Pour your distilled water into the heat-proof container, then add the Lye and stir carefully with rubber spatula to mix and dissolve.  This stuff will get hot, so watch out!  It will also produce fumes for a few minutes, so it is best to mix it up and get away from it quickly until the fumes disperse.  Then make sure to set the lye-water mixture aside in a safe place to cool off.

Once your lye has cooled to the point where the container is just warm to the touch, pour Olive Oil into your large mixing pot and heat on the stove.  We want to heat the Olive Oil to approx. 100 degrees F, if you have a thermometer you can measure this exactly.  Otherwise, just heat it up until the outside of the pot feels very warm to the touch, then remove the pot from the heat source.

Pour the lye-water mixture into the warm oil, very slowly and carefully to avoid spills, stirring the oil all the while with your spatula. 
The mixture will incorporate and become smoother, continue stirring for a couple of minutes to make sure everything is well-mixed. Then start using your stick blender or beater, for short intervals, hand-stirring in between. You will soon notice the mixture getting thicker and more opaque, that means trace is occurring. Keep stirring until you get a rather thick pudding-like consistency.

Pour soap mixture into mold, snap on lid, and cover with blankets.  When it is ready, pop the block out the the mold and cut it into whatever sizes you like.  Stack your soap on brown paper-lined shelves in a well-ventilated area, this soap should be aged and cured for approx. 4 weeks before use.  Makes more than 10 pounds of soap which makes it a wonderful idea for gifts, especially if you stamp it with interesting personal designs.