Week 154 : Soap making

Only showing one craft attempt this week. There is some gift-knitting but I can't show the items until they are received by the recipients.

Soap making.

I was inspired to try something new. I mostly avoid buying liquid hand soap. All that packaging waste! And I like the idea of a handcrafted soap bar. 

I read up on the method (it really doesn't sound that hard. A few safety precautions for handling the lye (sodium hydroxide) but really nothing more than I would have done if I was paintstripping a piece of furniture (protect the eyes, wear old covering clothing, rubber gloves etc. )

So I assembled the ingredients:

 Most of which I got online from Aussie Soap Supplies. Plus safety glasses, gloves from the hardware store.

The oils I used were a combination of coconut and castor oil. I added goats milk (powdered in the kit which was easier to handle).

The process was very straightforward. The only expensive part was getting a stick blender as it can't be used for food afterwards. I compromised and upgraded the kitchen one to relieve the duty on the one I had.

Maybe my oil, cocoa butter, goats milk mixture was too complex for my first try. I think I over mixed it.. just as I was wondering if I had reached the stage of 'thin trace' than it went very lumpy.

I poured it into my mould. It has set, it is supposedly curing for some weeks. It is not the prettiest bar of soap by a long shot.

I am hoping my next attempt will be a bit better. I'm going to try a simple olive oil soap and pay more attention to the combining.

Week 150-153 : Holiday season crafting

I knit and I dyed fabric this holiday.

Firstly the fabric (because the knit is socks and there have been an awful lot of sock pictures on this blog).

i had a load of white 100% cotton pillowcases which were past their best so I used them to experiment a little.

Inspired by a post on Design sponge about Shibori dyeing I got to work using a commercial dye.

I tried three types of wrapping. I tied these really tightly (and had the blisters to prove it afterwards)

The most dramatic effect was with the twine only.

Then the crosswise paddle pop sticks

And the single paddle pop sticks.

I was so inspired by this experiment I went on to dye a set of table napkins. These are plain cotton (bought cheaply). I used the same brand of dye in chocolate brown and the crosswise paddle pop stick wrap.

Love them!

My son is about to get his own mobile phone. A hand-me-down from his father. I cross-stitched a plastic cover for it. 

And the socks….

A pair in a gradient yarn from Augustbird for a friend.

A pair in a fake Fair Isle for my daughter. She loves the colour and pattern but thinks they're a bit too long in the leg so they don't fold neatly over her boot.

And a pair in Twisted Limone colour Gothic Rainbow for my son.

Week 149 : Magenta baby cardigan

A baby cardigan.

It is being quickly gifted so not much time to photograph, not even enough time to block! I just gave it a quick burst of steam from the iron.

The pattern is Boy-o-boy by Carol Scott. I have made ten of these little cardigans now. They are my go-to pattern. They knit up quickly, show off a pretty artisan yarn (especially useful for odd skeins in the stash. I used a bit less than 250yards)

This cardigan uses Dream in Color Classy in the colour Absolute Magenta.
I have also had good results in Madelinetosh DK, Artyarns Supermerino, Mirasol Cotonani, Evoke Yarns Whisper, and Debbie Bliss Andes.

The buttons are simple translucent plastic from Lincraft. They are a very good colour match.

My Ravelry page is here.

Week 147, 148 : Blue socks, rainbow gothic sock yarn

I have finished the second of the three pairs I am knitting for my school friends. This pair is in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the colour Blue Nile.

I have cast on the third pair and hope to finish in the coming week.

I also cast on a pair with yarn I bought on Ravelry destash. It is Twisted Limone yarn in the colour Rainbow Gothic. My son really likes it. 

Today I have to travel back to the restaurant we had lunch at yesterday. My small knitting bag with this partly finished sock fell out of my bag and was left under the table. Phew. That would have been a great disappointment.

I like the funky colour striping so much I have bought three more Twisted Limone yarns on destash. The three are girly colour mixes and my daughter has dibs on at least two.

School summer holidays have just started. (This is day number 2!). I have lots of holiday crafting plans and that means I hope to blog projects other than sock knitting!

Week 146 : Advent Calendar

I saw a cute advent calendar on Pinterest a few weeks ago. I've been saving our toilet roll tubes in order to craft it. Its not quite finished yet. (Hence the pins holding the roof glue steady)



I used lightweight brown paper glued to the front end.






The day numbers are text handwritten in gold with a fine black pen outline.



Now just to fill with treats and Christmas messages and then glue the back card on. My kids are looking forward to popping each December day and finding out the little surprises inside.

Week 144- 145 Cotton voile dress and sock progress

I started a dress in a blue and white cotton voile. It is partially assembled and the lining is pinned inside.

The pattern is Vogue V1351 and first sewn in a lightweight wool crepe in Week 103

I was inspired by a china bracelet bought on Etsy and received in Week 139

The skirt requires some adjustment at the side seams in order for the border print to fall gracefully. The al-line pattern was unsuited to a straight line selvedge so i will have to make a different line down.

It needs a narrow navy belt too. The blue ribbon is a temporary trial.


i finished the Regia socks. the colour is called Persian Carpet.

Week 142-3 : More socks and some dye

A fortnightly update because there have been unbloggable projects.

One pair of socks for my daughter finished. The yarn is Dream in Color Starry in the colour "Milky Spite" (Sprite? Although the label says spite).

Such a pretty skein with its silver sparkle and soft pastel pinks and greens. My daughter loved it. So did I.. initially.

Such a disappointment then, to see it knitted up and looking so insipid. The colour of goose-bumped skin you might say. Not a flattering topper to a little girls boot. Still.. it is a pair done for school camp, off my queue!

I used only 50% of the skein. Since I did a little dyeing this weekend, I over dyed it with purple. Its now prettier! The silver thread pops (not that my photo shows this very well) and the purple is a semisolid. I think my daughter will love another pair of socks from this.

Next I wound a lovely skein from Augustbird. The colour was a pre-order called Songbird. With much enthusiasm, I bought two.

I cast on for my daughter.

I will share this skein with my friend who has a daughter the same age and the second skein will go into stash for myself some time in the future.

I still have socks in queue. Life is still packed full of must-do and urgent tasks. Sock knitting is proving very calming.

I have fabric cut out and a range of crafts put aside for the forthcoming school holidays at the beginning of December.

I will be soap making and screen printing too. Can't wait for some freedom to get stuck in to that!