Going Green

Going Green is such a HUGE thing, isn't it?  Well, this post has more to do with the actual color than the 'going of green'.... although, I have been trying to learn about ways to incorporate more 'green' into our lives here at the Hearth Room.  For instance, making our own laundry detergent and soaps, natural facial cleansers and shampoos, and using natural oils as moisturizers have topped my list of must-do's lately.  I can share more about that later, but just as I was full-swing into making a facial cleanser with yogurt and olive oil I spotted this Spearmint Stripes yarn.  You may remember that it jumped into my cart...??  Anyway, it was just a great green stripey yarn to accommodate my green facial cleansing.  Not to mention that I HAD to TRY this STAR STITCH  that I read about on Jules' blog over at little woolie.  This top photo shows my little bitty star stitch washcloth in the center there.  I just did the star stitch pattern until I felt it was a good size and then did a border around it with single crochet. 

And here are all six of the face cloths I have made with Spearmint Stripes.  So far....  There are 2 basic granny squares, the star stitch with border, one was made using single crochet where you skip one ch and then do 2 sc in the next...  Nice fabric.  Another cloth was made the same way, but using half double crochets instead of singles...  still skipping one stitch and 2 hdc in the next.  The last cloth on the back right was just a very small swatch with the end of the Spearmint Stripes.  Then I bordered it around and around with sc.  I then did one border of a different green yarn I had on hand.

This is the hdc cloth.

The basic granny and the 'leftover' swatch....  Spearmint Stripes is made by Peaches and Cream, but I couldn't find a good link to it at the time of this post.  Since I found it in a Big Mart store you can probably get it almost anywhere! 

And while I was rummaging around looking for the camera battery I found this lovely packet of seeds!  I picked these seeds up last year and obviously misplaced them...  Ahem.  Well, I'm happy to have found them!  I love the packet with the cute 'Axle-like' kitty on the front.  Don't you just love seed packets?  I already have some catnip growing in pots on the patio so I'm not sure if I'll use these seeds yet.  Although, I have found my catnip to be quite mushed down and munched up lately.  I actually did catch one very adorable "Ginger" cat IN my flower pot recently...  We talked about it and I think she's opting to leave the nip alone until it's better established so she can go all-out bonkers later!  Our Big Boy, Fritz, is really a problem where catnip is concerned, but he cannot get his tubby bottom off the ground to leap into this particular pot.  Ha!  I have at least won that battle!

Speaking of seeds and planting, I had some pretty papers laid out to work on the new gardening journal, as well as this old green notebook when I spotted this pretty shadow on them.  I'm taking my time making this garden journal, as I really want to find an old book to use as a cover or to repaper and add pockets to, instead of using a notebook.  My quest for an old book continues...

 

Did you read my post about Favorite Baby Crochet?  Did you see this book called Little Crochet?  This sweet baby toy ball pattern is in Little Crochet.  It is so pretty and stripey I had to try it.  There is a bell inside the ball to add even more interest. 

Actually, I put a couple different sized bells inside a plastic Easter egg and put it in the center of my stuffing.  It makes nice little jingle sounds whenever it's tossed about.  Sweet P loves it.  And it's great to have a ball that Young Man can toss with her that I don't have to worry about her getting knocked out by, lol!

This was really fun to make and very easy.  I used some of my Knit Picks yarn on hand...  It's the Shine Worsted yarn I'm using for my Ripple, (yes, the Ripple is still being hooked on occasionally!)  I truly LOOOOOVVVE that yarn!  It is Pima Cotton and Modal.  Scrummy, yummy, soft.... Um.  I'll try to remember to get a new picture of the Ripple to show you soon. 

I have to share this in case you haven't seen it:  This was one of the recent Knit Picks catalogs and it is so GORgeous.  See what they did there with the yarn on the cover?!  Yarny Flowers.  You know I love that!  They look like little marigolds to me.  Or maybe they could be a field of poppies?

And speaking of kid things, we had a little tea party here at the Hearth Room recently...  I was actually participating in a 'virtual' tea party online at Splitcoast Stampers and the kids and I had a little tea party of our own prior to that.

They had big fun making tea in various pots and serving up fish crackers on Sweet P's little tea set.

For the 'virtual' tea party I had a hard time deciding what type of tea to make, so several pots got brought out...

Ultimately, it was Earl Grey that won out to accommodate my lemon apricot crepes with mozzarella.  Yum!

So I've been very domestic around here, as usual.  Laughing to myself... When am I not domestic?  I'll have to really ponder that and consider what classifies as non-domestic in my world...

Anywho, just laundry and picking up, and bits of crochet time mixed in where able.  School is winding down which allows me more wiggle-room for working in bits of fun with yarn.  The house is feeling cleaner and it feels good to be ahead of the chores some days.  You know that feeling you get after you rearrange all the furniture in a room?  Well, I did that yesterday, so I feel like I have a new bedroom.  Same old stuff, different location, good clean feeling.

Oh, that awesome RED star square above?  I'm in love...  it's still in process of becoming something great, (I hope), so I'll be back with more REALLY soon on that.  Just as soon as I can remember my original inspiration and design!

Have a lovely day, friends!