Pattern Postponement......

Where do I start, without dragging this out.....my little dover & madden world has become a little overwhelming of late causing me rather a lot of unnecessary stress.  For those that don't know I also work a casual job that normally would see me work only around 25 hours a week.  Working these hours was freeing me up to work dover & madden in and around that job.....time that I really relished. 

My casual job has now won a huge contract that runs through to the end of April, virtually doubling my working hours every week.....yes I'm working between 40 to 50 hours before I even get to knit my d&m stuff....I'm not complaining, I certainly don't shy away from hard work, but trying to balance both jobs, maintain some semblance of a social life, and do all the normal household chores, and then trying to find time to write up patterns, and all the necessary palava that goes with those patterns has fallen way short.

dover & madden was to be releasing its first knitting pattern for one of my little hats, with others to follow, but so I can retain some of my sanity and after much chatting with friends over dinner over the past few Monday nights, I have decided to put the patterns on hold, just till mid year.

I'll going to continue to knit stock and fulfill orders through to June to cover off the Australian Autumn & Winter seasons. My plan is to have all my knitting completed by end of June, which will see me take two months off to just work patterns for the months of July and August   This should see the full release of all of the patterns that I currently have under my belt for September.  I do understand this will disappoint and possibly annoy some very patient people, but my priority is me first, dover & madden second.....and truth be told I think it would be nice to release all of the patterns at the same time.   This then gives me the freedom to start working on more little patterns and I have a book full of designs.....a win win situation for everyone in my mind.

I have spent many a sleepless night over the past month trying to work all of this out, and with the help of a business plan and some structure on paper that I can check off, I now believe that I can put my ducks in a row to get this pattern thing off the ground.

So that's enough from me for now.  Thanks for listening.

Vic x

For Eden....

I mentioned I was knitting a little jacket for a friend who was having a bub here.  Well little Eden decided she was coming into the world a little bit earlier than planned, so I had to get my skates on.  Luckily this gorgeous little jacket is a quick knit.  The jacket is virtually knitted in one piece....I made one modification to the pattern, I chose not to knit the sleeves in the round.....my theory is life is too short to be knitting on 4 needles, so they are seamed underneath and that was really the only sewing up on the whole jacket.

The little i-cord border was knitted onto the jacket, and gasp....I went with black floral buttons. You'll notice I used black thread to sew them on.....I didn't want the wheat colour stitching showing on the buttons....I just wanted little black circles with a floral pattern on them, and I think they give the jacket a slightly oriental feel..... you'll also notice all the buttons are sewn on different ways, some flowers sideways, some upside down, some right way up....I don't like things to look too ordered!!

Made with lots of love, and now a hat for little Miss Eden.....what to do?

You'll find details about this little jacket on my Ravelry page.  Please note this is not a tutorial, this is a project of someone else's design. All the information is linked to my page.  Where to obtain the pattern, yarn used etc.


Vic x

Blanket Info.....

Hello, for those that have found their way here to my blog via Pinterest and a bright colourful blanket. I have popped a link below that may just help you out if you want to make something similar.

The information you will need for this blanket is all here on my Ravelry page, link to pattern, yarn I used, hook size and a link to show you how to sew your squares together......My interests lie in knitting first and foremost, but if you need any help with crochet, I'll do my best to assist.

Please remember someone kindly pinned my picture to Pinterest causing 1000's of people here to this page.  This was never a tutorial, but I hope I have pointed you in the right direction should you choose to make a blanket.


Good luck and think of all the gorgeous colour combos you could do.


vic x

Knitting for a Friend

I have a huge pile of personal project stashed for friends and family.....this is the pile that never gets touched, or to be quite honest, rarely gets touched.....the pile of projects that just waits for everything else to be completed!

I do have a little project coming up for a dear friend who is carrying very special cargo.....I won't divulge her pregnancy story because that is hers to tell, but suffice to say this is going to be one very special little project for one very lucky little bub that I'm really looking forward to making......all projects are special, but this one is just a little bit more so.

Yarn and pattern from here


Vicki x

Now & Then

Now.....

Then.....

I can't believe my run of luck with potted plants has been so successful.  I planted my little balcony boxes on the 30th December......and maybe by tomorrow morning after a very hot day today in Melbourne, I may just have a strawberry ripe for the picking.  Hopefully the birds won't get to it first!!

The other lovely thing I've discovered is bees.....As a person who lives inner city, bees are just something I never see.  My little garden has created a little haven for a bee or three, who lazily saunter over the flowers at their leisure.....so nice to see.

Next weekend, I'm moving into planting herbs....anyway for now I'm off to do some knitting.


Vic x

Baby Blog.....

The wonderful photographer Peta Mazey from Wellington, New Zealand has taken some beautiful photos for me over the years.....here is a new set of photos Peta did for me over last weekend.

Enjoy Vicki x