SOAP SOAP SOAP

The show went well.  Not as well as I would have liked but well enough...

Now it's soap I am doing a lot of...Yet another old craft not done by all, but one that has been done forever so to speak.  I am sure my great greats would be very proud of me.

Of course these days it's not done to put animal fats in ones soap.  And often not necessary due to the availability of olive and coconut oils.  However there is still those who don't mind 'old school' and those of us who are not vegetarian or vegan don't mind a more holistic aspect to soap making.  After all, if we eat the meat we should use the fat.  Waste not want not.

So I have done some lard soaps and goats milk soap and olive oil soaps and many lovely oiled soaps.  One of the prohibiting aspects of soap making is the price of essential and fragrance oils.  One batch of soap requires about 100mls of fragrance which in general costs about $20 (give or take) so that is a huge cost in your list of ingredients.

So here is a few photos of all the soaps I have been making...

Castile Soap

Castile Soap (100% olive oil)

Avocado Oil Shampoo Bar

Not enough fragrance soap

Shampoo bars to add fragrance to oopsie soaps

Lady Lavender Soap

Lady Lavender Soap

Shampoo Bars

Shampoo Bars

Cup Cake recycling shampoo soaps

More recycling with left overs from the cupcakes

Hot Process Wild Man Soap

Hot Process Wild Man Soap

Activated Charcoal Soap for skin care

Lard Bars (30% lard)

Goats Milk Loofa Soaps on a Rope

Hot Process Shampoo Bars and Activated Charcoal

Goat and Lard soap

Goat and Lard soap

WELL.....I FEEL SILLY...

So I haven't been able to access my blog for months...Turns out, when I made my google mail acc. it just knocked me out on my blog as well...My email for the blog is hotmail...It's taken me this long to realize...

My mind has been on other things...The AUSTRALIAN SHEEP AND WOOL SHOW is NEXT WEEK!!!  At Bendigo of course...

I will be there...in the second wool craft shed behind the wood turners...back right hand corner...just look for the sheep!!!

Here is some of what I have to offer this year....

Most of the button cards are $2

These are $4 as they are custom buttons of my own 

Spinners Lap Mat

Spinners Lap Mat

Ashford Flicker cover

Carder Covers

Thread Cutter Necklaces

Airline safe

Loose Buttons 20c ea

Loose Buttons 20c ea

Loose Buttons 20c ea

$2 cards, metal buttons....shiny

$2 cards

Sheep Earrings 925 Silver catch

$2 cards

Carder Covers

$2 Garment Tags

I have a new love...

I liked weaving on my 50cm Ashford Knitters Loom but I LOVE weaving on the 120cm Rigid Heddle Loom....such a nice size but you do need the stand that it goes on as trying to do this on a table would be a pain.

Turns out that my long poof (foot stool) is just perfect for the loom in height and length..

I had no planning when the loom arrived about a week after I ordered it at the show, except, finish the raw wood with some nice waxy stuff I got from the hardware store and get a warp on it.....

I should have reinforced the edges with a double or triple strand and I should have put a thread to tell me where half way was....Oh well...next time...I had to get some thin strips of wood to help with the tension etc since I didn't have any card wide enough.

Warp = 4ply commercial wool (Yarn Barn Victoria)
Weft = every bit of left overs I had and a couple of balls I haven't done anything with...fibres include

Merino, Rabbit, Alpaca, Seacell, Polland, Silk, Blue Faced Leicester, Camel, Targhee, Polwarth.

In Progress

Right off the loom...

It fits the width of my king size bed nicely so it's the perfect size and more than what I hoped for in outcome.  the colours, albeit very random have worked awesomely, couldn't have planned it better.

I did a traditional twist fringe.  I learnt the twisting from an Irani man I met in NZ a long time ago.

now to the next project....bath mats and maybe a floor mat made from cotton fabric yarn I found for a good price today....

After I redecorate the kids rooms....

Alot has been happening....

I took a bit of a hiatus to redecorate my room then realized that it was a mere 8 weeks till the Australian Sheep and Wool show in which I was running my stall with a new stall partner.

SO, I gave myself 4 weeks in which to pull up the carpet, sand the floors, paint the floors and the rest of the roof and walls of my room then settle into getting ready for the show..

Prep went well and so did the show.  I really only sell some bits to finance my own stash and equipment so doing well was just great.  This year I got a new loom, Ashford Rigid Heddle 120cm, with stand...yay...OK, the good bit, here's the pics...

this is some dying I did before the show......I did not bring much of it home...

                                                                       the first day....

                                                                  It got a bit frosty....

                        The second day...things went pretty good the first day...had to re-gig the stock...

                                                     

                                                       Waiting for the shed to be opened..

And the spoils....the Ashford Rigid Heddle 120cm..It arrived a very prompt 7 days after it was ordered and I wasted no time sealing the wood with a spot of furniture finishing wax..and warping her up..

See the next post for the first item off the loom.....