Hand Carved Spoon Gift

These are some of my hand carved spoons that I gave to a friend the other day.

I gave her a bunch because I can never ever ever choose a spoon for someone that is the same they would have chosen for themself....theirselves? their self? 

People often like the little spoons. The one on the left is probably sycamore. The spatula next to it is also probably sycamore.

The next spatula is a "spoon-u-la." It is made from spalted maple. I had cut it specifically for a friend who wanted this design exactly. Unfortunately, after carving it, I realized I had carved it as a mirror image of what she wanted. Ugh. I had traced a pattern of what she wanted and then flipped it over when I went to trace it. Hopefully, that was a lesson learned. (The friend didn't reject it, by the way. I did.)

Also, this wood was very hard and it took me many hours to carve. It was a beautiful piece, but wow. Spatulas are hard for me to carve anyway. That slight curve down to the flat part is difficult to do.

The next spoon is almost a ladle. I think it is also sycamore. It has a couple of knots In the bowl. Sometimes, these things seem to show up after I have already invest many hours in carving them.

The last spoon is cherry. My favorite wood next to anything spalted. I added this spoon to the mix because it was perfect. I don't know if any of the others would be considered perfect.