they came out and I think that the glaze will go a long way to hide some of the imperfections that I'm probably the only one who can see anyway. I need to use these stamps more, it's amazing how easily they all fit together and create patterns.

I saw a post a while back on these forms from I Make Stuff. The actual post was about making bells and I thought that was a really interesting idea. I saved it, but did nothing about it. A few weeks ago I was thinking about it again and discovered that they had similar forms for making a couple of different types of Christmas ornaments and other shapes. I decided to taket he plunge and try them.

I made a couple as a test run before we went up to the cabin. I wanted to know what tools I might need to bring with me. The first one I made I had to scrap, but these are number 2 and 3. The learning curve wasn't all that steep once I realized how key corn starch is.




This is what the forms look like when empty.




Corn starch! Corn starch! Corn Starch! I found that for these I needed to add it every time.




Start by forming a ball of clay roughly to the shape of the form that you're using. The star one was the hardest to do this with, but doing this makes sure that you'll have enough clay in all the crevices.




Smoosh down the clay so it hits the bottom.




Use a knife or a wire to do an initial cut off of the clay. I found that a fettling tool was especially good for this.




Corn starch either the press part of the form or the clay. Doesn't matter which, but if you don't you'll be sorry! Push down the presser and wiggle it side to side. You want to make sure that it's pushing the clay into the form and also thining it out a bit.




Use your knife to cut back the sides to the edge of the form. Be careful when you're doing this because it can move out. I found that having the edges between 1/4 and 1/2 of a centimeter was enough to score and join.




If you do have a spot where the edge gets a little too thin (top right) you might still be able to save it if your second side doesn't have the same problem. I neglected to take a picture of it, but slip and score the clay while it's still in the form. If you forget, pop it back in. You're much less likely to mishapen it if you do this in the form than in your hand.




The form pops out of the frame and then you can take away each of the side pieces individually. Take off the side pieces slowly so you don't distort the clay. If you forgot to corn starch, now is when you'll know.




Make two of these and then put the two sides together. It may look ugly when you first do it, but that's ok.




Smooth, smooth, smooth your seems. This is as far as I took it while it was super wet. I left these on a ware board to dry and went over them a second time to smooth them more.




I was trying to re-use the corn starch that was on my work surface then I started cracking myself up because I was making what looked like cocaine lines. This is the closest I will ever come to actually doing cocaine, lol.




Twelve little ornaments all smoothed out.




I made more of the teardrop ones. Once again my imagination was going as I was looking at what I was doing. That's all I'm going to say about that.




Once they were all smoothed out and had firmed up a bit I put them into my wet box. I packed them in close because they have to make the 6 hour drive home. Here's hoping I don't lose any.




I tried to add texture to one and it didn't really work all that well. I felt like I couldn't push hard enough without distorting the texture. I think carving or slip trailing would be better for these adding texture, but I didn't bring any of those tools with me so experimenting with that will have to wait.




The star wasn't all that much harder to do, but it was way more joins to smooth out so it took longer.




All in all I'm really impressed with these tools and will be thinking about more things to make with them. I think the teardrop one is totally going to end up as a fishy at some point.

I've just signed on with a new gallery! I'm really excited to share that I'm now a part of the Off Track Art Gallery in Westminster, MD. I've got my own little setup on some glass shelves that I was able to stage pieces on. I'm excited for this opportunity and hoping that it works out well. If you're nearby please go check it out, there are a number of other artists there.

What a great name for yarn - Crumble Slubby. It's such a great name I had to name the pattern after it. This shawl worked up really quickly. I did most of it at my show last weekend and just had to figure out the edging. I used 2 full skeins of the Crumble Slumby by Kim Dyes Yarn. It is a fingering weight yarn that is 438 yards.

This pattern uses a 4mm hook. I've been using the 4mm hook a lot lately. I think because I've been making a lot of lightweight summery things.




Stitches:
ch - chain
sl st - skip stitch
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
tr - treble crochet


Start with a magic circle.
Row 1: ch 4, dc, dc, ch 2, dc, dc, ch, dc
Row 2: ch 4, dc in the first dc, 2 dc in the second dc, ch 2, 2 dc in the first dc, ch, dc, ch, dc
Row 3 - 9: ch 4, dc in each of the chain spaces leading to the center space then dc ch in the first dc of the chain space of the last row. In the center space 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc then ch, dc in the second dc of the chain space from the last row. Ch, dc in each of the chain spaces to the end.
Row 10: ch 3, 2 dc in each chain space leading to the center space then dc ch in the first dc of the chain space of the last row. In the center space 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc then 2 dc in the second dc of the chain space from the last row. 2 dc in each of the chain spaces to the end, dc in the last stitch.
Row 11: ch 3, dc in each stitch leading to the center space. In the center space 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc. dc in each stitch to the end of the row.
Row 12: ch 4, then sk st, dc to the center space. In the center space 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc then ch dc in each stitch to the end of the row.
Row 13: Repeat row 10
Row 14: ch 2, hdc in each stitch leading to the center space. In the center space 2 hdc, ch 2, 2 hdc. hdc in each stitch to the end of the row.
Row 15: Repeat row 11
Row 16: Repeat row 12
Row 17 - 24: Repeat row 3
Row 25: Repeat row 10
Row 26: Repeat row 11
Row 27: Repeat row 12
Row 28: Repeat row 10
Row 29: Repeat row 14
Row 30: Repeat row 11
Row 31: Repeat row 12
Row 32-39: Repeat row 3
Row 40: Repeat row 10
Row 41: Repeat row 11





Now we're going to do the edging. You're going to do one row of hdc along the top of the triangle. For all of the rows that have dc do 3 dc, for the rows that have a hdc do 2 dc. This will help make the top look a little more even.
Edging row along the other two sides of the triangle: ch 4, Repeat tr ch 2 tr in the next stitch to the center. In the second stitch of the dc from the last round 2 tr ch 5 2 tr. Repeat tr ch 2 tr ending with a tr.
That's it. Super simple and you'll be surprised how quickly this shawl works up.

This pattern uses the Lace Star Flower Stitch that I found in this pattern. I had two skeins of this yarn from when I used to belong to a yarn of the month club. This is Audine Wools Shine Sport in Sky. The yarn is a sport weight and was 350 yarns. I used almost the entire 2 skeins of yarn.


I'm not going to recreate the stitch pattern, since it is linked on the Joy of Motion Crochet site. The back Was 75 stitches wide, the two side panels were 35 stitches wide, and the pockets were 25 stitches wide. I used the same stitch on the sleeves, made them 3/4 length, and at the end of the sleeves I did 5 rows of chain 3 single crochet. For the collar I added a few more rows of the star flower and then did the same 5 rows of the chain 3 single crochet.




I'm happy with how this turned out. Simple little cardigan.