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Soap gets luscious

5/22/2014

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PictureGoat milk and sea salt spa bars
I'm rained out of the garden for a few minutes so let's talk about soap again.  The last time we talked about making goat milk soap, we kept it as simple as possible since it actually requires a lot of equipment, materials and coordination to make a super simple batch of soap.  And, I do recommend starting out as simple as possible just to experience putting all the elements together.

But of course super simple begs to be made better, and with soap that means the addition of luscious stuff like essential oils, fragrance oils, colors, exfoliants, salts, and any other beautiful things you can think of.

I'm still trying to pour the perfect bar of soap.  Not there yet but so far, my favorite is the salt bar.  Surprisingly, adding a whole bunch of sea salt soap to your soap makes it feel really soft on your skin.  And by all accounts, it's good for your complexion too.  Add a beautiful fragrance like Rain, and wow, you really have a luxurious bar of soap.  Another of my favorites is to add honey and oats to the basic goat milk bar, no fragrance thanks.  That's like health food for your skin.  It's good to take care of yourself!

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Honey and Oat Goat Milk Soap
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Salt Goat Milk Soap Spa Bars
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Cucumber Goat Milk Spa Bars
How to do it - instructions and videos:

Remember, making soap is like doing a science project in your kitchen; everything has to be measured out precisely, and order and timing matter.  So, what do you think happens when we change up or add to our ingredients?  Certain trouble lies ahead if we don't do it properly, and it could be really confusing and hard without great resources.  I want to share some helpful links with you now, so you can be creative with your soap and it will turn out perfectly every time.  Almost every time.  I think one of the best sources of general information, instructions and tutorials is a soap making supplies shop, Bramble Berry, and their blog, Soap Queen.  Find Bramble Berry here:  http://www.brambleberry.com/ 

And a good forum is always helpful when you have questions or problems:  http://www.talksoapforum.com/ 



The absolutely most important tool:

The most important tool for changing or creating your soap recipes is a lye calculator.  The lye calculator allows you to enter the oils you want to use in the proportions you want to use them and it calculates how much of each and how much lye and water to weigh out.  Go here for Soapcalc's lye calculator: http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp 
As you can see when you follow the link to Soapcalc they also provide instructions, ideas and videos; a great resource.  Take a look also at the different properties different oils bring to your soap.  Hmmmm,  interesting isn't it.  There are calculators on many soapy sites, so look around, you might find one that works better for you.
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Where goat milk comes from
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Where to get soap supplies and other stuff:

You might have a craft store or a homesteading supply store in your town, fun!  My town isn't really big enough for a specialty store so I have to shop online.  As you know, Amazon is always a good starting place; everything is there, molds, stamps, ingredients of all kinds.  I can pass on a couple of suppliers I've had great luck with too.  Bramble Berry is a really good source and an easy to use website.  The link is just above this.  I love Mountain Rose Herbs for essential oils and organic flowers and herbs. https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
I've had good service for basic supplies like oils and lye from Essential Depot: http://www.essentialdepot.com/  There are so many good resources, look around and find some for yourself.  Saponifier Magazine: http://saponifier.com/  is a super place to find ideas and suppliers.  And a good forum is always helpful when you have questions or problems:  http://www.talksoapforum.com/

There you have it!  You know everything I know about making soap at home, I hope you have a lot of fun and make something beautiful.  Let me know how it goes.

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Colors!

5/12/2014

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Wow, I bought the Spring 2014 Spin Off magazine yesterday.  I've always loved Spin Off and it's always beautiful, but you gotta love this issue especially; it's  all about color.  If you'd like to take a peek at it yourself you can find it here:  http://www.interweavestore.com/spinning-magazines-spin-off.

I was especially taken by the beautiful and complex colors of yarns created by blending many colors on the drum carder.  I guess I was already noticing this beautiful process as I watched a "batt contest" develop on facebook (and now that it's over I can't send you to it because I can no longer find it).
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I am in the process of spinning up a bunch of Great Pyrenees hair from my guardian dog's grooming.  Pyr hair is super soft and a great addition to yarn.  I have been blending it with Corriedale, a sheep wool that has all the right ingredients for good yarn spinning, and nylon sparkle.  I have been dying the sparkle bright colors, grasshopper, sky blue and deep orchid.  The Pyr is white with a bit of grey and black, I have white and black Corriedale stash in abundance.  I also have on hand some Corriedale that is dyed sky blue, ready for an upcoming project involving silk noils, but that's a whole 'nother story.

So, after perusing the Spin Off magazine I decided my last batch of Pyr would be blended with black Corriedale, sky blue dyed Corriedale and deep orchid sparkle.  You can see it on the carder and in batts above.  Such fun!  I may never card another monotone batt, ever.  This batch is still on the spindles, I like to let the twist set overnight before plying into two ply yarn.  So far it's a loose, fat, colorful single.

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Here's Shiva showing you where we're going with the spun chunky, sparkly, colorful Pyr yarn.  Funky crocheted hats for the farmers market.

It seems like I'm always spinning luxurious, fine yarns appropriate for the fabulous cashmere the goats give me, and then moving on to a larger project like a shawl to show it off.  It's really fun to make the chunky stuff and then crank out a cute and funky hat in under an hour. 

So tomorrow I'll ply today's colorful batts and crochet another hat for Shiva to cuddle with!  After that, I'm thinking cashmere, bamboo and silk in who knows how many colors.  It'll take a while.

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    Author

    Lyn Crenshaw, goat farmer, yarn spinner.  Me and my goats, what d'you know?  Let me tell you.

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