HOOK AUCTION!!

Another Bonnie Pierce autographed Bambullion hook is up for bids. These hooks are being auctioned to help fund the Crochet Liberation Front Retreat (CLF) 2011. ALL money raised in this auction will go into the CLF coffers.

Tha Bambullion hook is a form of my venerable "Chophooks" and has a rectangular cross-section that calculates to about a K sizewise. It has a special head shaped for making bullions. The Bullion piece you see is included and was made by Bonnie with one of these hooks!

The hook below is very special too. It's made from Red Huckleberry. I'd almost wager that Red Huckleberry has never before been used to make crochet hooks but it's an AMAZINGLY good wood for the purpose. This wood was given to me by Dennis, a VERY talented wood carver, at the 2010 CLF retreat, and was harvested, I think, in Oregon.
It's an H (5mm) and has just a bit of the bark left on an indentation that I've used for the thumb rest. A VERY unique hook and it's also up for auction to support the 2011 CLF Retreat.

To new bidders: I try to post bids as they come in. I'll not be here ALL the time... so if your bid doesn't show up right away, not to worry. Your bids will be posted as soon as I'm able to get to them. Identical bids are entered by first bid posted, so if your bid is the same as another, I'll go by which ever one mailed. Also please increase bids by $5 minimum. email bids, if you like, to me at


jimbocrochetwhittler@yahoo.com

And if you don't win this auction, don't despair. I have more Bonnie signed hooks and a couple more of her exemplary bullions too for later auctions designed to help fund the retreat.

Lets give this auction 10 days and end it on Nov. 25 at 10pm Pacific Time.

Thanks for dropping by!

Bids:
Bambullion:

Red Huckleberry H:
Amy starts us off at $25

Misty Morning In Autumn on Deadman Creek.. oh, and some hooks for sale!

Just had to share this with you. This picture was taken from the actual Jimbo's Front Porch on the Cabin up on Deadman Crick, at about 6 am while the mist was lifting off the foothills leading to Hoodoo Mountain almost due South of the ranch. (Oh I know it isn't technically a ranch cause all we might claim to raise would be chipmunks, deer, bear, bobcats, coyotes and an occasional moose; but it'll always be the Ranch to me). Ah but I digress as often I do. On that morning, I was the first one up, just got the fire going in the woodstove, put the coffee on, and looked outside to see this beautiful scene. All's I can give you is the picture so you'll have to imagine how it was with the smell of coffee brewing, mixed with a little woodsmoke from the fire, and the silence. Very peaceful, and just looking at this picture reminds me how grateful I am to have all this to experience.


On to my other joy, hookmaking. Presented for your consideration and purchase opportunity:



Gotta run right now, but will be back in a bit to tell you a little more about these pretties.

Ok, I'm back! Had some issues with Comcast, flagpole hanging, leaf bagging etc.
So here we go, left to right

Hook #1 is a Smoked Maple L (8mm)hook. Pretty! And Smoked Maple is a very lightweight hardwood, so for it's size it's a very comfortable weight to use. It's a long one... 8 1/2 inches!
Price: $25

Hook #2 is another Maple, only this one is from the Bush Maple from up on the Crick. It's a K (6.5mm) also lightweight for a hardwood and is 8 1/2 inches long.
Price: $25

Hook #3 is (I think) Alder and doesn't have a thumb rest (but I'll whittle one in if you want). It's a G (4mm) and is 7 3/4 inches long.
Price: $25 SOLD
Hook #4 is made from a wood that was in my "Goodie" bag given to me on the CLF retreat. While others got lots of yarn in their goodie bags, I got a little yarn and some Gorgeous wood. Don't know what it is but it's Beeeutiful as you can see. It's an H (5mm)and is 8 1/2 inches long.
Price: $30 SOLD


Hook #5 is another unknown wood from my goodie bag. And another knockout beautiful pearly wood. This one is a 7 (4.5mm) and is 7 1/2 inches long.
Price: $35 SOLD


Hook #6 is the always beautiful Flamewood. Dark and absolutely beautiful grain. If I'm correct, Flamewood is one of the stars in the Rosewood family. Unbelievely beautiful you just have to see it up close. This one is a G (4mm)and is just shy of 7 1/4 inches long.
Price: $45 (SOLD)

And there you have it!

As before, please email me with your order. First orders get the hook(s).
If you'd like to buy, email me at

jimbocrochetwhittler@yahoo.com

Since this is a direct sale thing, there's no time limit. I'll simply edit this post to indicate when a hook is sold.

