Creating Aromatherapy Candles

May 22, 2007 by SandraW

Adding a few drops of essential oil to your melted wax before pouring is a simple way to make an aromatherapy candle. Alternately, if you want to add an aromatherapy scent to an unscented candle you can put several drops of essential oil around the wick before lighting. Essential oils are not the same as manufactured perfume scents because the oil is distilled from the actual plants leaves and stems as opposed to being chemical or man made.

Some suggested scents to alleviate different ailments and moods:

Lavender and Bergamot are good for anxiety. I find Lavender especially soothing and it is a pleasant smell most men enjoy. According to Fox News, every smell boosts men’s sexual arousal, but Lavender and the smell of pumpkin pie knocks it up 40% more. Lavender and Jasmine are recommended scents for depression.

Chamomile tea has been known to sooth shattered nerves and this essential oil’s smell is also comforting for irritability.
Ylang Ylang is one of my favorites and is supposed to be both relaxing and stimulating because it is touted to be both an aphrodisiac and an antidepressant. Bergamot is also used to lift spirits.

Peppermint and Citronella help invigorate you which makes sense because they are both refreshing.

For some essential oil recipe combinations see Ananda Apothecary’s site. They are for air fresheners, but if you reduce the amounts to a couple drops each they would also work for candles. I especially like their recipe called “essential sunshine”, a combination of lime, orange, grapefruit and patchouli. Candles by Montserrat offers many different essential oils for sale along with candle making lessons.

There’s an ancient soothing appeal to candles, but when you add an aromatherapy scent to them it can add to the ambiance by influencing your mood further.

If anyone has an essential oil recipe combo for pumpkin pie spice, let me know!

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.