This makes me want something cold to drink.

Another one of my projects was a cup.

I started by drawing a template and cutting this shape out of sheet of 16 gauge pewter. 

Then I fused the two long sides together (fusing means there is no seam)

and shaped it by hammering on stakes like this.

 

After a lot of raising and forming, this is what it looked like. The lines were there to help me keep the whole thing center. It's actually a lot like throwing a pot out of clay on a wheel. Except a lot more forceful. And a lot louder.

Here it is after adding a rim and a base and after smoothing out all the planish marks. I formed the rim by pouring an ingot out of molten scraps of pewter and then pulling it through a draw plate to make thick round wire. Then I connected the ends into a ring and fused them together.

Let's try again.

So I've decided to cut my losses and start my final project over again.

This is my second attempt:

I used paint as a resist and just brushed on a pattern.

I was excited to see how well the etching worked with the brush strokes.

I'll definitely be playing around with this more in the future.

Here's the final piece, including a spoon I forged to scoop out the tea.

What you get when you potchkee around.

Ever since the workshop with Fred Fenster,

my class has started using Yiddish to express our discontent with our projects.

Following this trend, I can say without hesitation that my final project is becoming

completely ongepotchket and it can gey in drert via tsybilla for all I care.

For those who are not fluent:

Ongepotchket: AWN-ge-potch-key.

Slapped together or assembled without form or sense. Gaudy and overdone.

Gey en drert via tsybilla: gay-in-DRERT-vee-a-SIB-il-ah.

Literally: Go in the dirt like an onion. An insult.

I've been awake for the last 49 hours.

I think it's time for a nap.

Spin.

One spinning mechanism is not enough, so today I became a revolving factory.

Nothing works yet.

My toes are all happy inside of my shoes.

My friend Amy gave me a mug she made in her ceramics class. Apparently they have mugs coming out of their ears now, because their final assignment was to make 20 of them. I've been drinking apple juice out of it and it has been making me very happy. I love how it looks like it was left outside in a snow storm.

When the semester is over,

I think I need to buy a new pair of shoes.

My toes have been enjoying the freedom, but we're not

supposed to wear open-toed shoes in the studio.

Do you think these count?

The Moscow Cat Theater.

I have the next three days to finish about 720 projects.

It's actually only six, but that's still an awful lot.

They are in various stages of completion.

They all need to be done by Monday.

This is the start of a pewter container.

The patterns are etched into the metal.

They are the reason my fingers are black.

Here it is as it begins to take shape.

I really wish I hadn't rushed through this project. It had the potential to be one of the

nicest things I've made, but the fabricating hasn't been going that smoothly.

I've been feeling the time constraint. I'm hoping that I can pull

it back together during the finishing process.

And I don't know about anyone else, but I could use a nice distraction.

So here is Jess's cat Schrödinger, performing her usual circus antics.

I fear to be a cog in something turning.

The brooch I'm making is finally working.

It still needs a surface patina or treatment, but I am so happy that I had to share it now.

I'm thinking something for the surface that gives an old rusty feeling.

I want it to feel sort of like this.

*Edit: I just realized that, on facebook, you cannot see the little video clip that shows the piece spinning. So if you're looking at this on facebook, and you'd like to see the brooch working, click where it says, "View Original Post." Or just click here. That will bring you to the main page and you can see the video.

Rabbit rabbit.

I finished knitting one hat and started another.

The second one is larger so it can fit over Jess's dreads.

This way we can match when we go to Connecticut for winter break.

If you kind of squint and ignore the tape, you can sort of see what I'm working on for my mechanisms class. It's a brooch. When you push the button, the part that shows through the opening spins. This is the culmination of 2+ months of work. Yeah, I know it doesn't look like much. Maybe it will be more impressive when it's finished? Maybe.

Etching pewter sort of rhymes with itching powder.

Coincidence?

I've got you under my skin.

I've been etching pewter. It's coming out really cool, but it also makes a mess.

This is after several good scrubs. Even orange gojo failed me.

I miss being able to use my fingers to actually touch things.