Thanks for dropping by!
Jimbo

PS I have 6 of the Boye Interchangeable Head Thread Sets coming (interchangeable hook sizes 1 - 14), and I'll do Jimbo handles for them on order. Each set will be priced at $65. Let me know by email if you'd like to order a set. You can see an example set in my Oct. 11 post here in my blog. Thanks!

Wabi Sabi..

(Please click on image to enlarge the photo)

While I was away for the week-end at the Ranch, I left this picture for you, Dear Reader, to consider. It's a shelf that was in my cabin bedroom on Camano Island where I stayed during the Crochet Liberation Front retreat where I taught crochet hook carving. The cabin where I stayed was built in the 1930's and I'd expect that shelf was installed round bout then. I asked for your impressions in the remarks section here in my blog.

I Like your comments!

Now here are mine:

That shelf was just above the foot of the bed in my cabin on Camano Island, and it was the first thing I saw in the morning as I got up, the last as I turned off the light at night. And in between I was thinking about teaching hook carving to my students. Maybe that sets the stage a little. Or maybe that shelf would have evoked similar thoughts anyway, either way had an effect that I decided to write a bit about.

My first thought when I saw the shelf was what you'd expect. Sheesh that's really shoddy workmanship; a very shallow knee jerk reaction brought on by a lifetime of watching for "quality". Still in that negative mindset, I started thinking about the conditions at the time that shelf was constructed (I'd guess in the 30's when the little cabin was built). Then I wondered about what kind of saw was used to trim that corner, and how that brace was installed with ordinary hammer and nails without resulting in an out-of-level shelf; and how come the brace didn't have hammer marks yet that horizontal molding did. And what about the person who built and installed the shelf? Oh I had it as maybe a hobo working for a meal or a carpenter's son who was just learning the trade.

And it came to me that I was really REALLY enjoying looking at that simple old shelf that wasn't put together really that well. It was becoming comfortable, if that's a good choice of words. It fit. I was proud of the person who had the stuff to stand up and try, and if that was as best effort, then that was just fine... the shelf still does the job after all these years.

And then (here comes the epiphany) I wondered if I would have given that shelf even a second glance, had it been a plastic veneer covered particleboard plank with a plastic T mold edge sitting on a stamped metal shelf hanger, installed with a pneumatic finish nailer... something you'd expect to see. No,I thought,if I was to look at such a "modern" arrangement, I'd certainly not be inspired to wonder about the hands that did the installation. Certainly the more modern arrangement would have been MUCH more efficient to install and likely more accurate. Yet what legacy would have been left? Instead of leaving me with a warm curiosity about the carpenter, and a smile about the out-of-round curvature of that relief cut, saw marks and hammer indentations; I guarantee that if I'd paid the modern shelf any attention at all, it would have been, at best, a glance of indifference and maybe accompanied with a passing thought of derision at what a plastic world we've become.

Instead, that simple shelf made so obviously with hand tools, with very obvious tracks left by the carpenter's tools was actually inspirational. There is simple beauty in that work. Thinking about the old shelf, I left for my classes inspired that teaching people to use a knife to create a useful tool from a simple stick, is really is good thing to do. Simplicity is good. Doing things with your hands is good. Leaving tracks. Its more than good, there's a synergy.

Wabi Sabi? What do YOU think? Not the dictionary version, I expect, but there's more there than just "simple but gets the job done".

I invite your views in the comment section..

Jimbo

Bonnie Pierce Cama Bullion Hook and Jimbo sculptured Cama Hooks

While at the CLF (Crochet Liberation Front) Retreat recently on Camano Island WA, several of us decided to do a little fund raiser for the next retreat. Bonnie Pierce was kind enough to offer help. Bonnie is famous in the crochet world and has often been known as the Queen of Bullions. If you crochet, you've probably run across Bonnie's books. She's just a HUGE talent and a genuinely nice person. Bonnie and I have collaborated on a bullion hook design that makes use of bamboo chopsticks for a rectangular cross sectional shape and a bullion specific hook head. Not that you can't crochet with the hook (it's about a K, sizewise) but bullions with this hook should be a breeze.
The hook bears Bonnie's signature and comes with a bullion piece done by Bonnie with one of these hooks.
I'll auction this hook off and donate 100% of the proceeds to the next CLF retreat. Lets run this auction till 10pm (Pacific Time) next Wednesday, November 10.

To new bidders: I try to post bids as they come in. I'll not be here ALL the time... so if your bid doesn't show up right away, not to worry. Your bid will be posted as soon as I'm able to get to them. Identical bids are entered by first bid posted, so if your bid is the same as another, I'll go by which ever one mailed. Also please increase bids by $5 minimum. email bids, if you like, to me at


jimbocrochetwhittler@yahoo.com

And if you don't win this auction, don't despair. I have more Bonnie signed hooks and a couple more of her exemplary bullions too for later auctions designed to help with funding another retreat.

