The Little Box Of Crochet!

Back in November ,I think, the lovely Amanda and her daughter, Jenny of@littleboxofcrochet revealed their  venture that lots of us had been so curious to find out about. I'm sure you've seen these monthly subscription boxes that are very popular at the moment, usually with a beauty theme. Well Amanda had come up with a similar idea but instead of beauty products - it's crochet!!!! Yes that's right, each month you receive a pattern and the kit includes EVERYTHING you need to complete this months project! It's beautiful box full of yarny delights. 

When I saw what was in the November box I knew it would make the perfect gift for my mum. The patterns were wonderfully put together by the wonderful  Kate of  'greedy for colour' blog and they were gorgeous mushrooms!!! How wonderful! As it was a gift I wasn't able to take any pictures of the contents but I did manage to nab this picture from my Mum's IG account (@button_and_bumble) where you can also see Decembers box!

 Heather (pink milk)  who I had the pleasure of meeting at yarndale last year, is by far one of my favorite bloggers so when I saw that she had designed Decembers box I knew I had to carry on my subscription inside the box was the kits for the cutest pair of wrist cuffs in the most gorgeous colour way.

 Now I have gifted them I can carry on the subscription for myself, yay!

This months box (January) is designed by Kate who's blog is just gorgeous, I recommend you go and check it out!

Here it is! Oh the feeling of excitement when receiving this glorious box in the post is wonderful. It is Beautifully wrapped and packed. Amanda and Jenny do a wonderful job of that! I will share a picture of the contents in a few days as I don't want to spoil it for those who have not received their box yet but i can assure you it is just as gorgeous as the last 2 boxes! Bring on February! 

xXx

 

Adventures with Bluebell Bunny

I love Instagram, it's friendly, creative and Inspiring. The accounts which I follow never fail to inspire me to pick up my hook and start a new project. Learn to knit or sew, or perhaps even inticing me into purchasing something, it's Usually yarn!! But recently I was amazed by the wonderful "miss Maggie rabbits" that have been created by various ladies on IG (Instagram).  

I tried to resist but her gorgeous floral fabric ears kept nagging at me and eventually I caved and purchased the pattern. I set about looking for some felt, I thought to myself "I must have some that I've kept safe and hoarded for years" and I was right! I found some gorgeous neutral coloured felt that was just perfect. I carefully cut all of the pattern pieces out of paper and then felt and fabric and began stitching it up. As each stitch was created her character and personality grew. I apologise for lack of pictures here, I was too ingrossed to remember.  But I did get a picture of her when she was  finished..... 

Ta-dah!!! Isn't she pretty?! Her ears are cath kidston, I knew I wanted them to be floral and blue so this fabric seemed perfect!!! And of course a little crochet cardigan. 

I was unsure about one thing, though. And that was her name. I was asked serval times and I couldn't think. Until I took her for a walk one day with Winnie to the woods 

And I sat her down in the bluebells and then I realised.... 

.... what a gorgeous name that was!! Bluebell bunny. Yes I like that. 

I have since made her the little peasant dress that comes with the pattern. I can't wait to make her some more clothes when time allows. For a small bunny her clothing is rather time consuming!! But ever so worth it. 

I look forward to taking bluebell on more adventures and I also look forward to blogging about them. I hope you do too.         xXx 

Here's the link to the pattern, there is also a kit!!! 

http://aliciapaulson.com/collections/softie-patterns/products/miss-maggie-rabbit-softie-sewing-pattern

New shades!!

Hello!!! Here I am again :) today I'd like to talk you about stylecraft special dk, my favourite acrylic yarn, and the 3 new shades that have been released!! 

I have been crocheting nearly 10 years now and when I first started off I used very cheap acrylic yarn which felt very "dry" if you understand my meaning. Scratchy, rough, slightly squeaky, you know the type. And it put me off buying acrylic yarn!! But as I was still learning I didn't want to spend a fortune on more expensive yarns so I perceived with this nasty acrylic..... Until..... A few years ago I discovered Lucy's wonderful blog known as 'attic24' and I noticed that serval times she mentioned a yarn called stykecraft special dk (dk stands for double knit) after investigating further all I could find were positive reviews of this yarn! So I knew I had to try it. So I bought the classic "Lucy pack" 

(Image from wool warehouse website) 

Oh wow!! Look at those colours, I was delighted when I received my yarn, 17 balls of pure pleasure!!! The first time I tried it I fell in love. Not like any other acrylic I had used in the past. Not dry, but silky. Not scratchy and rough. but soft. And not a single squeak. But one other huge bonus is the colours it comes in. I believe there's 58 different shades available! That leaves a lot of colour play doesn't it? I could spend hours putting together different pallets and combinations. Earlier on in April stylecraft released 3 new shades! Storm, Parma violet and sage. 

 

I'm sure you'll agree that they were certainly a welcome addition to the current shades. 

