Last week was really different. I want on a soap making course with Melinda Coss in her house in Larocal. Melinda is the acknowledged expert on this subject having started a business initially from a hobby in her kitchen progressing to large industrial premises where she and her staff made superbly natural soaps and toiletries for Harrods, Tesco, Safeway, Asda and Sainsbury in addition to supplying exclusive shops and hotels in the UK and in France. Melinda is currently involved in setting up soap making units in rural Tanzania & in Cape Town to encourage and enable young people to run their own businesses.

http://www.makesoap.biz/

Over the years Melinda has written books on just about every craft you could imagine, but it was our common love of knitting which made the week extra interesting.

My lovely soap! I just have to wait 4 – 6 weeks now until it cures. Lots of lovely Christmas presents…. They smell divine – I can’t wait to use some.

During the week, we had lots of time to talk about making soap as businesses and other ideas focussing on development of Alba Yarns. I left with my head buzzing! This week has been busy following up leads, so watch this space for news of developments!