One of those Progress Posts

Since returning from our vacation, I have more or less been a woman of leisure, meaning I'm not scheduled to go into any workplace, although I don't knock being a homemaker - it's lot of work - like making D's lunch every day (he's so spoiled). The bakery didn't need me the last couple of weeks, and there was only one weekend where I helped decorate my first wedding cake! I'll have to ask first before I post any photos. Aside from that, I've gotten back into crafting full swing. One Pomatomus sock nearly finished:

Some secret blue knitting with a little intarsia going on:

My best glaze job yet: glazed coil jar with lid (unfortunately it was fused together while firing). I painted white slip dots before bisque firing, and dipped the whole thing in blue after that.

D's ultra-blue pitcher that weighs about 8 lbs. To get it nice and bright, he painted it during leather hard stage with blue slip, and then post-bisquing, he glazed it with aquamarine. He is proud of the glaze job, though somewhat displeased with the child-like quality of the craftsmenship (heehee):

D's tulip vase he made by joining two pinch pots into a ball, then paddling the sides, finishing with a few incisions on top to get the little petal edges. The pot was first dipped in black satin, then overlapped with opalescent glaze. Very nice indeed.

We're still attending pottery classes, although it's been quite a while since I posted anything about our wheel-throwing progress. That is because we are still throwing pieces of poo. Neither of us have thrown a 10-inch cylinder (although we've come close a few times). I was ready to throw the clay across the room last week I was so frustrated. Instead, I exercised self-control and decided to practice throwing smaller lumps of clay, which actually helped a lot - when there is too much clay, I end up crumpling it before I've even had a chance to pull up a decent wall. Last class I was able to get an evenly-thick wall, which was pretty damn exciting. D is a little better than I am, so I think he'll be on his cylinders sooner than I. Maybe I'll try to convince the teacher to let me make tiny little bowls...

In other exciting news, D and I have finally rejoined the world of bicycle commuting! Check out my shiny new blue bike!

After being sans bike for over a year (mine fell victim to tire theft, D's was an old clunker with no gears) and with the summer weather, we'd been wanting to replace our bikes for a while. After shopping around a little, we bought them from Handy Bikes USA, a fantastic little shop with lots of comfort bikes on 5th Ave in Grandview. I'd highly recommend them. Apparently they've sold over 2000 bikes this summer, up from the 1500 they usually sell - probably because of the soaring gas prices.

This morning we took them out on their first ride. Don't worry, we were wearing helmets. Even though it made us look silly. We're responsible like that. Good for the muffin tops, good for the environment, and good for the wallet. I feel so environmentally urban chic. I'm thinking of getting some accessories for it, like a basket. Happy riding!