Readers, we have a big oops to report and a sincere apology to issue today! On page 48 of our latest issue, BREAD, we posted an incorrect image demonstrating knife carving. The first image on that page (see above) was intended to illustrate how NOT to carve, but was not captioned by us appropriately. As Chris Knapp so perfectly describes in his article, if you ask the question "where's it going when it slips away?" you'll see that the knife is headed right for Chris' fingers in that photograph. No, no, no!
An excerpt from his article:
This is the only question the carver must ask: "Where is the knife going when it goes beyond where I intended?" I tell them the question, then illustrate it with a little game. I say, "You tell me where this knife is going when it slips away." Then I hold the knife on a piece of wood as though I were about to start carving. First, I hold it over my leg. "Where is it going?” Then I hold it next to my foot. "Where is it going?" Then I place my hand on the wrong side of the piece of wood so that the knife is going toward the hand. "Where is it going?" Then I hold the wood very near whoever is sitting next to me. "Where is it going?" The kids see the pattern right away, it is easy to answer these questions!
Then I hold the wood so that the knife will slip away into open air. "Where is it going?"
"Into the air!" they shout. It is that simple!
To complicate the matter a tad there are very good and useful carving techniques that involve holding the blade vertically and carving toward one’s chest. That is why the rule is not the proverbial always carve away from yourself! Instead of a rule I offer a question that demands attention from the intellect of the carver, “Where is my knife going when it slips away?”
All the other images in the carving article are safe and appropriate! And here are a few more (above) for visual reference. We hope that clears things up and again apologize to Chris and all of you for the error.
~amanda
P.S. Don't forget to check out our recently produced video, featuring Chris teaching us how to properly sharpen our knives, with plenty of great carving shots as well!