A Silk Purse From a Sow's Ear

There's an old expression which says you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. A great saying, but when it comes to lovespoons and bits of unwanted wood, sometimes that's exactly what a carver CAN do!! Here's your proof! Knowing I was going to be spending time sitting in long ferry line-ups over the Christmas holiday, I grabbed my knife and an offcut of maple from a firewood box by the back door. Normally, I stew behind the wheel of my immobile car, gradually working myself into an apoplectic lather over having to waste my life in a ferry parking lot (and I calculate I have probably spent a year or two of my brief allotted time on this earth doing just that)but armed with my little carving knife, a bit of wood and my overactive imagination, I can make the time fly by in a pleasurable (and occasionally profitable)way. The scrap maple I grabbed as I flew out the door happened to be fairly long and narrow, so I decided to have a bash at a cage with a pile of balls. In retrospect, I probably could have fit a few more into the space available, but I wanted plenty of room for the knife, so I went with what you see. I managed to get quite a bit of the carving done at the ferry and then in the odd quiet moment over the Christmas holidays, but it wasn't until today that I decided to finish it off. Granted, it's not the most interesting or exciting spoon I've ever done, but it has a certain charm. I'm especially pleased with the long, narrow bowl and think I might try a few more like that. The balls in cage detail came out fairly well too, given that I was hacking away in the car and at the kitchen table for most of it!!

And since I am on a recycle and reuse kick at the moment, here's a nice little Valentine's spoon carved from an unusual bit of wood that came out of some wood packing around a commercial freezer. I get bits and pieces of wood from some pretty crazy places, but I figure as long as they are clean, they look good and I can carve them without them falling to bits, then they are worth using! Again, this is a pretty simple little 'whittled' spoon, but it's pretty cute and I really like the wood...whatever it is?

Speaking of Valentine's Day; you've still got a weeny bit of time to get a lovespoon in time for the big day (at least you do if you live in Canada or the US!) This little one is only 45 dollars + postage!!