I've been meaning to make wall planters for a while. I think they're really cook looking, but also I had someone suggest it at a fair a while ago. They are fairly simple to make (she say's hoping not to jinx herself). It makes sense to make 2 at a time because you'll end up with two half circles. I use a 12 inch circle I had lying around. Make 3 circles and cut one in half. I made my walls 3 inches high. It's ok if you can't make the whole circumference with one strip, just join them well. You want them to be a little firm so they don't just flop down. Add a coil to secure the seam.


The top will need support until it's leatherhard. I just stuffed some extra plastic in to hold it up. You can leave the front flat, but I really like the ruffle look. Since I did the ruffles, when I flipped it over to clean up the back I flipped it onto a piece of foam. When it's firm enough put holes in the top to hang it.

I have a commission for a large platter that has sunflowers and lemons on it. I wasn't really sure how I was going to go about it, but ultimately decided on trying mishima. There isn't a specific deadline for it so I've been taking my time.




As I was prepping to do this I decided to do some practice plates as well. Once the clay was leather hard I added a coat of wax - that's the purple tinge you see. It will burn off in the firing. Once the wax is dry you can carve through it.




I decided to just to black underglaze on all of these.




You have to wait until its dried a little bit before you wipe back. It's important to always wipe with a clean sponge.




This is the commission platter with the sunflowers and lemons. I'm really happy with how it's coming out.




The plates will now just dry normally until I bisque fire them.

I found a bee placemat at a craft store a few weeks ago and have been waiting to try it out. It's much wider than it is tall so I worked with the shape to make this centerpiece. I draped it over my large bisque mold from my wok. I really like how it turned out, but a little worried that the sides will sag in firing. We will see.

I saw a stitch a few weeks ago that reminded me of the leaves of a flower. I had this gorgeous cashmere yarn in green and thought that it would make the perfect flower stem with with flower buds on the top. The cashmere yarn is so very soft. It's from Hunt Valley Cashmere. I used 2 skeins of the Olive and one of the White.




This pattern uses a 5.5 mm hook.

Stitches:

ch - chain
dc - double crochet
stem - dc, dc, ch, dc, dc
popcorn - yarn over twice, pull through twice (leave 2 loops on the hook), yarn over twice, pull through twice (leave 3 loops on the hook), yarn over twice, pull through twice (leave 4 loops on the hook), yarn over twice, pull through twice (leave 5 loops on the hook), yarn over twice, pull through twice (leave 6 loops on the hook), pull through all 6 loops






Front and back panel - make 2
Cast on 70

Row 1: dc in the 4th chain from the hook, dc in the same stitch, ch, 2 more dc in the same stitch, * skip 2 stitches, stem. Repeat from * across, dc in the last stitch
Row 2: ch 3, * stem in the chain stitch of the stem below. Repeat from * across, dc in the last stitch
Row 3 - 18: repeat row 2. You can make it longer or shorter by increasing or decreasing rows
Row 19: ch 5, *popcorn in the chain stitch of the stem below, ch 3. Repeat from * across, dc in the last stitch
Row 20-24: ch 5, popcorn in the popcorn stitch below, ch 3. Repeat from * across, dc in the last stitch





Sew together - leave about 9 inches across for the neck and 8 inches for each arm.

I've wanted to make a squiggle vase in this form since before I got it, but just hadn't gotten around to it. I love the shape of this form and I can imagine it fired with a candle inside illuminating it. If I can manage not to break it before I get it through the glaze fire it's going to be amazing.

I was flipping through something last week and saw a double chip and dip. I thought it was a neat idea, especially as someone who always makes way too much food for a party.

I knew when I started that I wanted the dip to be on the ends and then a divider up the middle. Initially, I thought I'd make the end round like a mug would be, but as I placed the rounds in there it didn't fit the shape so I ended up attaching the ends to the side instead.

The wave in the middle happened because the clay was a little too floppy, but I really liked it so I shaped it and left it that way. I still have some clean up to do, but I need the clay to setup some more before I can keep working with it.