Into the modern world

This is my first post on the new Blogger. I was dragged into the modern world, kicking and screaming, by the disastrous past week of SAM3 sign-ups. Mixing old Blogger and new Blogger was basically a big nightmare for all involved! So, here I am on new Blogger, and so far so good (apart from a little glitch with the SAM3 blog which didn't allow us to invite anyone for 24 hours).

I've also joined the modern world of vaccum cleaning with this, my new baby:



This is my new Simplicity vaccum cleaner, and it is AMAZING. As my husband would be oh-so-happy to tell you, I've had an obsession with finding the perfect vaccum cleaner, resulting in about 10 vaccum purchases since he's met me. They were all inferior for some reason or another - either they didn't suck well enough right from the start, or they stopped sucking after a few months, or they were too hard to clean/put away/set up/switch to & from attachments/etc. I decided I was going to finally spend the money, go to the vaccum cleaner store and do it up right. Let me tell you, if you've never used a really good vaccum, you're missing out! I actually like vaccuming now, and it has a retractable cord so my least favorite part of vaccuming (yes, I hated winding the cord up when I was putting away my old upright - it never seemed to loop right so the plug, which was supposed to clip onto the cord always fell right at the spot where the cord was wrapped around the little arm thingy, so it wouldn't clip, and yada yada yada) is no longer a problem.

I've also got to show you three of the newest colorways in stock at Gardiner Yarn Works. Each of them is knit up in a new pattern (all of them will be available as soon as I can get them formatted, edited and photographed - I'm going to have them all knit in plain yarns as well so that the stitches can be seen a bit better). First, we have Succulent from Chewy Spaghetti:



As you can see, this will be a lace sock pattern, and the picture does not do it justice at all. This is the problem with being on-line only with these kits - there's no way to show how truly gorgeous this yarn is without being able to fondle it. This is also a yarn that is pretty in the hank but incredible once it's knit up. You can't tell how nice it's going to be just by looking at the hank!

Next up are two Oregon-inspired colors from Lavender Sheep. First is Mt Hood, inspired by the snowy peak that towers over NW Oregon:



And finally the gorgeous Columbia River colorway:



Both of these colorways are a bit overpowering for the stitch patterns I used on them, so I would recommend them with a simple rib pattern or a very subtle stitch pattern that won't be overwhelmed by the colors of the yarn. I am going to be putting together a simple ribbed sock pattern in multiple sizes to offer as another option with the more colorful colorways. I love using textured stitches with handpainted yarn, but it works better with some yarns than with others, for sure.

And be sure to subscribe to the SAM3 blog if you want some serious sock p*rn to lighten up your day! We've already got several super socks over there.