Im trying out a new learning technique from the book, "The First 20 Hours...how to learn anything" by Josh Kaufman. (Check out his TED talk on youtube) I just finished my first 20 hours with this Awl and French style stitching clam. I definitely see a huge improvement in my Awl and needle manipulation as well as saddle stitch asthetics. I practiced everyday for various time frames and hit 20 hours on day 17. The book goes on to say it takes 10000 hours to reach mastery. For many high proficiency is the goal and 20 hours of concentrated practice is all that stands in our way. The key is setting up fast feedback loops and practicing one technique at a time to avoid the dreaded analysis poralysis. Next up for me is hand skiving. What do you want to learn or improve?
With regard to Skiving knives, I recently came across a guy that uses blades from wooden hand planes for Skiving knives. I haven't tried it out yet but I think its a great idea.
Doug