Crochet projects.

June 2011 crochet


Since my last post on crochet, I have been a bit busier.
I am learning simple projects before I get into making stuffies, stuffed animals. Each project develops skills to be used later.
I finished the blue wash cloth I made in my truck. It came out well. I can see mistakes but other people don't notice them.


rear of washcloth


Front of washcloth.

I spent time making a dress for my teddy bear named Snowflake. I mis-measured when I originally made it. Teddy bears wiggle around a lot when trying to get their right sizes.

When I finished the main piece, it was a size designed for a larger teddy bear. I stared at it for a very long time trying to figure out what to do about my mistake. I was not in the mood of taking it out.

dress laid out flat


back of dress looks good.


Front of dress shows it too big.


figuring out how to make it fit. Pulled the collar close to show it fit better that way.


I decided that gold yarn would look good with the tan. I made part of the straps as the front of the dress, and then had to make a front to the skirt.


I decided to use yellow instead of the original color.
I took it out about four times as it was not working right, but I was figuring out what would work better. When I was satisfied with the design I wanted, I got to work and finished it. I then went around all the edges in yellow which punched it up.
If I did it over again, I would have used the original color rather than have that big block of yellow. Since I wove in the ends, it might be a bit tough to take it out and correct it, so it will remain the way it is.
For a first try at designing, it came out acceptably.

front view of Snowflake in her new dress.


side view of her new dress.

In a yard sale find where I got five pounds of yarn, there were whole batches of bits and pieces of yarn. I got the idea of making what I learned later as an ODD BALL. It is bits and pieces of yarn knotted together.
One day, I decided I should make a bag for my yarn since I was using plastic bags to hold my yarn. I then picked up a cooler bag for six packs at the dollar store. I am using that cooler bag as a guide on the size of this work. This is a truck project, where I work it at red lights, at the laundry, at doctor's offices and anywhere else I have to wait while away from the house.
I am working with what is called an odd ball as I learned it to be called. It is short bits of yarn knotted together. I love the color effect but could do without the knots. There are strips of different colors. I love the variety. there are also places of different sized yarns.
I am now working my way up the sides and am several rows above the pictured presented. I had gone flat over the entire size, then went in a stitch and started working my way up. I learned that technique while trying to figure out on my own on how to do Tunisian crochet. I later saw a video on line that showed how it really is supposed to be done. The experimenting taught me alot.
I see that the corners have become rounded and the sides are floppy. What I will do when I get as tall as I think it needs to be, is to stitch the corners so the stick out slightly and end up square.
I used up all the really small pieces of yarn I had, some of which were less than six inches in length, and am now working on small balls of yarn.
I have a gallon baggy of tapestry yarn. I sort of feel guilty using them as someone could well make use of them better. I figure when I finish up the little balls of yarn I am working with now, I will start using the tapestry yarn if I need it.


odd ball fabric of my yarn bag as I just started working up the sides.


I am at the very beginning of my first stuffy. I had made a small ball a while back as an experiment, but now I am going to actually make something. I am one row past the magic ring. I have not decided what I am going to make just yet. I am not counting and not following any pattern, but instead just winging it like the dress. I could run into problems on the limbs, but will worry about that later. The stuffies is really what I am learning crochet for.

Mid-June At The Farm

We came to sort of a slowdown phase on the farm house repairs, where there were lots of tedious projects that had to be done before anything major got renovated. So while those were going on, the garden became my ongoing project. 

This is the garden in mid-June. Not everything is planted yet, but I'm picking away at it. What is in seems to be growing well. The rains have been plentiful and that area gets a full day of sunshine.

A chipping sparrow who loves to sit on the tomato posts while hunting bugs.

This is the post on top of the milkroom. When I got to the farm at 8AM one morning, a male mockingbird was sitting there, singing his heart out. It's amazing how many other bird songs they know. I stood on the walkway, watching and listening for about 10 minutes, entranced as he lifted his head and tail, fluttered his wings, and told the entire world what a happy life he has. I unlocked the door and hustled inside to get my camera, and he finished his solo and flew off just as I snapped this picture. Darn! 

