SPOON # 32 - Sunday 8th August

I think this spoon is made from sycamore - it was a piece of wood Julian gave me and I think that's what he said it was. I had tried to split it some weeks ago but it was so twisted once it began to split, that the two wedges I was using simply stuck in the wood and as I had been in a bit of a rush at the time, I am ashamed to say that I simply left it like that, with the wedges still stuck in it, under the garden table in order to stop the wedges from rusting should it rain, and there it sat for a couple of weeks.

Yesterday, however, when I was mooching around for a piece of wood, I noticed this half split limb and saw that the wood that had been exposed had darkened up quite nicely so thought I should finish the job I had started weeks ago and get enough wood to make a spoon. I had already decided that I would only make a small eating spoon so knew I wouldn't need a lot. And here it is.

I started by taking my photos out of doors but it was sunny and with it being fairly light coloured wood, the photos were pretty much burned out and you couldn't really see the detail of the spoon, and bearing in mind my recent promise to give better photos, I scrapped those and took some more in-doors.

As you can see, compared to my frosts knife, the spoon is only the size of an average tea spoon. I am hoping it will darken as the air acts upong the newly carved surfaces.

I really quite like the reverse sweep at the top end of the handle - it makes the spoon more tactile and adds a further dimension to the overall shape. You will notice also that I have not over cranked the spoon, which is a real temptation for me as I love the look of cranked spoons but often end up with something more like a laddle which is not really condusive to eating with.