A new semester at HPKCHC....

Been a quiet weekend.  Haven't done much of anything really :-)  I had a bunch of pet sitting customers cancel their plans for going away this weekend because of the weather (it has rained here most of Friday and Saturday) so just spent the weekend catching up on some stuff that I had to do and just hanging out.

September 1st starts the new semester for the HP Knitting/Crocheting House Cup on Ravely.  I will be a second year Hufflepuff :-)  Last semester (semester=year in our little House Cup world) I made so many things.  Trying to finish class assignments and also doing an O.W.L. project kept me knitting happily for 3 months!!  I probably finished more knitting projects during the semester than I have in my entire knitting career.  And yes, some of the projects were just small things...but still 'playing the game' gave me the motivation to try new things and learn new things.

Here are some pics of the things I made last semester

My first pair of socks ever! 

My Hermione Cable and Bobble Hat (first hat ever too!)

A small token of Hufflepuff-ness...a chapstick holder

My Hufflepuff wristies....

Modeled by Harry....ssshhhh he thinks the 'H' stands for Harry...not Hufflepuff :-)

And so many more things...here are a few other pic of things (and there are still more) but these are the more fun ones...

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  Fawkes socks
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  Baby mandrake
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  Illusion washcloth...I spared you more pictures but illusion knitting is very cool...if you look at it straight on it just looks like a white and blue wash cloth...but if you look at it on an angle you see the heart :-)
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  Hermione Cable and Eyelet hat
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  The Teddy Bear with footie pjs was my Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. project - the assignment was to produce a patronus.  This bear was given to a friend who was due to have a baby so would be protecting the new baby.

And there was the shawl that was in hibernation for months that I finally finished and another hat, few other washcloths and 3 other bears (way too many people in my life having babies at the same time!!).  But it was so much fun!  I can't wait to see what our professors have lined up for homework assignments.

Soap...

I spent this morning running around doing some errands...and just getting used to driving my new car..without holding my breath in fear of cracking it up :-) 

This afternoon I cut up some of the loafs of soap that I made on Tuesday...Blueberry Crunch and Oats & Honey.

 

This is the Blueberry Crunch soap that I made on Tuesday.  It smells sooo yummy!  The whole house smells like blueberries!

This is the Oats & Honey soap I also made on Tuesday.  This is the second batch of this that I have made in the last month or so...it is so good!  There is no added scent to it...but the natural "oats & honey" scent is so yummy...it is a sort of nutty scent!  I love it! 

My New Car!!!

After 2 hours at the Nissan dealership, signing away my life...and the life of my first born child...I now have a brand new car! 

Should have quit while all was well...

I had made two batches of soap earlier today...and I think they look like they are coming along great.

In my soapy loving mood...I said why not go for batch 3 today...

BAD IDEA!!! I should know not to soap late at night...

Made the same exact recipe as I did earlier (that came out great)...and all was going well until I added my FO (Banana from Sweetcakes)...I now know what "seizing" is....aaarrrggghhh!!!

I am going to go to bed...and see if this turns into soap during the night....maybe it will have been a soapy nightmare.....

Today was a soaping day...

Today started off going to the barn with Iz...which is always fun and always good for my horsey fix. Then this afternoon I decided to make a couple of batches of soap.  I am participating in a 'sample box' program next month for the first time...hoping it might create some more outside sales....so that was one reason for soaping today.  The other reason just to try out some different things.

Last month I had made an unscented Honey & Oats batch, which has become my favorite soap for the last month.  I love its natural, nutty scent!!  So yummy!!!  Anyway...seeing how I have used pretty much the entire batch myself (I have given a few away for some gifts that I sent to people), I figured I would try and make another batch.  This one I did a little differently...mostly since the first batch ended up volcanoing out of the mold...this time I tried 'rtcp' (room temperature cold process)...hoping to avoid the whole volcanoing affect.  Seems to have come out ok so far...

The second batch I also did 'rtcp' as well.  This one is a Blueberry Crunch batch...the picture is actual "Blueberry Crunch" desert...which looks yummy!!  (This is why I soap...cause what I really want to do is bake...but then I am the only one who eats it!)  It was the first batch that I have used titanium dioxide and some micas (colorants).  I just had some sampler packs from Brambleberry so just used a little bit of blue...so it isn't like 'blueberry blue'...more of just a hint of blue.  And it is probably more layered than swirled...so again will have to wait and see til I unmold them and cut them.  I did really like the consistency of this batch though...was almost whipped like...was able to do more of a textured top...course then I decided to sprinkle the top with oatmeal (that would be the crunch part)...but it was very swirly-textured-y.

Relaxing day....

Today has been a relaxing day. I have had the entire day off. Which is good...and bad. I have recently been very busy with lots of pet sitting jobs...the end of summer rush for people to get in those last vacations before the summer is over and kids go back to school and everyone gets back into a regualr routine...so I am enjoying having a quiet day of just doing what I need to do and not having to worry about everyone else's animals. But on the other hand...I have just had to buy a new car (R.I.P my little Jeep Wrangler!) so I have the fear of "looming car payments" hanging over my head now...so shouldn't be so happy about a day off. Course since I don't even have the new car yet...I guess I will just enjoy a slow day while I can. (Can't wait to get my brand new Nissan Rogue!!!)

I have spent most of the morning putting together a little package for a swap that I took part of back in June. The swap was from the Harry Potter Crafters group on Ravelry.com...which was supposed to be done in June (which my original swap package was) but there was one woman from the group who's package seems to have gotten lost in the Canadian Postal Service so the group moderator has decided to try and put together another "angel" package for this person since no one seems to know WHEN or IF her original package will ever arrive. So yesterday I got a message asking if I would like to help out with this...which I jumped on since I had nothing else going on (and no car to go anywhere).

And this adorable owl was part of my package...being part of the Harry Potter Crafters...this would be Pigwidgeon: the wee tiny owl ...which if you are a Harry Potter fan, you would know Pigwidgeon (also known as "Pig") is Ron Weasley's pet owl. I also included a Golden Snitch washcloth, 3 bars of Ghirdelli chocolate bars and some of my handmade soaps. You can check out my website at http://www.sandyssoapscentials.com/ to see more of my soaps.

All and all my day has been kind of fun...now with a blog, I have yet one other thing to keep me glued to my computer...

Wow...my own blog...now what??

Ok...so today I decided to actually create a blog. I have no idea why....

I do like the idea of keeping a 'journal'...just not very good at it...so maybe this will be the way...

This is about as far as I usually get...a nice blank journal book...and some fun pens...and if I am really lucky I actually fill out a few pages. Although, I have started this journey many times...whenever I come across the 'old journals' if I have written in them...the entries have scarily been very similiar...even though years have gone by in between. Seems to just prove that my life is very boring :-)
Well, let's hope that this is different...