I guess Mr. Mockingbird couldn't resist an encore though, because he flew down to the driveway and then up to the office roof to give me one more chance to snap a shot of him. Bravo sir, bravo!

Looking down toward the garden, I could see the first blossoms on the winter squash and pumpkins beginning to open.

The morning garden. We've made ourselves a little seating area for break times and to sit at the evening and just talk.

Looking toward the barn from the house. The bank really drops off there.

A little dark because this is an evening shot, but a barn swallow on the line. They are almost always in motion and so are very hard to get a picture of. You can see the typical 'swallow' tail.

A deer comes calling, down by the pond.

Hmm, that grass does look tasty!

Let's see if it meets with my approval...

Ah yes, this is a five star field... nom, nom.

Tomatoes and potatoes are both doing well.

Mowing for mulch is kind of a relaxing way to end the day.

Mr. Chipping Sparrow is back to supervise insect removal chores.

And the sun sets on another weekend in our new paradise.

It's getting harder and harder to leave each time. I can't wait for the day when we can move in to stay!

Did you write? 06-27-11

Did you write? 06-27-11

The saying goes something like, "Another day, another dollar, A million days, a 100 dollars after expenses."
For here the saying is, "Another week, did you write?"

This note is a place to tell about what is going on in your life, and also tell about any writing activities you might have been involved in, or not.
The hope is that after posting about not writing a few times, one will see the note coming and open something, anything, just so you can give a positive report.

Word counts are desirable but can be meaningless. We all have zapped a section because it was not working. That right there can give you negative numbers.

What counts as writing can be anything. Poetry, articles, blogging, technical writing, world and character creation, Even E-mails can be writing if they pertain to writing or story and are wordy.
Editing is writing, even if it is the work of others. Critiquing is also writing. Of course any new writing is writing.

I am on schedule with my story ideas. I don't have time to post tonight's story idea, but I have 43 stories in my compost pile. I post these on many bulletin boards, but the main place I like to point to is
To see my story ideas you can go to http://www.xprodigy.net/board/index.php and scroll down to Writer's Roost
Or go directly to it at http://www.xprodigy.net/board/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=81d4208e740f487601581dfb56db65c0

This week, I worked Friday for the first time in nearly three years. We have a big, rush project we are trying to get out. The big problem is that I will get a ways along and the salesman will come back with changes and I have to go back to the beginning again. Luckily, I have it set up so the changes are easy.
I have also worked late the past several work days. That is drastically killed my writing times.

I am in an exciting scene in my story, but work has killed my writing time. I had a big blast of writing after I posted this note last week and my time disappeared quickly after that.
I had sent a concept to my writing partner and she sent back an alternate concept. I roughed out the scene and she said it was good, and offered some suggestions. I have not had the chance to work with her suggestions since. Even so, I added 700 words this week and could have tripled it if I had my normal writing time to work with.

"A good weekend is one where you return to work to recover from." 'I had a good weekend.'
I did a lot of manual labor this weekend. I hauled some fresh wood for my woodworking, hauled gravel for my mom's planters, took out my entire wood pile, picked out a few pieces that had gone bad, then put it all back again. I felt my labors. I am not one who does physical work much since I have a desk job.
My biggest surprise was that I had a lot of wood I forgot I had. there were several projects I had thought of and gave up on doing since I did not think I had the right materials to work with. While I will forget about it soon, at the moment, I know what I have to work with.
I am expecting more wood over the next month, then I will be stuck with what I have for a while. there is always that "I wish I had" syndrom when it comes to gathering supplies. Just a little more would have been a good idea...

As to the question of the week, I can honestly say,

YES I DID WRITE!

DID YOU WRITE?

Week 598 Wood Working.

