Make Your Own Soy Candles

Making your own candles is a rewarding and satisfying experience. Not only do you get to create something beautiful, but you can also customize your candles to your specific preferences. If you’re new to candle making, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Fortunately, Life at Cobble Hill Farm has an excellent tutorial on making your own soy candles from scratch.

The tutorial takes you through the entire process, from selecting the right type of wax to adding the finishing touches. One of the benefits of making soy candles is that soy wax is a natural and eco-friendly alternative to paraffin wax. It’s also easy to work with and has a long burn time.

The tutorial offers many tips and tricks, including the importance of measuring your ingredients accurately and using the right type of wick for your candle. The wick is especially important, as it can affect the way your candle burns. The tutorial also offers advice on selecting the right fragrance oils for your candles, as well as how to properly melt and pour the wax.

One thing that sets this tutorial apart is its attention to detail. The author explains not only how to make the candles, but also how to troubleshoot common problems that may arise, such as frosting or tunneling. This makes the tutorial a valuable resource for both beginners and more experienced candle makers.

Life at Cobble Hill Farm walks you through the process of making your own soy candles from scratch, with a lot of great tips and details.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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