Hi Helen, I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your question, and hope your starter is back to rising well! I wouldn't worry too much about the surface appearance, as long as you're seeing the starter double in size. For some reason I think the smaller jar makes it more difficult to see the same large and small bubbles on the surface as you'll see in a larger jar. I'm sure there is some physics-related explanation for this, but if you're seeing bubbles throughout the starter when it's at its peak, and it is doubling reliably, then your starter is behaving as it should. 

As to your recent set back in rising, I'm not sure I would recommend the 2:1:1 ratio and once a day feedings, since that feeding plan is recommended to encourage the yeast to kick in initially. Once you've seen some predictably rising, it's important to feed twice a day, which will further promote yeast activity. Since you did have a period of predictably doubling, then it may be that you just need to tweak the ratio of ingredients in your starter to allow you to replenish the starter closer to when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall (which keeps the yeast activity high). Allowing the starter to collapse significantly between feedings tends to lead to more sluggish yeast behavior. Feeding your starter a realtively large meal (more flour/water, as compared to starter being fed) will slow down the rate of fermentation, and may allow you to replenish your starter closer to when it's at its peak. Consider trying a 1 part starter :2 parts water :2 parts flour, or even 1:3:3, by weight. If you're maintaining our smaller starter, your twice a day feedings might look like: 12g starter + 24g water + 24g flour. The goal is to find a room temperature feeding routine that works for you and your starter, and allows you to replenish your starter when it's closer to its peak. Keep in mind that room temperature also plays an important part in the rate of fermentation, so if things are warming up where you live, it may also be helpful to use cooler water for your feedings. Once you see your starter rising predictably again, you can consider your starter mature and ready for baking bread, and you can also begin refrigerating your starter when you're not planning to bake. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb 

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