new

Life isn’t about finding yourself. 

Life is about creating yourself. 

 ~ George Bernard Shaw

New socks.

I actually have had a case of cast-on-itis.

I have 3 new pairs of socks on the needles right now.

This is pair number 1.

My pattern.

BMFA STR yarn 'Penguins on ice'.

Etsy shop open

Hello!

It has been awhile!

I have been busy.

Making calendars for my Etsy shop.

Squeal!

I have two offerings this year.

A Knitter's desktop calendar and 

a Landscape desktop calendar.

I hope you'll check out the shop!

blue skies, baby

A photo posted by Gail Marracci (@whimsicalpixel) on Apr 16, 2015 at 10:17am PDT

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chez Neuroknitter update:

We've had beautiful blue skies lately.

Test knitting is finished.

The Monet's Garden socks are finished.

And a new sock is on the needles.

Life is good.

pixels 'n prose

How strange that the nature of life is change,

yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. 

And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us 

are the very ones that can break us open and help us 

blossom into who we were meant to be.

~ Elizabeth Lesser

restoration

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

~ Albert Einstein 

a little knitting.

a little hot cocoa.

a little music.

Things don't seem so difficult now.

Happy Friday.

new journeys

Happy New Year!!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

I was a busy girl...

...I opened an Etsy shop. 

It is stocked with the two desktop calendars you see here.

the whimsical pixel

I'm not sure where this little adventure will take me.

I do know that failure is assured if I don't even try.

And that's what I've been up to.

I have thought about a few goals for the coming year.

Getting my blogging in order is one of them.

Hopefully you will see me again before next month.

xo

Success is not a place at which one arrives,

but rather the spirit with which one 

undertakes and continues the journey.

~ Alex Noble 

ready

It has been awhile since I last posted.

A long while. I seemed to have missed all of November. 

I finished these lovelies while the autumn sun was still warm.

And now it's cold and I'm ready to wear them.

The perfect boot toppers to these little yellow boots!

Toasty twist socks in BMFA 'overcast' yarn.

Modified with linen stitch heels.

I lovelovelove linen stitch heels.

Remember that everyone you meet 

is afraid of something, 

loves something 

and has lost something. 

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

heavenly autumn

Happy Autumn!!

My 'day' is finally here!!

Today is the first full day of autumn!!

I'm so excited I'm serving up a "double-shot" of coffee to celebrate 

the return of knitting weather!!

woot!! squee!! and PARteeeeee!!!

xoxo

In Heaven, it is always Autumn.
~ John Donne

autumn prepper

 I'm ready for autumn.

Crisp days.

Rain.

Falling leaves.

A steaming cup of coffee to warm my hands.

Handknits on hands, neck, and feet.

Soon.

Very, very soon.

And I'll be ready.

Four steps to achievement: 

Plan purposefully. 

Prepare prayerfully. 

Proceed positively. 

Pursue persistently.

~ William Arthur Ward  

Willow Cowl in Kitchen Sink Dyeworks (no longer available)

yesterdays

The last days of August were warm and lovely.

I had the opportunity to wander around the city and riverside.

Per usual, I was accompanied by socks and camera.

You never know what you might come across!

papaver sock in Hedgehog Fibre 'olean'

toasty twist sock in BMFA 'overcast'

trials and passions

How fair is a garden 

amid the trials and passions of existence. 

~ Benjamin Disraeli

The first day of summer is tomorrow...

you know what that means, right?

Shorter days ahead and moving closer to autumn!

woot and squee!!!

Happy weekend!! I hope it's filled with few trials,

and much delight! xo

Toasty Twist in STR 'overcast'

balance

new socks on the needles.

a new cafe and macaron source (nuvrei).

all that newness needed to be balanced with

an old pattern (I know you know what it is!)

and a fave yarn (I know you know what this is, too).

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

~ Thomas Merton

Toasty Twist in STR 'overcast'

today

I spent some time walking around the waterfront last Friday afternoon.

I hit a coffee spot and then walked the esplanade around the river.

I was refreshed and ready for the long weekend!

I love the water...I think I must've been a fish in another life.

Look what greeted me Friday morning!

The first crocus of the year!

I look forward to the first crocus Every. Single. Year.

It's always a miracle to witness the presence of such a complex blossom 

after observing nothing in its place the day before!

Check out the new comment section! I upgraded to a third party format. 

I think it will be more fun for everyone to comment and reply to each other as they desire...

...and it will certainly be more fun for me to be able to reply to comments from people I don't have email addresses for!

Soooo....who's going to be the first one to post a comment?!

The race is on!

Today is a new day. 

Even if you were wrong yesterday, 

you can get it right today.

~ Dwight Howard 

Regan sock pattern by Liz Abinante in BDY opposites attract 'catherine'

hearts

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. 

As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; 

so in a series of kindnesses

there is at last one which makes the heart run over.

~ Ray Bradbury

Wishing you a weekend overflowing with

the love of family and friends!

xoxo

pixels 'n prose

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

~ Matsuo Bashō

doing

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' 

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.  

Toasty twist. In STR 'metaphysical angst'

comfort

New yarn

plus

picot cuff

equals

wooly comfort.

I think macarons were invented by a dyer...don't you?

Happy Friday-eve! 

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

~ E. E. Cummings

Intrepid Traveler sock pattern by me in STR 'ginger plum-licious'

choice

When given the choice between being

right or being kind, choose kind. 

~ R.J. Palacio

The beginning of this sock needs no introduction...

...you can identify it from 40 yards on a galloping horse, right?

Toasty twist. In STR 'metaphysical angst'.

refreshment

Where there's tea there's hope. 

~Arthur Wing Pinero

Every now and again one has to refresh one's own self.

What one does - is - well - up to that one.

Me...I like to explore cafes with knitting, pens, or other items in hand and take photos.

I find this thoroughly entertaining and I can completely lose track of all time and all problems,

and by the time I pack up and leave, I feel refreshed.

What do you do to feel refreshed?

off the fence socks by me in STR 'hope springs eternal'

returning

Fairy tales are more than true: 

not because they tell us that dragons exist, 

but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

~ Neil Gaiman

2014. It just couldn't arrive quickly enough for me.

It's here. So far so good.

And the first post of 2014 is of knitting.

So far so good!

Beautyberry socks in STR 'plum crazy'