Casey Moe

For this week of whittling, I still seem to be in a slump. The shape of the wood blocks have stopped me from being able to do some of designs I had planned to, and I haven’t gotten around to getting different shaped ones or cutting them. I feel guilt and stress about not progressing with my whittling, and I hope I can get back into it soon. With other school work, college work, and just life getting in the way, sadly whittling hasn’t been my absolute top priority. Im really going to try to change that this week. The one thing I have accomplished however, is painting my gnome that I had whittled awhile ago. So I suppose I’m still on track in that aspect. 

As of week 3 of whittling, I've reached a bit of a standstill. I completed the baseball bat that had been giving me a world of troubles. I smoothed it out, sanded it until it was almost soft to the touch, and attached a key chain to the end of it. I was satisfied with its end result, especially because of all the obstacles I had to overcome to finish it. After its completion, I knew I should start on another project, but I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do. I tossed around a few ideas, but they all seemed too complex, or wouldn't quite work for the shape of wood blocks I have. I could cut the blocks I have in half in order to make them more square-ish, but as an average teenage girl, I don't know how to function a power saw to do so. I can either settle for whittling something long and slender to fit the wood blocks I have, or buck up and learn to use a saw to shape the wood. We'll see what I can manage.

Week 2 of whittling has proved to be quite challenging. As I finished up on the details of my gnome, I made the decision to sidetrack for a bit and start a new project. I chose a small baseball bat as my next whittling creation. As simple as the design may be, I knew I would face difficulty with having correct proportions, smooth texture, and even knife strokes on such a small and delicate piece of wood. Beginning the bat was simple enough. I could take large pieces off with the knife and within no time at all, the basic bat shape was starting to form. However, I was soon to run into some issues. As the bat got smaller, I had to be more precise with my cuts in order to not take too much off, which was a worry of mine. Things were going smoothly, but then I ran into a couple of spots on the wood where the wood grain was uneven, rough, and almost impossible to cut through without damaging the bat's surface. I tried to be gentle with my approach to cutting and smoothing it, but none...