Can a girl have too many irons in the fire

I'm the first to admit I don't do well in the heat. So when the summer rolled around it was time for me to step back from the forge, it was not an easy thing for me to do. I love to play with hot metal. I like watching the cold grey steel change to a warm glowing orange. I like to stand near the heat of the forge on a cold day, I like the smell of the shop, actually I love the smell of any workshop, it reminds me of the important men of my life. I had such great relationships with my Grandfathers, it was in the workshop I learned the most from them and about them. Inside the cave I learned the secrets.

My blacksmith buddy John has a workshop that is a mix of metal, wood, pottery and now glass, this man is so kind and genuine, he’s a domestic violence counselor as a writer, there aren’t enough words to describe how much I enjoy John’s company and not in a sexual way, were just on the same wavelength. I finally made it back to the shop on Saturday, John and I enjoyed some coffee and conversation before finally making our way over to the forge. I brought in a 1” x ½” x 18”piece of what turned out to be hardened steel for a pot rack that I had been working on. I used the chop saw to get a straight edge on both ends and finished up with the grinder, you always want to start with a good foundation. I finally found my place around the forge, I moved the fire brick over just enough for my piece to fit in. When my piece was glowing orange, I pulled it out and placed it on my anvil, I raised my grandpa ball peen hammer and started to round out that top corner, I turned the piece on its side giving it a couple blow, I flipped it to the opposite side doing the same, I was trying to keep my piece straight and flat, I stuck my piece back in the forge and repeated. John had been watching me work while his metal was heating up, he offered to let Dali, his 50 lb trip hammer do all the hard work. I gladly handed over my metal. I looked around for some ¼” square stock. I cut off 2 pieces 6” long, I ground the ends and stuck them in the fire. Once my piece was hot I made a leaf on one side and the other side I made a fishhook to hold my pots. When my hook looked the way I wanted I heated up the leaf and bent it over so it would hook onto the pot rack. I have found that when I make the veins on leaves there's always that one oops that has messed up line. I'm happy having the shape rather than the details.

I walked to the other side of the forge to watch John work, he placed the steel under the hammer on the plate. With one blow all my hard work was gone, Dali’s hammer came down with such force, moving much more metal than I could, in a fraction of the time.


The piece John worked on is the long piece at the top, they will eventually bend come down and I'll make hooks on both sides

I have a lot of grinding to do and then put some sort of finish on it so it doesn't rust.

We finally turned off the forge at 4:30, I had a blister starting on my hand from gripping my hammer. I shoulder was sore, I had a huge smile on my face and soul was overflowing with joy. I forgot how my I really love playing with metal. I need to do this more often. 
I have this whole leaf theme going on. This is my utensil holder, its hard to see but I put twists on the sides To finish this piece and the hooks off I coated them with oil and baked it in a 400 degree over for an hour, it has a nice shine.


Here's shot of my girl, can you believe Big Bertha was a gift? This is one of the things that I would save if I ever have a fire, but I have a feeling a fire would hurt this baby and there's no way I could carry my anvil, it weighs a lot! Now I'm curious, how much does she weigh?

When I got home I finished weaving a sampler wall hanging. Instead of flipping through the book in a tapestry book I checked out of the library, I deiced to follow the pattern, I learned how to make shapes, change colors, very time consuming, but something that I really wanted to learn, I have some ideas where I need to know how to weave. So now I can go on a field trip to find thing for this idea I'm excited.

Bear in mind when you're judging this. This is my first weaving on a picture frame.