Oh shame on me...

I have neglected you blog!  I'm sorry please don't take it personally, I've been super busy!!!

I recently had TWO patterns on Ravelry's 'HOT RIGHT NOW' tab...yep, two!  I was freakin out with excitement....(perhaps you have to be a knitter to totally understand the joy).  I attached a snap of the screen shot just to prove it...not that I was thinking you had any doubts.

I was #5 and #8...out of 250,564!!!  

AND...I've been making SOAP!

I had two orders for Baby Showers and have been putting the finishing touches on the batches, labels, etc and making a bunch of other batches.....pictures always tell a better story than me trying to describe them...plus who doesn't like pictures of soap???

 Rose Clay & Charcoal (updated version)

Green Tea & Nettle (on left) Alkanet Root infused oil & Rose Clay (on right)

 Green Tea & Nettle 

Close up of Alkanet Root infused soap embedded in Nettle before the last pour

And the finished soap.... used alkanet root infused oil embeds in Nettle..yellow is turmeric infused oil

 

Soap patiently curing.....4-6 weeks 

I love all of the colors...all natural, nothing artificial, synthetic, dyes or otherwise harmful in anyway.  I think most of the colorants I used you could probably eat!  Most..not all, but please don't munch on the soap. 

I'm in love with Orange Balls

Oh, snap!

yep, it has been a few days without me blogging....since I'm sans computer.  Our 1966 Frigidaire Custom Imperial fridge went ker-plunk and I'm not letting her throw in the towel.  I can't give her up she is too precious and beautiful...not to mention the fact that she is built into the kitchen space and it would entail ripping out cabinets and I'm not going there.  So, I was up close and personal with her the other day with my flashlight removing her parts.  I think I may have removed the proper one and after hours online searching for a vintage piece, I decided to pick up the phone and made a few calls.  I really thought I wasn't going to find anything  but someone recommended a guy who he referred to as 'the hoarder'.  He actually has the part!  Holy cow he has the part!!!  Yeah, I'm so excited!!  So anyway the long and short of it is this fridge is built into the kitchen space so there is no pulling her out and unplugging her so we had to kill the breaker in the breaker box so I could tinker with her guts.  My computer and some other random plug in the corner of the dining room (which I discovered didn't work when I plugged my sewing machine into it and nothing.....I thought ...not that too...then I realized oh, yeah breaker box) are currently not in working order.  I actually enjoy not having my computer for the time being....I've made lots of soap, have done lots of knitting, made a quilt top and have been fixing the fridge......time has been nice!  Computers suck our time away like it never existed...but they have their purpose too...blah, blah, blah......how about some pictures!!!

Calendula Soap.....dried calendula flowers from my garden

A horrible picture of a beautiful shawl (it is currently blocking).....Alpaca Sox Shawlette pattern on Ravelry......used Nora Cash Iroho, Nora Silk Garden and Suss Yarn Love...great pattern!

Infused Oils

I recently returned from an impromptu trip to NC to visit my parents.  I was able to cut some herbs from their garden as well as some eucalyptus from a nearby tree.  I decided to make some infused oils for some future soap.  I'd like to keep my soap as natural as possible and plan on not using pigments, dyes or scents for it.  Infused oils will help with color (oh well...most may be green!) and some scent.  Washed and dried and stripped the leaves off of mint, oregano and rosemary.  I left the leaves on the stalks of sage and parsely, but chopped them finely.  I chopped the mint and oregano too, but left the rosemary as is.  I was able to put my Alaskan Ulu knife to some good use.  I put the herbs in clean Mason jars and topped with oil.  I decided to use Soybean since it hardly has a scent.  I've used Olive in the past and it works fine as well.