summer salve for winter

The beginning of fall has introduced itself here in the mountains so it seemed like the perfect moment to share my recipe for my beloved all natural salve. I will make mine this year with calendula flowers from our garden. This wonderful salve is really easy to make and is soothing for dry fall and winter skin.

Before making the salve dry the flowers completely. Place the dried calendula flowers in a jar with a lid. Fill the jar with the dried flowers with the olive oil until they are submerged. Let the jar sit in a sunny location for 21 days, shaking the jar once a day or whenever you think of it. After 21 days strain the oil to remove all flowers from the oil. Pour the herbal oil into a clean jar to use as a massage oil or make it into a salve.

For the salve, gently warm 30 g. of beeswax in a bowl au bain-marie until the beeswax is completely melted. Add 175 ml. of the infused oil and stir over low heat until well mixed. Remove the bowl from the au bain-marie bath and (optionally) add 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil. Let the mixture cool down while whisking it every 10 minutes or so.

Not so long ago Sarah of Gathered Sheep Yarns reached out to me. She has an online shop where she sells beautiful British wool hand dyed in the most beautiful colours. I have been admiring her yarn from afar for quite a while and hope to knit with it some day.

So when Sarah asked me if I would be interested in making the illustration for her yarn label I was over the moon. I made a design with the things we knitters love so much; sheep and balls of yarn! :-) 

If you haven't seen Sarah's yarn yet, please do head over to her instagram (@gatheredsheepyarns) where she regularly posts photos of all her beautiful shades of hand dyed wool (and where you can see Sarah's new yarn label in full glory...).

Wishing you a smooth transition into fall.

x Claire