“why take a spoon when you can make one while you’re there?”

I’ve been hanging out with some immensely smart and practical folk in Shepparton doing a few busmods. They have the sexiest shed I have ever seen, in fact they have three – one for fabrics (including an industrial quilting machine), one for electronics and one for wood and metal work. They make saws and chisels too… amazing stuff.

Since here I’ve had a go at MIG welding (http://fee.withknown.com/2014/playing-with-welding-1st-goleft-2nd-goright-learningallthethings) and last night we were talking about carving. I mentioned the Welsh spoons my sister had made for me from http://barnthespoon.com (a wonderful character who used to live in the woods in Wales but now has a base in London).

Josh has suggested I should make my own (his exact phrase was “why take a spoon when you can make one while you’re there?”) – and if I was going to learn to carve I should make my own carving knife to do it with! The pic here is a spoon he made on his last trip, he does it every time he travels.

As a nomad it makes so much sense to work with the nature around you, and if I learned to carve it could be something I could offer to teach as I travel.

Not sure if I’ll have the chance to make my own knife on this trip, but if I did I’d celebrate the Welsh Love Spoon tradition and use a “Twca Cam” knife… watch this space…

[originally posted via Known, October 18th 2014]