Category Archives: knitting

Playing catch-up!

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I do appreciate bulk orders, and the opportunity to spread the word about the benefits of pure olive oil castile soap, but it is a LOT of work to prepare!

A few weeks back, I had a bulk order for my Cider Spice soaps, and so we’ve had lots of those bars on the drying racks, filling the house with the delightful scent of cinnamon and nutmeg!  In addition, I put up a new batch of the Pumpkin Spice, and so It really smells like the best part of autumn around here right now!

Today I’ll be adding a batch of Fresh Mint (with peppermint essential oil!) and a batch of French Fields (with lavender essential oil) which are just coming off their cure time and should be in the shop by the end of the week.

This weekend included some travel time as well, and now I have soap socks in both the natural, undyed cotton and the blend of soft browns that I’m calling ‘s’mores’.  Watch for those, and a couple of other bath accessories that I’ve been working on to hit the shop later in the week.

Of course, the faint chill in the air (it’s still pretty warm in these parts) has me thinking of a specialty soap for the winter.  Spearmint, to evoke candy canes?  Perhaps a balsam or pine?  The mind boggles…

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Crowdsourcing Call to Action!!

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I went to stock up on more of that wonderful organic cotton that I made my first soap socks from and I discovered this.

Of course, I had to have it!

Of course, I had to have it!

Same US grown cotton, but this one comes in a blend of the raw cream color, and a chocolate brown, as well as a mid tone that seems almost the color of caramel or toffee.  It’s really gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see how it looks made up as soap socks!

And, actually, I don't have to wait. The verdict? Pretty awesome.

And, actually, I don’t have to wait. The verdict? Pretty awesome.

Which brings me to the point of my call for help.  This lovely yarn has the distinctly non-melodious name of “brown melange” and that just won’t do.  I’m thinking of calling it “s’mores” because the mix of chocolate brown, cookie/toffee taupe, and marshmallow white makes me think of those ooey, gooey delicious treats!

What do you think, folks?  Got any suggestions for me?

Sock it to me!

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What’s better than a luxurious bar of handmade soap?  A luxurious bar of handmade soap in a nubbly organic cotton sock that makes it easy to hang on to a slippery bar in the shower and provides soft exfoliation!

Like this!

Like this!

I’ve been experimenting with little sachets sized for my soap bars that would take even the mildest, softest soap and give it an added texture for superior scrubability!

"Scrubability"? What, you're just making up words now?

“Scrubability”!?!  What, you’re just making up words now?

I’ve made my prototypes out of a raw organic cotton to avoid fabric allergies and because cotton is one of the few fibers with the magical property of getting stronger when it is wet while still remaining soft and pliable.  Add a bar of soap and the cotton will allow the silky lather through while adding just a little bit of roughness for getting skin clean and smooth.

See those little purl stitch bumps? THAT'S scrubability.

See those little purl stitch bumps? THAT’S scrubability.

Once the soap inside is used up, you can just pop the sock in the washer and get it ready for the next full size bar, or you can keep it hanging around to drop in all the slivers and ends of soap bars that are too small to be easily held in the hand, bits that would otherwise clog the bottom of the soap dish and get thrown away next cleaning day.

There you go: an ideal blend of luxury and thrift!

Now that I have my prototype figured out, I’m going into production.  These should be in the shop by the end of the week!