Year 11, Week 24, Day One (week 598) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 06-25-11 Saturday

86 degrees in the morning, 94 in the afternoon, no breeze in the morning picking up as the day went on. They sky had high sheet of thin clouds early, went to mostly blue with sun, then thunder boomers started building over the Everglades as I was packing up. I did drive through some wetness on the way home, but it was not hard, barely enough to warrant windshield wipers. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

My weekend was all mess up. I needed to work Friday to try to get a special project done. I got a lot of work done, but a half hour before I went home, I learned I have to change a whole bunch of stuff. I had not worked Fridays for almost three years now. Not having Friday off left out a lot of projects I intended to work on.

I have determined that the nail gun I got last week in inadequate. It won't set the nails deep in any wood of substance. I have to relocate the sales slip and then take it back.

The turning club gave a wood alert about a Norfolk Island Pine cut down near my mom's house. Right after Breakfast, I dashed over and got some wood. There were some big chunks, about two, two and a half, feet long that I would have loved to take but I could not lift them. I likely could, but chose not to.

I got back and had to fill 12 buckets of gravel. I then poured out 10 of them into the third front planter. We had to depot a palm tree that had started going into the ground and stuck it into another pot, only to find that the new pot was the same size as the old one. Again, mom did a whole lot of work before I arrived and she put down newspaper and cardboard before I put down the gravel. Soon, Mom will work in the back yard.


House planter. Stuff to the left was found hidden within the planter as mom cleaned it up.


The first planter we did, right out by the new sidewalk.


side planter from house side.


side planter from the street.

I cleaned off the branches, removing the fresh growth containing the needles and stuff. Norfolk has weak branches that will break off if there is too big a wind, protecting the tree. Hurricane Wilma stripped a lot of the branches from the Norfolk, but they remained standing, though not always as tall. They looked sick after the storm. They are now filling out nicely.
Norfolk is a fragile tree. When the Europeans first saw them, they were excited that they would be great masts for their ships. When they cut them down, they shattered on impact with the ground.
Wood turners love them because the wood, when one adds oil to them, develop great colors. The branches grow in a ring, then there is a space and then another ring of branches. The wood turners love the effects of the knots running through their work, especially if they follow the surface of the work.

first day's collection of wood. branches are for figurines

I filled the garbage can and took it out to the curb in time for the garbage truck to take them. I had some branches I had gathered from Hurricane Wilma and bugs got under the bark and ate holes into them. I stripped the bark off and they weathered nicely. I finally decided they were no longer needed and took them out to the curb with the garbage and they are gone also. I will likely kick myself later as I will see I had a great use for those...

I took a branch from the new tree and cut it into sections. One branch was pulled out of the tree and it had sort of a fire look to it. I removed the bark from it, and then carved a little bit of the flame. I mounted it on the lathe, after the cat decided to stop sleeping beneath it, and started turning the handle of the torch. I made a mistake on the centering of it and turned it off center near the flame. I have not decided whether it ruins it or not. I likely will finish it anyway. It just won't be near as good. I will try to re-center it on the flame and then finish the handle.

I spent most of the day working on a crochet project. I am making a bag to hold my crochet in the truck. It is made up of bits and pieces of yarn tied together, known as an odd ball. I finished the bottom and started up the sides. This is mainly a red-light/ doctor's office/ laundry mat/ type project. It was a way to sit in front of the fan and cool down while petting the cat once ion a while.
At home I have nearly finished a dress for my teddy bear. I will start planning on making a few stuffed animals next.

Side view of teddy bear dress. The brown the yellow follows was supposed to be the front, but it was too big.


The other side view



I made a few little corrections on the dress. I decided turning it inside-out made it look better.


