You may remember a few months ago I was using my hex wallie and I accidentally made a bowl that was a Star of David. I'm finally getting around to making some Hannukah Bowls in that shape!

My work can now be found at a real store! Painted Whims is in Catonsville, MD and is an adorable little store that has all kinds of cool things. My first time in I bought this adorable little picture made from sea glass. I will be developing a line of work for Painted Whims that will only be available there in the coming months.

Lots of my camping series in this kiln. I love working with Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear - except for the mess. It's such a smooth clay and it responds so well to shaping. However, the brown gets everywhere. I definitely respect people who commit to this as their only clay and the amount of cleaning they must do. It's a hard clay to find glazes for, but when you do - they really pop.

Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside: Amaco Sky x2 Top and bottom bark: Mayco Rootbeer x2 Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside: Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x2 Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, 2167 Clear
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Tuxedo, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Fruit of the Vine, Java Bean, Cotton Tail 2167 Clear	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Laguna Power Turquoise x2 Mayco Night Moth x2 Mayco Orange a Peal, Fruit of the Vine, Sour Apple 2167 Clear
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Laguna Power Turquoise x2 Mayco Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Eggplant x3 Passion Flower x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Raspberry Mist x3 Amaryllis x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Just Froggy, Fruit of the Vine, Blue Yonder, Java Bean, Cotton Tail, Sour Apple 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Amaco Storm x3 Mayco Light Flux rim	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Kentucky Mudworks Hydra x2 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Amaco Storm x3 Mayco Light Flux rim	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Green Opal x3, Blue Hydrangea x2 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Mayco Raspberry Mist x3 Amaryllis x2 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Night Moth x2 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Mayco Eggplant x3 Passion Flower x2 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Sour Apple, Tuxedo, Silver Lining, Cotton Tail, Carribean Blue Mayco Green Opal x3
Laguna 60 Kentucky Mudworks Triton x3 Mayco Hot Tamale, Carribean Blue	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Laguna Power Turquoise x2 Mayco Night Moth x2 Mayco Orange a Peal, Fruit of the Vine, Sour Apple
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Frosted Lemon x3 Mayco Night Moth x2 Mayco Hot Tamale, Orange a Peal, Sunkissed, Fruit of the Vine, Cotton Tail, Java Bean	Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Laguna Power Turquoise x2 Mayco Sunkissed, Blue Yonder
Kentucky Mudworks Brown Bear, Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Java Bean, Tuxedo	Left Spectrum Shallot x2 Ginger x2
Clayscapes Black Copper	Macyo Frosted Lemon x3, Right 3 Mayco Night Moth x2
Opulence Emerald x2 Mayco Hot Tamale x2

I can't say enough good things about this ornament tree and the rods from Sanbao. It it performing fantastically. Can you see the star in the middle? That is actually quite heavy. I was worried about putting it onto my old nichrome bars because I thought it would sag. I don't see any sagging at all.

Some more leaf globes and vases here on the top. There is a lot of my camping series in this kiln as well as a number of mugs.

I've said it in the past, but many of my patterns now start with me looking through a book of various stitches, picking one, and then designing a sweater around that. This sweater uses the maple fans stitch found in The New Crochet Stitch Dictionary by Nele Braas and Eveline Hetty-Brown. I found a used copy that I've been perusing a lot recently. If you can find a copy and like to look at stitches, I'd highly recommend it. I did modify the stitch a bit to be double crochets instead of trebles to make the holes a little smaller.

I made this sweater mostly during Colorfest a few weeks ago. It was definitely an emergent design as I was in between people being in my booth that day. The yarn is Worsted Tweed by American Ewe Yarn in Glass of Port. I had 3 skeins of yarn and I used almost all of it. Each skein is 237 yards and it is a worsted weight tweed. Obviously this sweater has some larger holes in it so it definitely needs a shirt under it, but despite that it is really warm.






This pattern uses a 5.5 mm yarn

Stitches:

ch - chain
sk st
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
dc2tog - 2 double crochet into the same stitch and crocheted together

Front and back panels (make 2). Cast on in multiples of 4 + 2
I cast on 58
Row 1: sc all the way across
Row 2: ch 5 (counts as dc + 2 ch), dc2tog in the starting stitch, sk 2 st, dc2tog, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch, * sk 2 st, dc2tog, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch. Repeat from * across end with a dc
Row 3: ch 3, * dc2tog in the midle of the 3 chains, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch. Repeat from * across ending with a dc.
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until you reach your desired length. I had 18 rows.






Stitch the two panels together leaving approximately 8 inches for the arms and neck. I decided that I wanted the V's facing up, but you could do either up or down. Make sure your panels are facing the same direction though.

For the neck add a row of sc around the collar.

For the sleeves pick up 10 V's.
Row 1: ch 3, dc in the starting stitch, sk 2 st, dc2tog, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch, * sk 2 st, dc2tog, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch. Repeat from * across slip stitch to join

Row 2: ch 3, * dc2tog in the midle of the 3 chains, ch 3, dc2tog in the same stitch. Repeat from * across slip stitch to join

I made the sleeves 10 rows long.

Sanbao came out with a new thing they call a Kiln Rod Bracket that I was thinking about trying. With the new hollow ornaments I made, I needed something that was going to stand up to their weight. I have some nichrome bars, but they bend over time and the ornaments are on the heavier side. Sanbao also has alumina rods that you can get which are supposed to stay straight over time.

I went back and forth on whether to get just the rods or both, but eventually went all in and got both. I was really nervous trying them out with ornaments, but I had read nothing but good things about them. The actual holder is less than an inch high, so I put kiln posts under each of the 4 corners to balance it. I was conservative in how many I hung both for the weight, but also to make sure they wouldn't touch.

You saw the results in the kiln opening, but here's what it looked like in the kiln. If you make anything that needs to hang, I'd highly recommend these two items.