I've already had lots of fun playing with the colours and imagining future projects 

Ahhh!! Now that's a happy sight. A granny square in Parma violet, camel. Storm, mint ( which is stylecraft life), raspberry. Ice blue (life again), grape, parchment, Sage and pale rose. I love this very much. I can just imagine a large granny square blanket made in those colours. One day maybe.... 

 

For now these colours are what I'm working with. I'm making a very special blanket for the #thinkpinkraffle on Instagram if you're on Instagram then please go and check it out!! I will share my progress on here as I go. 

Of course I had to include one of the new shades!! I have a huge colour crush on sage at the mo. What's your favourite shade of stylecraft special dk? X 

Crochet mood blanket 2015

Hello all, sorry I've not posted much over the last few months, I've been a bit slack on the blogging front haven't I? 

If you are looking for regular posts from me then you can find me most days on Instagram (@thelittlegreencupboard). 

But I do hope to blog a little more this year, we'll see how that goes!! 

Anyway here's a little picture of my current project (well one of them HAHA!) it's a "crochet mood blanket" the only rules of which are to make one square a day for the whole of 2015 and each square should reflect your mood from that day. Simple.  I kept seeing pictures on Instagram at the end of last year of everyone's mood blankets and I felt inspired and slightly jealous of these gorgeous blanket so I knew I had to make one this year!! So far I have kept up although we are only 2 weeks into the year heehee. 

 

I'm using drops alpaca and it's absolutely divine!!! I can't recommend it enough! it is a 4 ply yarn and I use a 3.5mm hook to make my 4 round granny squares. 

I like the mix of bright/muted colours. I'm hoping when it's all finished it should have a nice vintage feel to it. Hopefully. 

I don't really have any "rules" when it's comes to matching a colour to a mood. I express far too many feelings, moods and emotions throughout one day to choose just one colour to represent that whole day, so I usually pick a colour I feel drawn to at the time I make the square. For example -  This pink is the chosen colour for today's square.

Right I must dash as I'm about to make today's square, I'd love to know if anyone else is taking part in a mood blanket this year? Do let me know. 

Lots of love

 xXx Lulu xXX 

V stitch Love!

 This "v stitch" pattern has been all over Instagram recently. I had to give it a go! I went to my trusty stash of stylecraft special DK. 

I was loving the vintage inspired pallet. 

It grew very quickly! Soon enough it was done, but the next task was the ends!! There was lots to sew in. 

And then, after those (what felt like 100's!!) ends, and a simple

Border..........Ta dah. It was finished. I decided to call it "Morgan" after my nephew who chose the colours for this project. 

Overall I really recommend this stitch. Very quick and satisfying and it looks great when you use a load of colours! Which is great for a colour lover like me. 

In fact, I love this stitch so much it wasn't long before I started another blanket!! 

I chose a cath Kidston style combo for this one. 

Love how quick it grows!!! 

And this is how it currently looks. 30 ish rows into it. I'm working on it between other projects. So, what are you waiting for. Give the v stitch a go!! Xxxx

Nordic shawl 💗

So over on Instagram my Friend over at @littleblackbarn and I decided to have a Nordic shawl cal! (Cal stands for crochet along) 

We invited a load of ladies on Instagram to crochet along side us and quite a few of them have :) 

The first job was to choose which yarn 

and what colours... This was a hard part for me, I changed my mind so many times! 

The rows worked up really quick, thanks to the very well written pattern by 'my rose valley' 

That's the grey part done. Now time for the colour play! 

It took me a while to decide what colour order to use.... 

 

And for a while I was unsure about the whole 'green/purple' thing. But my lovely Instagram friends convinced me to stick with it. 

And I'm pleased I did! 😃

Overall I am totally chuffed with my shawl 😃 I gifted it to a dear friend of mine and she was totally over the moon with it! I've now moved on to my 2nd Nordic shawl and I'm loving it 😃 I can't wait to share pictures of that one with you. Have a lovely weekend. 

xXx xXX 

Granny blanket :)

Hello :) today's post is a ta-dah ish kind of post. I've already shared this blanket on Instagram but thought I'd give you a bit more info on it and share it on here too :) 

I started making these grannies squares a month or two back. 

The pile grew and grew. 

They were flying off my hook! 

Here is the final lay out I decided on. Then I had the task of choosing a joining colour. 

I decided on 'mocha', and I love it!! 

 

I guess I should now share a picture of it all spread out, so here it is in all it's blankety granny square glory. 

TA-DAH!!! 

This is all the yarn I had left. Just enough!! I used style craft special dk. Ahhh I love that yarn!!! 

 

I really enjoyed making this blanket and it is now being enjoyed by its lovely owners. I always have a granny square blanket on the go so I have started another one now, I'll try and get round to posting about that soon :) 

xXx 💕 xXx