The bottom of my yarn bag. colors are bits and pieces of yarn, made into a ball, referred to as an ODD BALL It will hold the yarn I work with in the truck at stop lights, doctor's offices and other places where I will be working. it will be much taller.


tomorrow, I will visit the wood pile again and see what I can pick up. My own wood pile is bigger than it should be and really should not be added to until I use some of what I already have. Norfolk is fairly rare for me so I want a bunch of it and it tends to last a while.
The mango tree is getting thin on fruit. The owner said that when it is done, he is going to cut it down. He is going to give me some pieces of wood from it. I may dig through my wood pile and get rid of some wood that has been there a while. It is good to look to see what I have anyway. I have some oak that should be debarked to bother the bugs that are eating it.
I will likely finish the torch I started. I need to make a spout for my tea pot. I have two vases that need to be carved. I, of course, have lots of wood to turn. I could also machine some metal.
On a lower level of priority, I could dig into my wood pile and sort it. I could empty the shed and re-arrange it. I know Mom will have an early morning project to work on. I should do a little work on the finish of the bed of my truck. The rails need to be sanded and then given several gloss coats.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.


Year 11, Week 24, Day One (week 598) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 06-25-11 Saturday

86 degrees early morning, 96 degrees in the afternoon. Clouds changed from high feathers, puffs, blue sky, big shield coming from the everglades. We heard thunder as we were packing up but it was nowhere nearby. This weather report was brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

On the way to Mom's house, I picked up a few more pieces of wood. these were bigger than what I got yesterday. One was all I could move around. the rest was too big.
I got home and stuck them into the back yard, then went and got ten more buckets of gravel. All the buckets are filled now. Mom will use them around the plants. I figure in one or two weeks, that gravel will be gone.


my whole wood pile laid out. Older stuff are by the concrete, new stuff are close.


Another view of all my new wood


My next project was to get pictures of all my new wood, then unload the wood pile entirely. I also took pictures of it laid out.
I then removed two cacti that was against the fence behind the shed. I could not get the roots out but I butchered them nicely.

I finally put my wood pile back together. When half the wood was in place, I tried to cut one big piece in half. My electric chain saw was dull and in the sun, kneeling down, the job turned out to be too tiring, especially after all the hauling I did earlier. I might try it again some other time. I got it into the wood pile and put the last of the wood back in place.

One thing I found was that I have a lot of wood. I forgot I had all that wood. That is one reason to unload the wood pile, to see what you have periodically. I will forget soon, but for now I have a good idea of what I have.
I did toss a few pieces of wood that I knew was no good. I had some pieces of a Dade county pine that had died and was cut down. The wood splits too easily so I got rid of it. There were a few bug eaten pieces of wood I also got rid of. I have a large number of pieces that have been there for a lot of years that seem solid yet. I really should try a few of those to see how they work.

I did a little turning on my torch and made a mistake. It ended up not centered and I did not realize it until I had gone too far. I did some correcting, but will have to do more. I think it will look pretty good when done. Now if I had made the steady rest like I was supposed to, I could have solved this problem quickly. Oh well.

The torch. I got the fire end off center.

My brother finally showed up after being too busy for a month. He decided to make some clocks and cut some wood for them. The sheet was too wide for the band saw so he used my battery powered jig saw until it ran out of power, I have to charge them now. He then used a Saws-all to finish up the rough cutting. He did glue one part together, he is making two clocks, and we ran out of time.

Next week, I have a large number of projects to work on. I likely will have to help mom with some of her big plants as she worked her back yard garden.
I have lots of wood to work on and even more projects.

I will see what I actually do next week.

06-20-11 Did You Write?

06-20-11 Did You Write?

It is that time of the week. It matters not whether you reply on Monday that I post this, or on Monday just before I post the next one. The idea is to report once a week, whatever day it is, as to what is going on in your life, and also important, whether you wrote or not.

While word count is a great way to measure the work you are doing, it has flaws. If you are editing, you can zap entire sections and replace them and come up with a quite meager word count. While editing, one can actually have negative word counts, and even do it on purpose.
When writing really tough sections, sometimes just coming up with the right word makes a difference so the word count could well be one word.

