Another Pair of Fingerless Gloves

I finished another pair of fingerless gloves.  This pair is for me.  I used lace weight merino wool.  They feel wonderful and look divine too!  Of course that is my own opinion.  What do you think?

wool, yarn, fingerless gloves, and heart scarf

See how much my roses opened up!

When you have left over yarn or wool, don't toss it.  Use it or to decorate gifts with.  I used left over homespun wool yarn and wool pieces which were not spun, but was cleaned and dyed, for package decorations.  My choice to attach the decorations was glue dots, but other ways would work equally well.

I finished one pair of fingerless gloves and I am working on another pair.  This yarn is silk or a silk and cotton mix.  The label is not attached, so I don't know the exact content.  It sure looks lovely with the purple taking center stage.

The heart scarf is complete.

Pumpkin Chiffon Soap and Roses

I know that Pumpkin Chiffon Soap and Roses do not really go together, but today my sweetie, Bruce, brought me pink roses.   The pink color is absolutely beautiful and the roses started opening up right before our eyes.   I think Bruce is a keeper!  Not just for the roses, but the roses are a good thing!

I also made Pumpkin Chiffon Soap and it looks wonderful, but it didn't seem like it would.  When I was making the soap, the soap bubbled up and over after I put the fragrance in.  It was hardening too fast.  I think they consider this to be seizing or having a chemical reaction.  To me, soap that hardens fast always has a wonderful texture.  I had to stir the bubbles down and place some of the soap into another container.  I made only 6 small pumpkin shaped soap since was getting hard too fast and I thought they would set up and leave air pockets or holes in the soap.  I will make more pumpkin shaped soaps later.  Also, the lid to the glitter container fell off as I was sprinkling glitter and some of the bars are excessively glittered.   Is there really such a thing as too much bling?  lol  I only had 5 loaf pans ready for soap, so I had to use a large container for the rest of the soap and I have some irregular sized bars now, but some people tell me that my bars are too large.  I hate to give someone a small bar.  I want bang and bling for the buck.  The bars are 6.3 and 6.5 ounces each.  What size of a bar would you prefer?


Pumpkin Chiffon Soap
Soap Ingredients:  coconut oil, tallow, water, shea butter, lye, sunflower oil, glycerin, bees wax, pumpkin oil, fragrance oil, titanium dioxide, glycerin, sweet almond oil, coconut milk powder, rosemary oil extract (ROE), mica, cosmetic grade glitter, coloring

Albert

Today was cage cleaning time for Albert.  I am sure that he was appreciative, but he pooped on my head anyway.  Albert is growing many new feathers.  He has finished molting, or loosing feathers and new ones are growing in.  When the new feathers grow in, they are covered with something that reminds me of wax paper.  Soon Albert will look much better.

Springs of Ireland

October 15 is National Hand Washing Day.  I read that only 48 percent of men and 58 percent of women wash his or her hands after using the bathroom.  If I provide the soap, would the percentages go up???  lol

Yes, that is cosmetic grade green glitter that you see on the top of each bar!

I finished making a new batch of soap called Springs of Ireland.  It should smell similar to Irish Spring soap.  Some of the soap I made as I normally do with swirls.  Some I added bits and pieces of the soap scraps from this year's soap making.  I still have lots and lots of scraps or leftovers.  I could re-batch the soap, but  I don't like the way re-batching looks.  For non-soap makers, it is shredding, melting, and re-pouring the soap.  Usually water or another liquid is used to aid in the melting.  The bars seem to take forever to dry and have a dip/dent in the center or shrivel.  This is a much better solution for me and I get a lot of added color and texture.  A new soap cutter was used and the bars are now one inch thick.  I am considering a size change in the width and making each bar about one half of an inch less wide.  I think it will fit in a woman's hands much better with this additional size change.

What do you think of the soap?  What is your preference in the size of a bar of soap?

Springs of Ireland Soap Ingredients:  coconut oil, tallow, water, lye, shea butter, sunflower oil, coconut flakes, titanium dioxide, palm stearic acid, coconut milk powder, fragrance oil, sweet almond oil, cosmetic grade glitter, bee balm, mica, chromium oxide

Make Mine Pink Friday Event

I will be selling items on Pink Friday! 

Spinning in Sedan

My spinning from today.

I took a beautiful ride through the Flint Hills to Sedan, Kansas for a Spinning Retreat.  The retreat was in a lovely old building.  I have posted pictures of the stained glass windows and the vendor displays.   Some of these items are guild donations which are for sale.  On the way home, we stopped at Wyldewood Cellers in Mulvane, Kansas. 

Winery grapes

Tess' Designer Yarns

Tess' Designer Yarns
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 460-9276
http://www.tessyarns.com

I happened upon a new yarn shop on line.  I was enamored with the yarn and the beauty of the photos on the website.  I ordered a cute heart scarf/belt kit.  I guess it is meant for kids, but I like it.  The Merino wool is so soft that it is a joy to knit with.  The color I desired was unavailable, so she sent me one lighter and one darker at no extra charge.  This tells me that she is someone that desires to have my business and keep me coming back as a customer!

"Tess’ Designer Yarns offers exceptional colors of hand dyed yarns in quality fibers at reasonable prices. From vivid variegated splashed yarns to sophisticated subtle neutrals, we have the yarns you need for your next knitting project. With over 25 years experience hand dyeing, you can count on Tess’ for the highest quality yarns.

All yarns are dyed by one person ~ each batch is unique ~ no formulas!! We still offer yarns that are really hand dyed ~ we do not try to produce massive quantities of yarn ~ just the best quality in the most gorgeous colors."

Dye Day at Marnette's House

Dye Posts Going

New Spinner

Onion skins make a pretty yellow/gold dye for wool.

The spinning guild had a natural dying day out in the country at Marnette's home.  It was a little windy, but it was a lovely day to get out of Dodge.  It is so peaceful in the country.