My observation on color sampling
The 1st row : Last year, roughness appeared on the rims of the pieces, (the temperature dropped from the side stoking, and carbon clung onto the surface). This year, there was no roughness, only smoothness, because of "hiura," a back heating technique used to reduce the amount of direct heat. The pieces were well-baked compared to last year's firing, so the pieces had a shine, their surfaces were smooth, and the tightness of the clay was good.
The 2nd row : The result was just like the last year's 1st row. There was no roughness on the rim and overall, it was pretty good.
The 4th row : The result was just like last year's result. There was a shine on the hiura and the clay tightness was a little better.
The 6th row : There were no yakishime pieces here. Yakishime pieces were in the 5 front rows and the front shelf. The 6th and the 7th rows were glazed pieces. The color of Shigaraki clay pieces were a good scarlet color, but water ran on the surface because I didn't raise the temperature for cone 09 to completely bend over.
The color of the glazed samples were all nicely melted, however, you never know the true result until you take the pieces out of the kiln. (The true color appears after a gradual cool down.) White glaze, for Kinyou (Celadon porcelain) which I aimed at, melted and showed slightly white opaque. One red clay piece showed a slightly blue color with rapid cool down during the color check (thick glazed part).