What is writing is fully up in the air. We all know that new writing is writing. Also editing is writing, even if it is the work of others. Critiquing is a form of editing so counts as writing. Poetry, blogging, article writing, writing assignments, technical writing, world and character creation are also writing. E-mails can also be writing if they are very wordy and pertain to story or writing. In essence, if you have to ask if it is writing, the answer is yes.

As for me, My writing time was quite interrupted by non-writing activities. I just added a few pages. I even removed half a page to change the path of the plot to be a bit more exciting. This is so much a better version. Something is actually happening.

On the story idea front, I have 43 story ideas in my compost pile. I generally grab the very top ideas from the stack so I don't get into the older ideas unless the ideas are not coming fast enough. there is always a disappointment when I am digging into older notes.

As to the question of the week,

I can say YES I DID WRITE (though not enough)


DID YOU WRITE?

Week 597 Wood Working.

Year 11, Week 23, Day One (week 597) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 06-18-11 Saturday

86 degrees, variable clouds from blue sky, wispy high shield, big puffs and thunder heads over the Everglades covering the sun. A very light breeze most of the time with some gusts every now and then, but mostly calm. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.


THURSDAY

I got to the turning club meeting place very early so I gathered my yarn pieces and started tying them together into a single ball. I finished up all my smallest pieces just as the club meeting started. I learned later that this kind of ball is called an ODD BALL. When you hear that someone is an odd ball, it is a person who is made up of disjointed bits of yarn.

Odd ball and project I am crocheting.
The ball is made up of small segments of yarn tied together creating the varied effect of the fabric shown.


The turning demonstration was on adding fluting to a vase, the grooves that run up and down on the piece in this case.
He showed a table that fits into the tool rest base. He said that the pipe he got was too big so he ground it down until it fit. This is a brand new lathe and the he had to drive the table down to the proper height with his hand.
He then showed the "sled" that holds his pencil to draw the guide lines down the vase. The table is set so the pencil is at dead center on the lathe. He used the point of the tail stock to check it.
He then showed the sled the die grinder or router fits in. He ground away the wood where the tool extends beyond the body of the tool.

He showed the indexing wheel he uses and explained how he made it. He used a metric tape measure since it was in small increments. He turned the disk until it was exactly 96mm in circumference. He then marked each metric number around the outside both on the top and the edge.
He mounted it in the bandsaw with a sled that uses a nail for the center. He had fitted a disk into the center hole that was used for the turning. His sled was set center and he added blocks to limit the back and forth movement, and side by side movement, of his sled.
He would slide the disk into the saw blade to the stop, cutting right on the line. He would back it up, turn it to the next line and make another cut.
The way he made it, it slides onto the shaft of the lathe, rather than screw on the threads. The chuck tightened onto the shaft holds it tight. It won't be turning so that is not a problem.
He made a block that he clamps onto the top of the lathe and that has an angle iron that is thin enough to fit into the slots and is hinged so he can lift it slightly.
He decides how many flutes he plans to put onto the vase. 96 can be divided into many different numbers of divisions which is why it is used. For example, if he wants to have 12 flutes, he just counts the slots and makes a mark with a chalk that he can erase easily if he makes a mistake on every eighth slot. He continues those marks all the way around.
With the disk in place and the angle iron in place, he fits the angle iron into a marked slot. He then slides the pencil along the work to mark his line. He then moves to the next mark and draws a line. When he is done, he takes the grinder sled and sets that on the table and routes along the lines. He might do several passes, each time using larger and larger bits until he has the effect he is after.

We have a turning challenge for September. We are to make goblets. I have a number of ideas, both serious and silly. Will see what I come up with.

On the way to the turning club meeting, I stopped at the local INTERNATIONAL TOOLS STORE. I ended up buying a dremmel. I did not know it, but dremmel makes several and the number on them is important. They are priced accordingly. I got the 100 series. It has on and off only for speeds. their 200 series has two speeds besides off. The 300 has 3 settings, the 400 has four settings. I could not afford a 400 so got this one. It seems strong so it should do. I would love to have a real low along with high speed but can live with this. I used a gift card so I only had to pay about six bucks out of my pocket.

