Day 21: Unfinished business
Unfinished business By the start of day 21, I have a lot of unfinished business - a total of four projects still to complete: I have a handle for a maul; it needs finish turning and fitting into a head. My chopping clock has three legs; they need shaving to final...
Day 20: Are we nearly there yet?
It's a bit of a cliché. You know the situation. In a car, on a journey with children, and the constant refrain is, "Are we nearly there yet?". I've experienced this many a time as an adult, but I can't really remember the emotions of the child posing the question....
Day 19: Elbow pain, blisters and bowls
After one day spent processing a sycamore log towards a bowl shape, I have learnt that bowl carving is hard physical work. I'm exhausted, I have several blisters forming on my right hand, my right forearm is aching, and both my wrist and elbow are rather sore. But...
Day 18: Frustrated by a pole lathe
Why am I frustrated? I've converted lumps of wood into a pole lathe. I've drawn, I've measured, I've learnt how to drill straight(ish) holes and I've chiselled out wood. In addition, I've fitted, and shaped and planed. After a lot of winding in and out, my centres...
Day 17: From lumps of wood to a pole lathe
We each started making a pole lathe today. At the beginning of the day there was a large pile of soft wood and hard wood, of different sizes and shapes in the work shop. There was also a fairly large pile of baked goods - a chocolate and stout cake, hot cross buns,...
Shrinkpot Sunday
I've looked forward to making a shrinkpot for so long, and today, the day finally arrived! My only concern was that the whole experience might not live up to my (possibly too high) expectations. There are books about shrinkpots (looking forward particularly to ‘Sloyd...
Day 16: You guessed – a hat!
Today was spent converting all the laboriously created weavers, ribs and rims into a hazel basket. More weavers and ribs were needed, and some rims that Lorna had prepared earlier. Rims Some of us had managed to make a set of rim halves yesterday from some bendy...
Day 15: Can you tell what it is yet?
Over the last two weeks, with willow baskets and structures, the focus was always upon material selection. Time spent choosing the appropriate material (length, thickness, whippiness, consistency) always paid off. Lorna Singleton was our tutor this week to teach a...
Day 14: Distraction techniques
Yesterday was cold. It rained, and there was occasional driving rain, along with a cold, gusty wind. Against all the odds (it's March - surely Spring must spring sometime?), today was even colder. It was ridiculous. It snowed, the white stuff gusted everywhere,...
Day 13: Willow Structures
Willow Structures James Bedingfield hosted our module this week. Along with his wife, James grows willow and makes all things willow and wood-based from his farm to the south west of Newcastle. Have a look at his website, it's full of fun things made from and with...









