Monday, January 21, 2008

Tell me why?

I don't' like Mondays
and now it actually is a Monday.

Mondays are a hard day around here lately. In hubby's old job Monday was his day off and we ran errands and did stuff together.
Now Monday's are his hardest days and there are times he doesn't come home for dinner and is gone from 9am-11:30pm.

Princess B is loopy as she has been home since Thursday and desperately wants to be at school. She had a sleepover on the weekend, went to a baby shower and had a Daddy/daughter movie date--which was great, but she hasn't had a good nights sleep in more than a few days.
Little man is sick with a cold that brought a raging fever on Saturday. He and I basically couched all afternoon as he was having trouble walking w/out tipping over.
He's fine now--in full form and pulling out handfulls of his sister's hair this morning.

Did I mention I don't like Monday's.

Anyways--let's make this a happy post okay?

I had a knitting afternoon with a friend yesterday and we finally figured out a heel turn that had been causing us grief. I've actually knit the pattern but it was last summer and couldn't remember what I had done...yeah for figuring out patterns.

I have a good dent into the 2nd Jitterbug sock and that is making me happy.

I have another project I will finish today (my BIL's Christmas hat. Yes CHRISTMAS hat--that needed lengthening and then I promptly forgot about it).

I have also arranged a craft night with some friends this week to teach another friend how to knit!
She is a really good sewer and is going to teach me some stuff..

OH--more happy news;
I got a BIG BOX of sewing thread off of Freecycle.
I have been wanting to make some fun and funky yarns and ply with thread--and this thread will be a nice addition to my fibre world.

Another happy thing:
I FINALLY got to make soap last night.

I took some pictures:

Soap Making Materials
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

(Flicker picture--click to see the notes)
I bought a book from the Yarn Pirate's destash and the instructions are very simple.
We live in a small town so it took me a little while to find all of the ingredients--the lye being the hardest.
Apparently you can use lye to make crystal meth, so some stores don't shelve it anymore.
Who knew?
I bought drain-o crystals--but found out later they really aren't 110% lye as they say they are--there are bits of aluminum in it (What??)

So, I had pre-measured all the stuff I needed last week--bought some cheap disposable loaf pans and got to it.

I told hubby that he might want to leave the room when I mixed the lye as it makes for caustic fumes (which are neutralized once you actually mix it and make the soap--so never fear)
It stunk!



Then I waited for the oils/fats and lye mix to cool and mixed them:



Nice soapy goo.
Now, the book says that it will trace in about 25 minutes after mixing--but mine didn't seem to want to.
After more than an hour of stirring, mixing and checking--I decided to just put it in the molds.
(The book says to do this if you are sure that your measurements were correct)
So, this morning it looks as though it has set--and now the hard part.
I have to wait a month before using it!

Anyone else ever made soap??

1 comments:

Rockquelle, the Rollergirl Next Door said...

Congratulations on your first batch! It sounds like it didn't want to trace because the oils were so warm--this is my experience, anyway.

Next time, try pouring the hot, dissolved lye over your room-temperature oils. The hot lye will melt the oils, and then you can use your stick blender to help chunk up the stubborn solid fats. Whiz until trace, which should be less than 5 minutes.

I bet your soap will come out okay. Just wait a few days before unmolding.

Amy
Author, _Making Soap In Your Own Kitchen_
http://www.soapcrone.com/ebook.php