So the big hare block, the one I've been carving the last three weeks, has a hairline crack running out from the ear about an inch and a half. Been there a few days I think. I noticed it Tuesday and my honest reaction was to turn the lamp a bit and keep going, which tells you everything about where the head is at.

It's a 300x400 piece of lino, grey hessian-backed, and I've gone too deep along the ear hollow, that's what did it. Thin floor, pressure from the gouge, and she split. Should have known, I knew it at the time, there's a sound it makes when you're cutting too fine and I heard it and carried on.

Now the question is do I keep pulling from it and just accept the crack will show up as a faint line in the print, or do I stop and do the whole thing again. I did four proofs off it Saturday and honestly the line barely reads, it looks like a bit of texture in the fur. But it'll get worse. Every pull opens it a bit more.

My wife says put a bit of tape on the back and stop fussing. The tape trick does work, I've done it before on smaller blocks, but this one's for an edition of 40 and I don't want to be standing in the market in six months explaining a seam.

Anyway. I've a bit of fresh lino in the rack and I'm half-committed to starting again and half-committed to pretending this one is grand. Sitting here with a mug of tea gone cold looking at it like it might heal itself. 🙂