Aside from it actually snowing this week (which oddly has been rare this winter here in Maine (and yes I know it’s technically spring but that normally doesn’t start till much later here)) I had a package from McClain’s Printmaking Supplies waiting for me when I came back home from Veazie. I get so excited when I get a package from an art supply company, new toys to try out!!! Inside were the following gems:

Woodblock Carving Tools from McClain’s

My new tools for woodblock cutting include:

• A bench hook to work on and hold the wood in place while carving (and hopefully avoid cutting myself).
• A traditional set of Namisei Moku Hanga To woodblock carving tools. These need to be cut down to match the exact size of my hand before using.
• Shina plywood – this is a very fine grained plywood from Japan that is ideal for woodblock cutting as it is virtually grainless. I got a few larger pieces and a grabbag of smaller pieces to practice on and make some stamps for freeform printing.

Now I just have to figure out how to cut down the carving tools…

The rest of the week has itself been a grabbag – lots of time on the phone with my mother (who is recovering well – thank you for all the well wishes) and sisters; dipping the pieces that my mother wrote the names of Grace’s children on for her quilt, figuring out the geometry of Grace’s quilt, some more printing experiments and trying to figure out how to crochet a pineapple pattern.

That last one has been interesting. I should have tried this one while I was up in Veazie with my mother to help out, instead I’ve been trying to read patterns and watching YouTube videos. I finally realized that it wasn’t going to work while I was using yarn and a crochet hook that was far too big for what I was trying to accomplish and headed to the Michael’s to get what was called for in the video and patterns I was reading. I am experiencing fear:

Crocheting tools

I think the reading glasses will be coming out for this one.