Hey, look! It's a Monday post! (and a contest reminder)

...how unusual!

I had a wonderfully crafty weekend and it felt so good! A little spinning, a little soap making, a little weaving...it was all good.

It started Friday night. I decided to make an artichoke frittata to take to Spin-In. It's a pretty easy dish to make and it's better if you make it the day before.

While the frittata was baking, I found my soap recipes and gathered the ingredients to make a batch of Creative Dreams soap. This soap is based on an herbal blend used in a dream pillow for promoting creativity.  I had enough calendula petals to make one batch, but I really need to get more. I asked the Husband to plant more calendulas this season so I can dry them for my soap.

On Saturday, I realized that I wasn't quite ready to be done with soap yet. Earlier in the week, I had found an aromatherapy blend recipe for promoting focus and concentration. I decided to see whether I could turn that blend into a soap. Making soap is a little like being a mad scientist (not a "witch stirring her cauldron," which is what one friend called me): adding drops of essential oil to melted soap, stirring, and checking the scent for the right balance.  I'm pretty happy with the end result. I'm calling this soap Locus Focus:

I took one of each soap to Spin-In as a birthday gift for the hostess.  Spin-In was great, as usual. I started a new fiber, a Mernio-Bamboo-Tussah Silk blend called Sedona from Lisa Souza. I spun nearly 2 ounces, making good progress on the 4 ounce bump.  There were quite a few people there, making it a very lively afternoon.

On my way home, I saw this gorgeous sunset:

All in all, a very good day!

I've been wanting to warp my loom for a new project, but I hadn't quite decided what to do yet.  At Spin-In, my friend Janice showed us a beautiful piece that she wove. My loom can't handle the patterns and width that her loom can (some day I'll get a bigger loom!), but I can weave an extra long piece to cut in half and make a small throw or blanket. Hmmmm. I need a baby present for someone...how about a baby blanket? Perfect!

I added a trip to Michael's to my list of Sunday errands and bought some yarn for warp and weft. I got part way through the warping process and had to stop because my shoulders were bothering me. I need to tie all of the warp threads on the front of the loom. I can probably finish that tonight and get weaving!

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Contest Reminder!!

Don't forget about my 6th Blogiversary contest! Comment on this post to enter. The winner will be drawn on Friday, 1/20/12.

The prize: Two (2) skeins of Juniper yarn by in Autumn Ecstasy. This was a club color for the Loopy Ewe Sock Club. It is SW Merino, fingering weight.

Good luck!
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