One speed Dremmel motor tool,


I found out that one of my favorite Jo-Anne's cloth worlds is moving. This was a small store so they had what was important, not just everything to fill shelf spaces of the larger Jo-Anne's near my mom's store. Everything was 50% and 75% off. I walked out empty handed as I have all the paint (and don't remember what colors I need) and yarn I need to do any of my projects.


FRIDAY


I stopped at Wallmart to see if they had curtains since I could not find my old one. I know it was not thrown out but have no idea where it migrated to.
At Wallmart, I saw that they had blinds for $20 that was for sliding glass doors. I got two. I checked measurements and found that they were too short for the whole sliding glass door, and two long to double end to end on the back of my room. I put one up just for the opening side of the sliding glass door. The other side is blacked out.
I considered taking the second one back, but the wall did not look right. On Saturday, I put up the second one, overlapping, but higher. That is not a problem as I don't have to open it all the way. The first one was level even though I could not find the level. This second one is slightly out of level. I think the last bracket was a bit high. It is not bothersome enough for me to change it. If I remove some shelving along the side wall, I would have to adjust the blinds anyway to go to the end of the wall. It definitely needed the second set of blinds.

SATURDAY



cacti in bloom in early morning


side view of cacti blossom.

This cacti blossom met me when I arrived. Mom and I got pictures before it would close up for the day.

We stopped at a couple yard sales on the way home from Breakfast. I picked up some pans and grates for a toaster oven at one yard sale. I then got some folding coffee tables at another at a very good price.

folding coffee tables.


toaster oven racks and pans
When we got home, Mom kid-napped me to work on her planter. We scraped up some gravel to try and save it. We figured out after the fact that it was more effort than it was worth. We removed all the movable plants and then laid down some weed fabric. I then dumped 12 buckets of gravel all over the fabric. 13 if you count the stuff we saved. Tomorrow I have to get more gravel.

I finally got into the back yard to do my work. I got my equipment out, and then sat to pet the cat and crochet a little bit. he was more irritated that I did not give him as much attention as a king is worth.
I finally decided to make a goblet. I chose a piece of log that would make a nice sized goblet and cut a piece off it. I then uncovered the lathe and found the tea pot I had started still on there. I changed projects to the tea pot. I thinned down the outside, getting rid of more of the under bark wood. I also worked a bit on the inside to clean that up more and reshape it to follow the outside better.
I removed the pot and mounted a piece of wood for the lid. I did not get any farther than that, deciding it was a good time to clean up and get going. I had a couple stops to do.

I stopped at Sears and could not find a part I was looking for. I saw it at another sears.
I then went to Home Depot. I used two gift cards and eight bucks to get an ARROW ET-200 electric brad nail gun. I also picked up three sizes of the brads to go with it. I figure we will use the longest ones the most, but got all three just in case.
I still have a Sears gift card otherwise, I have spent my Christmas Gifts.

Brad nailer with extra nails in three sizes

I stopped and talked to a friend of mine, telling about my fun with metal last week. Out of nowhere, a thought appeared. I don't have to get bolts and make special fittings to machine the piece of metal I failed to work last week. I can cut a slot on the flat side of the piece at a comfortable height, and then fit the clamps onto that slot. I no longer have to reach over the top of the piece when it is on edge. I just have to figure out where I want to put that slot. It will be machined out of existence later. That solves a lot of problems. he told me they will thread a hole during their work just to make their jobs easier even though later, the threads will be machined out of existence later.

Tomorrow I will get more gravel and scatter than in the planter. I like. I could do metal working. I also could carve. I could even start making the new box for my mini lathe to replace the old one.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.


