break fast

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want. 

 ~ Bill Watterson

Taking a little break from the hustle and bustle of the season.

It's Christmas Eve.

The presents are almost all wrapped.

Groceries are purchased and ready for prep.

Seems like a good time for a wee nap.

Wishing you all the very best this holiday season!

xo

Toasty twist pattern by Teresa Fox in BMFA STR rare gem.

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!

seriously playing

Man is most nearly himself 

when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. 

~ Heraclitus

We were without internet for a few days.

Needless to say,

it gave me time to play with new photo processing apps.

I caved after a couple days and took my knitting and iPhone to the nearest

Starbucks for a social media fix. 

And to knit of course!

Regan sock pattern by Liz Abinante in Black Trillium sock yarn 'pumpkin patch'

Sparrow Dance pattern by Anne Hanson in Bumblebirch yarn

unexpected

Expect the unexpected, and whenever possible, be the unexpected.

~ Lynda Barry

New yarn. Unexpected.

Old pattern. Expected.

New venue. Unexpected.

Two out of three isn't bad.

Regan sock pattern by Liz Abinante in Black Trillium sock yarn 'pumpkin patch'

doing

Seek always to do some good, somewhere.

Even if it's a little thing, so something for those that need help, 

something for which you get no pay 

but the privilege of doing it.

~ Albert Schweitzer

 Mad Color Weave sock pattern in Tempting Ewe Yarns MSWF exclusive!

nouveau

A chill has returned to the air.

Misty mornings abound.

Scarves and wool socks have been pulled out from storage.

Leaves are turning red and gold.

This is my time of year...and I'm loving' it!

Finally. Something new on the needles. 

The knitting is slow, but sure.

Very slow...truth be told.

Too many leaves to chase.

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

~ L.M. Montgomery

Sparrow Dance pattern by Anne Hanson in Bumblebirch yarn 

repose

Every difficulty slurred over 

will be 

a ghost 

to disturb your repose later on.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Mad Color Weave sock pattern in Tempting Ewe Yarns MSWF exclusive!

approaching possible

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

~ Nelson Mandela

The first sock is nearly finished. It is taking FOOOOORever! 

I have looked at blog posts from a few years ago and I was knitting socks so fast

it would make my needles spin.

I will be lucky to get a half-dozen pairs finished this year.

Oh well.

I must be busy with other things.

Must. Be.

Right?

Mad Color Weave sock pattern in Tempting Ewe Yarns MSWF exclusive!

a parable

A  little iPhone photography for our glamour shots today.

The Toasty Twist socks in BMFA STR lightweight 'pitter pat' are finished!

This was the perfect color to celebrate a long and hot summer!!
Right now...my autumn yarn stash is calling to me...
...and hopefully crisp, cool days will follow my lead!

Stay tuned!

The end of a melody is not its goal: but nonetheless, 

had the melody not reached its end

it would not have reached its goal either. 

A parable.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

flying time

Darn the wheel of the world! 

Why must it continually turn over? 

Where is the reverse gear? 

~ Jack London

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted.

After a month I'm back with the same pair of socks...LOL!!

But a different cafe!

A small blessing!

And the socks are finished!! Yay!!

Cotty socks by the lovely Carrie aka IGK.

This is one of my all time favorite patterns. 

And it comes with its own picot edge...no mods necessary on that front!!

The yarn is from Fiber Seed Sprout.

This is my first time using this yarn.

It is springy and wonderful. 

I have another pair of socks that are almost finished.

I hope it won't take me another month to finish and photograph them.

Fingers crossed!

p.s. When I'm not here you can probably find me playing around on Instagram.

starts

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I'm back.

I keep saying that.

I'm never really gone...you know that, right?

I have a new sock, too!
This gorgeous yarn is new to me. It was a lovely gift from Linda from the MSWF.
Tempting Ewe Yarns.
The pattern? You know the pattern!! Mad Color Weave.

And those lovely blue socks? You know them, too!!
Cotty pattern by the lovely IGK
in Fiber Seed Sprout Hydrangea.

Today is the day.
Get something started!

pink

A photo posted by Gail Marracci (@whimsicalpixel) on May 30, 2015 at 4:57pm PDT

Hot town, summer in the city.

New sock on the needles so pink and pretty!!

Apologies to the Lovin' Spoonful for modifying their lyrics!!
Apparently this is my 10th pair of Toasty Twist socks!!
Yowza!!

Toasty twist pattern by Teresa Fox in BMFA STR in 'pitter pat'

adventuring

You know what that ball of yarn means, right?

Drumroll, please...

An FO!!

I took the socks out for a drive on a sunny afternoon

a few weekends ago, and stopped for coffee

and a photoshoot.

Good times were had by all!

Sock details:

Intrepid Traveler pattern by me

with mods for a picot cuff and linen stitch heel

Victory sock yarn in Monet's Garden from Knitted Wit

Cast on and take yourself and your socks on an adventure!

Only those who risk going too far 

can possibly find out how far they can go.

~ T.S. Eliot

a new action

A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. 

If there's no action, you haven't truly decided.

~ Anthony Robbins

Finally.

Something new on the needles.

Here are the details:

Cotty pattern by Irishgirlieknits

The Fiber Seed Sprout yarn in Hydrangea

Awesome sauce!!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!!

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

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

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