Second and Third Pulls, Keeping Your Hands Wet
Okay. You've got one pull done. The wall came up a little, probably wobbled somewhere in the middle, and you're looking at something that's taller than a floor but not tall enough to call a mug yet. That's normal. One pull almost never gets you there. This lesson's about going back in for a second pull, and a third if the clay's still got it in it.
Here's the thing nobody tells you clearly enough when you're starting out: each pull is basically the same move you already learned, just starting from a taller, thinner wall. Same hand position. Same steady rise. The only thing that changes is you've got less margin for error, because the wall's thinner now and it doesn't forgive as much.
Before you pull again, check your water
This is where I'm going to state my preference, because it's a real preference and some instructors will tell you different. I run wetter than most people teach it. Your hands should be sloppy wet before every single pull, not just damp. If your hands are dry even a little, they'll drag on the clay instead of gliding, and dragging is what tears walls, especially on a second or third pull when the clay's thinner and has less to give.
So: bowl of water at your left knee, or wherever's natural for you. Dunk both hands before you start the pull. Not a quick dip. Get them properly wet. If the clay starts feeling tacky under your fingers mid-pull, that's your signal you waited too long, and you stop, re-wet, and start the pull again from the bottom. You will re-wet more than feels necessary. That's fine. That's the job.
Some folks worry the extra water makes the clay too soft to work. In my experience the opposite problem — dry hands tearing a beginner's wall — happens way more often and is way harder to recover from. A little extra water and a slightly softer wall you can still shape. A torn wall, you're starting over.
The pull itself
Same setup as before. One hand inside, one hand outside, pinched around the wall low near the floor. Elbow into your hip, both of them if you can manage it, so your arms aren't doing the work, your whole body moving up is doing the work.
Squeeze gently, evenly, and rise. Slow. You're not trying to get the wall thin in one shot on this second pull. You're trying to get it a little thinner and a little taller than the first pull left it. Third pull, same idea again. Thinner still, taller still. It's incremental. Nobody gets from lump to finished wall in one motion, and if your first class you tried to force it all in one pull, that's probably where the tearing happened.
Watch the top edge as you go. If it starts flaring out or getting wavy, that's usually a sign your pressure wasn't even between your two hands, one side pinching more than the other. Stop, true up the rim with your fingers, and go again on the next pull rather than fighting it mid-pull.
About the fancy stuff
I'll be honest, there are people who do all this with a lot less water than I use, and there's a technique some folks swear by for keeping your hands drier through pulls, sort of managing the water instead of drowning the clay in it. I've tried versions of it, similar spirit to that magic ring opening trick I told you about a few lessons back, where somebody swears it's cleaner and more controlled. Same story here. I've tried the drier method maybe five separate times over the years, thinking maybe this time it'll click, and it just doesn't work for my hands. I end up dragging, I end up tearing, and I go right back to soaking my hands before every pull. So that's what I'm teaching you, because it's what I actually trust, not because it's the only way that exists.
When to stop pulling
Two, maybe three pulls is plenty for a first bowl or mug. You'll feel the clay start to get tired, a little less responsive, maybe starting to wobble again even though you centered it fine. That's your stopping point. Pushing a fourth pull on tired clay is how walls give out entirely, and then you're cutting the whole thing off the wheel and starting from a fresh lump. Which, by the way, is completely fine to do. Nobody bats a thousand on pull count.
Before next time: at home, if you don't have a wheel, just practice the wet-hands habit on anything — even wetting and re-wetting your hands during dishes, feeling how different wet skin moves versus dry skin. Sounds small. It'll save you a torn wall next class.