This swoopy cut delights me.

Last Advent I was captivated by a friend’s picture post of her newly knitted Advent calendar.  She made 24 little red, green, and winter white mittens and hung them on a garland.  Inside each one was a slip of paper describing that day’s special Advent treat or excursion.  My friend is also a fantastic photographer, so the picture itself was gorgeous.

I kept going back to click on it again and drink in the colors and coziness of her creation.  When I finally asked if I could commission her to create one for me for Advent this year, she said, “Why don’t we barter?”

So I’ve been working on my first yarn bowls in pottery class this year.  They’re designed to hold a ball of yarn, so that when you pull on the end (fed through cool cutaway patterns in the bowl) the ball doesn’t roll away.

Unexpectedly, bartering my pottery for her knitting made me feel more like a “real artist” than selling a piece or two.  I love the exchange of art for art, work for work.  When I went to the pack and ship store yesterday to send the yarn bowl off to my friend, I paid attention to the cool weight of that blue bowl with the gorgeous swoopy cutaway.  And then I handed it over to make its way to another state and another home, where mittens are taking shape to eventually make their way to me.

Of course, in the barter age they didn’t have pack and ship stores or the internet. 

(Click on over to my potter page to see what else came out of the kiln this month.  I also tried making lamps for the first time!)