of pottery and things.

So I've been feeling guilty for not keeping up with this space... life's been busy. That's a stupid excuse, I know.

But here's some pretty pictures of my latest batch of pottery to hopefully make up for it...

(I need to give a shout-out to Lianna, who gave me a light box that she wasn't using... it made taking these photos a hundred times easier than it was before!! I still don't have lights for it, but I just put it out in the sunshine, et voila! Lovely pictures!)

a small, subtly beige bowl

Four mugs... part of a series that I'm calling "four identical, all different".
Two have feet on them, and one has no handle. I love them all.

two of four bowls, also part of the
"four identical, all different" series.

...and another.

another bowl...

two teapots that both pour reasonably well (yay me!!)

the blue one...

...and the brown one

a spotty vase

and a stamped swirly one.

 I also had a few misfortunes with a couple of my pieces.

a big bowl... my biggest so far. About 10" diameter.

A tea-light holder with a hole-y cover

Sadly, it had an air bubble in it.

Unfortunately, the top and bottom stuck together
and had to be broken apart.

That's what I brought home from the studio last night. There will be more next week.

of pots and things

I brought home 3 things from the pottery studio last night... more will follow.

little vase.

mug.

wee bowl... plus a detail shot of the glaze combination.

I am loving pottery class! Currently I'm in the studio two nights a week. I'm working on throwing larger pieces (my biggest so far is an eight-pound bowl) and also attempting to make multiples. Last night I threw a set of four bowls that are pretty close to being identical.

November: redux

It's time for my monthly gasp... how is it the end of November already?????
There... got that over with.

Here's what I've been up to:

knitting... That's the big one. I signed up for NaKniSweMo... the goal being to knit 50,000 stitches in the month of November. I succeeded. Big time. Like a boss. (yikes! I've been hanging out with my teenagers too much, I think!)

Both of these cardigans are built upon the same basic model... top-down, contiguous (meaning that they look like set-in sleeves, but they're knit all in one piece), and seamless. Ellie is wearing the Tomboy Cardigan, slightly modified, and mine is the Romy Cardigan (with added cabling).

This is a huge accomplishment for me... til now, it's taken me upwards of 6 months to complete an adult-sized sweater.

being sick... not an illness in sight all year (it feels like), and suddenly this month I come down with a two-day fever-thing followed by a UTI. Not fun. On the bright side, though, it did allow me to indulge in the following:

reading... all of the Sharpe novels by Bernard Cromwell. All. of. them. That would be 24 books (including 3 short stories). Why yes, I am a fast reader. Why do you ask?

schooling... it is such a joy to teach a child who has realized that things are easier and more fun if you choose to be cheerful about them. One day, Ellie just decided to enjoy copywork... something that she'd complained bitterly about every single day. Now she loves it. And it was her own decision. She's amazing!!

pinteresting... filling up my pin boards like nobody's business. And actually doing stuff, too. I love that place.

enjoying... a lot of lovely weather. Yes, we've had a lot of rain, and even a storm and some snow, but we've also been blessed with a lot of sunshine. I'm grateful for it.

Ellie and I went for a walk, only to find the path ending abruptly in a small lake... proof that we have indeed had lots of rain to go along with the sunshine.

cooking... I seem to have gotten a bit of my kitchen mojo back again. For a while there I just couldn't think of anything to make. But lately, there's been lots of good things appearing on the table... some of it in my own pottery dishes, too!!

apple-almond pudding in my pie plate.

planning for next month... Christmas, naturally. A thing that, frankly, fills me with a bit of dread. I dislike shopping... I prefer being solitary to attending large gatherings of people... Christmas as it is commonly practiced is not my cup of tea. But I do like to make my family happy, so I do what needs to be done, and try to make it a joyful occasion.  (I feel like such a curmudgeon, even putting this out in type... oh well.)

So, that's November. On to the next month...

(linking up to Megan at SortaCrunchy)

more pots

Last night I got to go pick up most of the pots that I made in my last class... oh my! I'm so pleased with them!!

my favourite piece so far. 

7" mini pie plate.

9" plate/shallow bowl

wee little carved bowl.

another carved bowl... this one's a bit bigger.

even bigger bowl... this one has fluted edges like the pie plate.

another small bowl.

I'm ridiculously pleased with myself for attempting this one!