Sunday, April 19, 2015

blue skies, baby


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.



Thursday, April 02, 2015

home stretch


The Embossed Leaves socks are finished!! woo hoo!
They are knit in BMFA STR (RSC May forget-me-knots).

Love them!!


I can't believe how long it has taken me to finish up the Intrepid Traveler socks!!
I don't think I want the knitting on them to end as I lovelovelove
the yarn (knitted wit Victory sock in Monet's Garden).

I actually took these pictures several weeks ago and just haven't processed them.
I'm already to the gusset of the second sock...home stretch!!


I don't think I have ever photographed a picot cuff as much as I have this one.
I love picots. I love photographing picots.
I love photographing photographs of picots.

It's infinitely entertaining.

I hope you'll bear with me a wee bit longer!!


Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.
~ St. Francis de Sales


Thursday, March 19, 2015

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


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

spring



A little iPhonography today.

And a sock of course!
Despite all the images of the cuff (picots are just too photogenic!)
 progress is being made. 
I finished one sock, and the second one is on the needles!!

Intrepid Traveler in Monet's Garden Victory Sock yarn from Knitted Wit.
Love. it.

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn


Friday, March 13, 2015

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.


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

instagram redux


Since I can't seem to stop 'gramming,
I thought I should at least share some of the
sock images here, too!


I'm brilliant that way.
It just took a month to think of it!!
Hah!

The yarn is Victory Sock in Monet's Garden from Knitted Wit.
Cushy goodness!!

Pattern is Intrepid Traveler with a picot cuff.


Happy Tuesday!!


Monday, February 09, 2015

instagram problem


I seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole that is Instagram.
Please pull me out!!

But I have sock pictures, so that counts for something.


A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; 
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. 
~ Winston Churchill


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

first sock of 2015


The first sock of 2015.
I've been posting to instagram a lot and thought I might try posting a 'gram' here, too.
I hope it works and looks ok!

Yarn: RSC 2014 club 'forget me knots'
Pattern: embossed leaves.
I never get tired of this pattern...
...and this yarn!


It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.
~ Paulo Coelho


Tuesday, January 06, 2015

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.
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 

Monday, December 01, 2014

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.


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

out and about


I cannot endure to waste anything as precious
as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne 

Much like Mr. Hawthorne, I'm taking advantage of the beautiful autumn days
here in the Pacific Northwest.
The rains are here, so when it is dry I'm out and about.
Even when it isn't dry, you may catch me in the leaves.

Toasty twist socks by Teresa Fox in BMFA 'overcast'

Monday, October 13, 2014

autumn rainbow


Is this colorway gorgeous, or what?


It's 'Autumn Rainbow' from Lorajean of Knitted Wit fame!
This is her new Victory Sock yarn base.

And because I couldn't decide which sock pattern to do - 
I'm doing both Toasty Twist and Mad Color Weave
in the same sock.
Whackadoodly.
It's how I roll.


To say I love this yarn is an understatement.
A big understatement.
Big.


My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
~William Wordsworth


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

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


Friday, September 19, 2014

be bold


Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. 
Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 


Just do it. 
Do it now!
xo

Toasty twist socks by Teresa Fox in BMFA 'overcast'




Tuesday, September 09, 2014

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)


Thursday, September 04, 2014

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'


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

caliente


I'm always blabbing about breaking out of my sock knitting routine...
...I dood it!!


Jen showed me her Willow Cowl the other day, and gosh dang it,
I cast on ASAP.

Autumn is around the corner and I need to get my accessories in order!!


The yarn is a merino/cashmere blend from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks in 'Holly'.
Sadly, her company is no longer in business as she was a beautiful dyer.
This yarn is circa 2009.

There you have it -
A new project...not a sock.
Yarn from the stash...and the pattern is free on Ravelry!

Life is good!


Women are like teabags. 
We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Monday, August 18, 2014

sorriso


This sock is soooooooooooooo bright...
...and sooooooooo happy!!

The burst pattern on the cuff is complete and 
we're moving down the leg of the indiegogo sock.


Elongated stitch motifs make awesome pops of color and play well with
variegated yarns; and importantly - are simple to do!!

This sock makes me smile whenever I pick it up.
I think I'll name it 'sorriso'...Italian for smile.


If someone is too tired to give you a smile, 
leave one of your own, 
because no one needs a smile as much 
as those who have none to give.

pattern by me in  Knitted Wit.'indiegogo to the studio'  yarn


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

of a cat and yarn


First, the yarn...
You know what that little ball of yarn means, right?
Of course you do!!


And now for the cat...
...my little helper.
Of all the umpteen shots I took, this was far and away my favorite, of course!
How could I not choose the image with his little paw in it.

The socks are finished.
There was actually much more yarn remaining than this (~15g), so don't fear
running out of yarn if knitting an average sized pair of socks (~85g), prob'ly even a largish pair.
Sometimes, when I'm using a new-to-me yarn,
I divide the skein into two balls and knit toe-up to prevent surprises.

And now I have 4 pairs of socks in the queue waiting for official glamour shots.
Sigh. Hope springs eternal that I'll get it done.

Look at who's at the other end of that sweet paw...Mr. Skittles, our neighbor's cat!
This is a rare moment when he held still long enough
for me to focus AND take the shot.
He's always on the move!!


Time spent with cats is never wasted. 
~ May Sarton 

pattern by me in Hedgehog Fibres 'verdigris'


Tuesday, August 05, 2014

yesterdays


I pulled some Hedgehog Fibre yarn out from my stash while organizing on Sunday.
I finished a pair of socks, so it's time to cast-on for a new pair.

I'm going a bit retro with these socks.
Yarn from the not too distant past...
...and a pattern, too. 


It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Lewis Carroll