Category: Arts & crafts

Fun with candle wax

thomasLeave a comment

I played around with some recycled candle wax bits. I had some cheeky silicone moulds as well as a candle stick mould that I hadn’t used before, and I tried some simple toilet roll candles too.

I’ve made “dipped” candles before, but never poured ones. Couple of things I learned:

  • I probably need to put some holes in the silicone moulds for the wicks. Just putting them down into the bottom doesn’t work – the wicks float.
  • The candle stick mould with a hole for the wick leaked all the wax out on the first try. On the second try I put a few knots in the wick to close the hole, but it made it hard to get the candle out of the mould. Apparently you can use something like clay to plug the hole (see below).
  • Best pour hot into a thick-walled mould, or pre-heat the silicone, to prevent cracks at the surface where the wax instantly hardens.
  • Pour slow to fill all the details and prevent hollowing out?
  • Big candles take a while to cool down. Wait several hours before unmoulding.
  • I should take more care to centre the wicks.. and think ahead and have what I need on hand. Maybe clothes pegs?
  • Putting some essential oils in is nice.
    • Edit: but only a little bit. I added way too much

Shoulder wraps

thomasLeave a comment

Idea: make some shoulder wraps.

When I go hiking with my backpack, and it’s a little chilly out, I often get a sweaty back and sweaty armpits. But when I take my warm layer off, my shoulders and chest get cold. Sometimes I’m even cold and sweaty at the same time. I already have the most well ventilated pack I could find, and I wear breathable wool, so I haven’t been able to find something that keeps me warm but not sweaty yet.

What if I make some sort of shoulder wrap, like the ones made famous by Outlander?

It’s a Victorian Sontag – usually it’s just a big triangle, but I guess I could take the “point” off and make the back much smaller. Then it would only warm my shoulders and core, without overheating my back and armpit areas. The bottom would just tuck into my backpack strap. It would be easy to put on, and very easy to make it less warm by just opening up the front.

I have no experience with knitting or crocheting. I guess crocheted, it would be thicker, heavier and warmer than needed. Perhaps I should just cut it from woven fabric, or maybe even weave something myself.

I could try air blown yarn, e.g. Drops Air, which is a lightweight alpaca/merino mix blown through nylon mesh. The mesh is strong, but from reviews it seems that the alpaca fibres will quickly come out and just leave the nylon mesh, so it’s not ideal in places that see much wear. Since it will be under my backpack shoulder straps, I think I need something a little sturdier. It would be nice to use wool so it will still insulate a bit in light drizzle.

Maybe still knit from a lightweight wool yarn, but sew on some sturdy fabric over the pack strap areas, like wool commando sweaters do?

I think this would also be a very nice garment to wear when I’m sitting in an office chair for hours on end. I have the same problem with cold shoulders and/or overheating back then.

Also, I’ve ordered some synthetic uv/cycling sleeves so I don’t have to change from a long sleeve base layer to a short sleeve shirt when it gets warmer. Been wanting to buy these for a while but hadn’t found them in the right length yet.