Show & Tell: Oak Leaf Carving (Basswood, One Broken Gift Knife Later)

Whittled a single oak leaf out of basswood last night—my first real attempt since the tremor in my left hand started making me shy with a blade. It's not perfect, the veins are a little snakey on one side, but the wood smelled like honey and clean snow while I worked. Took three hours, one Band-Aid, and the stubbornness of a woman who lost a championship tree to oak wilt and needed to make one that wouldn't die.