Lucy: sounds like you got yourself a cheese knife what you need is
a knife with very sharp serrated knife, that's the best.
I use this knife: http://storage.kanshin.com/free/img_.../k80608737.jpg
This is the best, I've been using one of those in my kitchen to cr ut
everything for the past 3 years and it's still real sharp.

When I say paralel to the bread I mean laying the knife down when you
cut, this way when the loaf expands in the oven it opens the cut
sideways, making "la grigne" as the french peeps would say.
But also it's good to make the cuts on the lenght, close to each
other, so the loaf expands more evenly.
a bit like here http://jacquesbakeryinc.com/images/Baguette.JPG the
bread doesnt look that good, but look at the cuts, each cut starts at
the middle of the cut before.


Mike: your last pictures look good, better than the previous ones! I
can see some life coming out of your loaves!

Jim: http://www.waxmansrugs.com/images/whatever.jpg