Bids:
Carol's in first with $10.00
Delma (one of my EXCELLENT hook whittling students at Camp Cama) goes $20
Jacqui bids $30 all the way from Australia!


FOR SALE:

Now to the other hooks. These are all made from wood donated by the Madrona Trees on or about Cama State Park on Camano Island, Washington and were made to commemorate the CLF retreat there. And there's a story here. I acquired two or three VERY dead, cracked and gray Madrona branches just as I was getting on the shuttle to leave for home at the end of the retreat. I first looked at the branches and wondered if anything at all could be done with them; they were so deeply cracked and weather beaten. But I tossed them in the back of my truck and they travelled with me back across the state to my shop where they languished a few days. Then it occurred to me, why not do some hook-like sculptural pieces and make use of that gray cracked rustic beauty? So I did and boy am I happy I kept that wood.

I've often tried to leave part of the wood surface on rustic hooks to speak for the character of the parent tree. The Puget Sound weather had aged this wood beautifully and to not leave at least a little of that natural patina would be a shame so I did, at least in the four hook sculptural pieces at the top of the photo. And the grain under the weathered exterior is just amazingly beautiful. So I tried to make a gentle transition from weathered branch... to finished wood... to useful tool. The idea was to have the pieces stand as if growing from the support surface, and have the hook shapes visually emerge upwardly as if growing from the wood.

Prices of standing sculptural hooks, left to right:

#1: This piece has the most exposed gray cracked wood..and even some lichen. It stands about 8 inches tall. Its not intended to be a fully functional hook, but if you've a mind to use it for crochet, it could be used as an approximate "L". It's signed on the bottom "Jimbo CAMA 2010".
Price: $45*

#2: Just to the right. The grain in this one stands like a twisting candle flame. There's even what looks to be a charred surface near the base. Beautiful grain, with a tapering head and neck done so as not to interrupt the flow. This one stands 8 1/2 inches tall. I think this hook, though balance might be a bit off, would work well for freeform work. It'd certainly inspire organic freeform.
Price: $45* SOLD


#3 My very favorite of the group because the base so closely resembles tree roots that you have to look twice to see that it's not growing out of what ever it's standing on. And this one is a fully functional hook, sized as a K (6.5mm) and it's 8 3/8 inches tall. Amazing grain direction and color. Signed on the bottom "Jimbo CAMA 2010 K.
Price: $75* SOLD


#4 (far right) Another very functional sculptural hook from the thought-to-be useless branch. This one is an I (5.5mm) and when it isn't making you beautiful crocheted pieces, it can stand proudly on a shelf showing off its beautiful grain and color. A little shorter, this one stands 7 3/8 inches tall. Signed on base: CAMA 2010 Jimbo I.
Price: $50* SOLD



The two hooks between the standing hooks and Bonnie's bullion hook are a bit more traditional, as far as Jimbo hooks are traditional. The bottom hook (one up from the Bonnie Pierce Bullion hook)was made from a gnarly piece of Madrona that I had set out as a joke for my carving students to select from amongst the easier carving wood blanks I'd brought for them to pick from. But the wood intrigued me, and curiosity overcame my sensibilities (not unusual for me), so I brought it home and put it on my lathe. You see the results. Swirling grain and various colors were a beautiful surprise. Actually that the piece of wood resulted in a hook AT ALL was even more of a surprise. And because its an artsy kind of hook, I made it a dedicated freeform hook. The hook tapers from the head all the way along the shank, so you can make tight loops near the hook head or large loops near the finger grip area.. freeform. There's a dark spot that I left along the finger grip area to show a bit of that heavily, dark gnarly surface. Signed "Jimbo CAMA 2010". Lets call this hook #5. Price: $40*SOLD


Just above the tapered hook and just below the standing hooks is a hook with a bit more standard madrona coloration. This piece of Madrona was rescued from the firewood pile behind the Center for Wooden Boats shop where I taught hook carving. Its a nice honey color with tracks form wood eating bugs (that I filled). I left my tracks too. The hook is signed "Jimbo I CAMA 2010". It's an I (5.5mm) amd is 7 - 7/8inches long. Lets call this one hook #6.
Price: $25* SOLD

There you have the Cama inspired hook collection!
More "ordinary" Jimbo hooks to come....

And thanks for stopping by!
Jimbo

* to buy any of these hooks, just email me at the address link given above and we'll discuss arrangements.