Ike, a new hoodie and the M&M Dude

We received the "remnants" of Ike yesterday, that combined with an incoming cold front and gave us sustained winds of 40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph here in Central Ohio.  I can only imagine how those people felt in Texas.  My power went out from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. yesterday.  Most everyone I work with, though, still has no power today and may not have it until near the end of the week.  We loaned out our generator since there is none to be had around here.  People cannot even find ice or candles at this point.  I have a different power company than most since I live out in the middle of nowhere.  It seemed to work to my advantage this time.  I was sitting in the house listening to the trees cracking and hoping that nothing was going to fall on the house.  Paul decided to let the dogs free instead of putting them in their kennel so if something did happen they would be able to get away.  You should have seen them standing on the front porch fighting the wind head-on.  Paul was out there too, of course, because he is a man.  And men have to be outside to defend their territory.....  ;)  All-in-all, the only real damage we could see was one of our neighbors' barn roof peeled off and landed in our field.  We'll get that sorted out later.

Also, I started a new project while in the dark and was hoping it would actually look okay once the lights came back on.  I wasn't even really sure what color yarn I had.  It said Taupe, but, there are all kinds of Taupe, right?  I bought the new Vogue Knitting magazine yesterday morning (before all hell broke loose) and was instantly drawn to a new hoodie pattern with large cables in bulky yarn.  I don't even know what the pattern is called, but here it is:

 

Great cables, huh?  I immediately threw Stripes Go Round (yes I still think I'm going to figure that one out - I am probably not smart, remember?) under the bed and went into my craft room in the dark and tried to find yarn and needles.  I'm not even sure I wanted Taupe.  I think I had some nice gray that would have been better.  Oh well, it couldn't wait.  After the lights came on, here's what I had:

 

Not too bad?  I am using Bernat Softee Chunky in the Taupe colorway.  I really do have to get back to the baby stuff, though, I'm getting behind.  The Opinionated Knitter is in the mail, so I'm sure when I get it I'll be ready to cast on the Baby Surprise Jacket and throw everything else to the wind...  The new Vogue Knitting (Fall, 2008?) also had an article on Elizabeth Zimmerman, and an article on Ravelry.  It was great reading, even by candlelight with the windows ready to explode.... :0

Let's talk about soap molds....  What kind do I use?  Well..... here's some of them:

 

You'll see a red plastic shell from a child's play-sand and bucket set, a little tart pan, white containers that used to hold Little Ceasar's dog food for my Mom's Yorkies, and plastic storage containers that are a perfect size for soap, don't you think?

After you've grated all of the soap, you add 12 ounces of soap, and 9 ounces of water on low heat and let it melt slowly.

 

Don't stir it too much while it is melting, or you will get a lot of bubbles.  I get some, because I am not smart.  After it is ready for pouring:

 

(YES - I see the bubbles.... pretend they are not there) then you can put in your additives.  I used a little bit of Sweet Almond Oil and some Vanilla fragrance.  I had already added Coconut fragrance to the whole batch when I didn't think I was going to have to rebatch it.

   

Then you can fill your molds and pop them into the freezer for a little while.  This makes the soap set up and helps you to remove the soap from the molds.

 

Then you let them sit out and turn them over every couple of days for about three weeks to a month until they are ready to be used.

 

My favorite bar of soap?  Well.... who doesn't want to wash their hands with an M&M Dude?  

Comments

[Marion]

The taupe (looks brown to me) will look good in the hoodie pattern. Good match.

I hope the damage from the hurricane was light on your farm. My daughter lives south of Houston and was evacuated. She hasn't gone home yet.

Two of my sisters make soap and they said it is not an overnight process. I see now. I like the little M&M guy, but any soap scented with coconut, almond and vanilla would be terrific.

[Monica]

We had the heavy winds and storms yesterday too. Trees down in our neighborhood. roofs blown off. Schools closed just south of here due to power outages. Ike sure packed a punch.

Your soaps look so lovely, and I love the little M&M guy too.

[Loopykd]

I love that pattern for the hoodie. I was considering that too to knit. Let us know how you like it when you finish!

[Opal]

I'm so glad you survived the storm all right! That's a gorgeous sweater. I look forward to seeing its progress. :)

[Lisa]

Heeeeeyyyyyy....that looks like white chocolate...mmmmm...

You know you can BUY soap at Walmart, right?? (Ducking & running)

[Jessica]

Wow! So glad it wasn't your roof that came off! That had to be just a bit frightening. Cool hoodie! Loves me the cables. And I am going to try very hard to ignore all this soap talk since someone plurked a link to where I could get a kit to do it the other day. Must. Not. Take. On. Something. Else!

[Ann in CT]

That soap does look good enough to eat, and I bet my Samson would try.
Nice hoodie. Very brave of you to choose yarn and start knitting in the dark like that. Now I want to see you crossing cables in the dark, ha!
Glad you didn't get any damage. If we got any rain from Ike here in CT I've already forgotten about it.