Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Recycling and Candle Making

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If you want to use up some old wax here are some ways to do that rather than throw it out.

  1. Make fire starters. Some people dip the wax in paper, others make a mixture of wax and saw dust and others just make wee candles. A handy container idea for fire starters that recycles yet again is an empty egg carton.
  2. Create chunk candles. They’re perfect for different colored waxes and are quite pretty.
  3. Reuse tea light containers and make some new little tea lights.
  4. Scented  wax  can be melted in an oil burner without a wick and you can still enjoy the aroma.
  5. Make a wax-dipped teddy bear! See this article for instructions on how to do that.

Have fun! I have enough leftover wax for at least four candles so will snap a pic of my chunky one for you for next time.

Have you read?

Learn a Flower Bobble Technique to Knit a Fun Shawl

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier. 

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project. 

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible. 

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge. 

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects. 

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy. 

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project. 

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Xandy Peters]