as green wood dries it cracks, checks, warps and does all manner of infuriating things. lumber yards kiln dry the lumber before sending it out for use in construction, and most carpenters and wood butchers don't work with green wood...but it is easier to carve. i suggest that you carry on, and plan to patch the cracks after they occur. this is your first kuksa, not your last, and the mission here is experiential learning rather than perfection.

i am approaching blacksmithing in this fashion-heating and beating, seeing how it turns out, giving away the better pieces, recycling the rest. not my habitual modus, in the past I read and sought advice, and went to school. now I am retired, no paycheck, no boss, no interest in what the critics say, so i am letting hephaestus and wayland lead me as they choose.