Wooden Spoon

     I made this wooden spoon from a beautiful piece of bird's eye maple. Spoon carving is a very satisfying and relaxing process. I am not sure of exactly how long it took me to make this spoon, but I would estimate about 12-15 hours.
     I learned to carve spoons about ten years ago from my friend Hannah. Of course, these first spoons were not very practical, since they were so bulky, due to my inexperience - they never would have fit in one's mouth. My first spoons were made of pine, which is a soft wood and is therefore much easier to carve. Since then, I have made many more spoons and worked my way up to harder wood. Bird's eye maple is especially difficult because each of the bird's eyes (the dots on the wood) is a knot. Knots are harder to cut through, causing the carving to take a longer time, but I think the beautiful patterns are worth the effort.