Which wax and wick for pouring some candles?

The wife suggested I pour us some candles after we used up most of our store-bought candles during a recent power outage. I'm going to make some molds by carving out small logs but I don't know anything about pouring a candle. What kind of wax is economical to purchase that will perform well? And is the ball of cotton I use to tie up rib roasts suitable for the wick or should I buy purpose-made wick material? I'm only planning on making a small batch of these - not selling candles at a craft show (I hope)

I seem to remember that using plain cotton instead of the treated "wick" stuff means you can end up with a much larger flame than you want as the candle burns and the wick doesn't necessarily burn down the way you're used to.

For simple pours in carved log molds, I’ve had the best luck with plain paraffin or soy since they melt easy and don’t cost much. I match the wick to the diameter of the log, usually a medium cotton braid so the flame doesn’t tunnel. I sometimes read up on things like a candle to eliminate cigarette smoke for ideas on clean‑burning wax blends, since those tend to burn steady and smell decent.