So I came upon a stunning realization today...the bigger the ball of clay you start out with the less chance there s to make the walls too thin and tear it apart! (at least for me, anyway) 

my second lil pot with rings

...and the even more stunning information... the pots are bigger then too! Ha!

These are by far the two largest things I have turned so far... large, of course, being a relative term at this time...

objects in picture appear larger than actual size, ha!