Blog Archives

I made soap yesterday with Erin, one of our neighbors. She’s also at home during the day and she was interested in learning how. We had a lot of fun. It’s more fun to do projects with someone than alone. She’ll be back today this afternoon when it is time to cut the soap.

She’s a nice lady and just unloaded a bunch of maternity clothes on me, which was nice. I don’t think I’ll have to buy much now. She’s close to my height (a bit taller) and has two young boys. Real cuties.

We made two batches of soap. One has shea butter and rose hip oil (and cinnamon fragrance and red kaolin clay) as the non-standard ingredients (by non-standard, I mean not one of the base oils I use: castor, palm, olive, coconut, etc.) and the other was Illipe butter and tea tree oil. Hopefully they all come out alright.

I should make up another batch or two to use up some more of the oils I have. They don’t last indefinitely. In a “it’s a small world” note, Erin’s husband is a chemist and he works for the same company that I’d bought most of the oils from. Bizarre.

I have other stuff to post about, but I’ve also got some finished projects to post… I finally found an antique wrought iron bench for the bathroom. I re-upholstered it in the same fabric I made the curtains out of and added some fringe for a frou-frou affect. I think it came out pretty good.
Next up…a purse I actually finished knitting a while back but just now finished putting in a lining and the frog closure. I’d gotten the yarn (which is made from the silk of reclaimed saris) from an estate sale for about 1/2 the price of what it would have normally cost. It’s really colorful. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, I don’t think. I made the strap long enough I could put it over my head and carry it that way. I’ll feel all bohemian…
And here’s a purse I knit for my niece. I just need to mail it to her. It’s knit out of a chenille yarn. There’s a bit of a pattern on the front, but the rest of it is just plain knit. I made the flap kind of triangular, made a tassle thing-y for it and added a little bauble (shell) hanging on it. I like how it came out. I hope Rachael likes it too. I heard she was a little miffed because I hadn’t made her a scarf too, but it was only because I was planning on making her a purse.

So I finished up a few things I’d been meaning to. I had three little canvases that I’d painted blue and green a while ago. The photo didn’t come out great — the flash washed it out, but they are now three kitty cat pictures. Maybe if you click through for the big view you can tell. The fat Gracie one came out best.
Then I finished re-painting the little table for the bathroom. I sanded it, painted it black, and then painted on freehand some poppies and mums. At least, I intended for them to look like poppies and mums, so hopefully they do.

Fudge.

And that’s all I’ll say about that.

I actually finished off two knitting projects this weekend. Whoo-hoo! The brown scarf is for my Auntie Anna (who taught me how to knit) and the orange-y one is for me. I think I might make a hat to match it.