tap handles

ever since my brother tom's wedding two summers ago (for which tom and his good friend derek brewed all the beer and for which i made some sweet scrap mahogany tap handles), derek has occasionally reminded me that he wouldn't mind having his own set of handmade tap handles. we finally sat down and figured out what he would like and i spent a little time on the lathe whipping them up:

the darker is walnut, collected and milled by my dad at some point before i was born. the lighter is mulberry from california urban lumber- my favorite/possibly only source for locally salvaged hardwood lumber.

more below!

the lathe

the lathe has seen a lot of use lately, as the huge pile of chips and dust would suggest. have i told you how great the lathe is? it is great. though it is not the most utilitarian (tablesaw, perhaps?) or versatile (have to go with the bandsaw) power tool in the shop, i think it is still my favorite. oh, it also is probably the most dangerous, too.

a blankie

so my brother and sister-in-law went and got themselves a baby, or, i suppose, they have one on order. it should be showing up right around easter. oh, and by "it," i mean "he."

in any case, i decided to knit the little bugger a blanket. i would have given some process updates but i didn't want to give away the surprise. so now that it is (more or less) finished and gifted, i'll show it to you:

more below!

a month? lame. turmeric? rad.

it's been a busy month.  and the next two don't look like they will be any less busy.  so i guess posts will continue to be few and far between for a while longer....

but things are still happening!  take this little experiment, for instance- turmeric dye for fabrics.

here's the process:  (the few web sources i read make it clear that no aluminum should be used but don't say why) boil turmeric in water, about a tablespoon per cup, for 15ish minutes.  split into three smaller baths, add a quarter teaspoon of salt to one and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to another.  give em a stir.  shove in some fabric scraps and poke em around for a while.  then i let them sit for about twenty minutes, pulled them out and gave them a good rinse. 

and the result?

this is not an art blog

this is a craft blog.  it's about making stuff that is, to some extent, useful.  or, at least, not quite as haughty as art.  still, i finally got back to my art practice after what seemed like a terribly long 4 week self imposed sabbatical (after what seemed like an even longer case of artist's block.)  so to celebrate, here's a shot of a new maquette:

it is cropped in a bit because 1. this is not an art blog and 2. i'm not ready to show any finished images, seeing as it is a maquette.  when i do finish something, look for it at my website (johnruszel.com).

i guess the radishes aren't quite ready yet.

i'm a terrible gardener and i've killed a lot of plants in my time.  i usually work pretty hard at the beginning of a season, fixing up my little garden patches, ripping up weeds and dead things, mixing in some new soil and what have you.  and then time passes.  and i miss a few days of watering.  and since i already missed a few, what harm could a few more do?  and soon enough i have whole patches of zombie plants that want only one thing: revenge.  revenge for my negligence.  and that's when i start actively ignoring the back yard.

but things are going a bit better this season!  first: nature has been helping with the watering, second: i have much lower expectations and third: i planted radishes which, i hear, can be grown by even the worst, most uninvolved gardeners.  i also planted garlic (which seems to be doing alright, though i'm not counting my cloves before they a pulled up in the spring) and carrots and chard (which went in a few weeks after the other things and have yet to do much at all.)

someday, i'd love to be a proficient grower of food.  for now, it is baby steps.  i'll let you know how it goes.