Year 11, Week 23, Day Two (week 597) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 06-19-11 Sunday

94 degrees, blue skies early morning with almost no breeze, then clouds built up as the day went on and with them the breeze. I had packed up to the sounds of thunder. I got into my truck to leave as the liquid sunshine started coming down. This weather report was brought to you by the city Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

Last night, I put up the second set of blinds. I saw later that it was out of level. I also wanted to shift it for better a effect. After I got home today, I took it down. I had to relocate the brackets since they are only in plaster. I decided to put it to the very end of the wall, rather than stopping at the bookcase as I had it. I did not attach the last few blinds. I twist-and-tied them together and hung them from the bracket in case they are needed.
It is now level and looks better. I do see one of the brackets on the original blinds is coming out. I might try a different plan to lock it in place. I could put a band across it and screws on the ends of the band to hold it. Will see later. No rush right th is second.


blinds, half open half closed.


blinds both closed.

I arrived early in the morning. Mom was already at work on the planter. I helped her move some plants around, then I went to gather some gravel. I got 14 buckets of gravel, and then unloaded and dumped twelve of them. dumping the gravel was a whole lot harder than filling the buckets. Mom expected to have to get more gravel, but these appear to be enough. She has a small bit of the planter to do and is hanging onto the two buckets of gravel for that section. Otherwise, it appears to have been enough.

view of planter near house


view of planter from street

After we were completely done, I sat and petted the cats while sitting in front of the fan under the awning. The beast really wanted company and enjoyed the attention I gave him.

I set up the folding table I use for my metal working and emptied the lathe box. I tested out the brad nailer. It is not as powerful as I had hoped it to be. It sticks the brads in, but you have to hammer them into place for a lot of the materials. It will be useful though. Sometimes getting nails started is the hard part.

I drug out the wood lathe and started on the tea pot lid project I started on. I adjusted the mating surfaces of the lid, making the part that fits into the hole, a lot deeper. I mounted the tea pot in place with the tail stock into the centering hole on the bottom from when I first mounted that wood between centers. With the tea pot spinning, I shaped the lid to match the tea pot's profile. Once I got the edge right, I then worked on the inside and the top, creating a nob, before I parted it off.
Now will be the hard part, making the handle and the spout. The spout may well be easier, will see. I figure I will drill the spout first, and then give it the sweeping shapes through turning on multiple centers and grinding.
With the handles, I will select a piece of wood, or glue a couple pieces of wood together and cut it to shape.
Fitting the mating surfaces to the curvatures of the vase is the hard part. I never seem to get it exactly right.

tea pot with lid - front

tea pot with lid - back

I put the lathe away and settled to the metal lathe. I set it up for machining.
I had to draw onto the piece of metal for where I needed the metal to remain and where I will be grinding metal away. I had to turn my wooden mock-up around in all directions and match it up with the lines I had made before, in order to get it right. Once I decided where metal will be removed, I started mounting it to the platform. I then had to turn it around as I had it on the wrong side of the bit.
What I was doing was to cut a slot in the metal. That slot will be used temporarily to hold the piece down while I machine the end since my clamps are not tall enough to catch the high edge. I will remove the rest of that metal later.
I got everything set up and started grinding and it was not doing much. hours after the fact, I realize I should have used a small bit instead so the torque would be less than on the big bit I was working with.

I took my cell phone out to check the time, since I broke my watch last year, and the battery was dead. I went out to the truck to charge it up. I plugged it in, then since I was there, I decided to clean the front part and rearrange the back a little. I called my brother and learned he was not coming up. He was working on his engine, racing the liquid sunshine that was promising to come.
After hanging up with him, I found I had missed two calls from my mom. I called her back and missed her. She was going to stay at the meeting she had gone to.
I packed up and cleaned up my work area and finally left as the first liquid sunshine was coming down on us.

Next week I should work on the tea pot. I also have pieces to carve, metal to grind, wood that is begging to become something and Mom likely will have projects for me.

I will see what I actually do next week.