Yarnstores, Italian Style

Going on vacations requires a lot of planning. Even when you try not to plan, you end up planning. The eating, the where to sleep, the what to see, the what the heck is that building over there?, demands some planning. Adding a baby, and a car to the mix, requires a wedding planner like demeanor, frost in the face of flames. One might think that with all of this planning, I might have forgotten about yarn. I did. That is, I did until I missed an opportunity to visit a cashmere goat farm. It would have been beautiful, goats for the baby and husband, cashmere for me. I not quite over it. That small planning failure ensured yarn vigilance for the rest of the trip. I managed to hit up five yarn stores. Here's the line up.


I put an example of each yarn in this bowl just to take photos, but I'm thinking of leaving it out on the dinner table. We'll see how long it takes the man of the house to notice that the fruit has been replaced. He has a very high tolerance for fiber. I'm guessing it will take a week or so. Looking at this lovely bowl of yarn has given me many ideas. I've already dreamed up new lives for all of my lovelies. Here, I'll show you.


This is a softy cabled cashmere tam, possible "Rose Red" or "Gretel".



This is a sturdy hemp and cotton shopping bag with a garter stitch bottom.



This is a breezy summer lace scarf, something vaguely nautical in a very simple lace pattern. This yarn is without a tag, but I'm sure it's navy and white cotton with two different strands in green viscose.


This is a soft wool and cashmere sweater with 3/4 length sleeves and a leaf motif, possibly "Eastlake", possibly "Climbing Vines Pullover".



This is an alpaca and wool blend. It's a little shy at the moment. I think it wants to be something with aran cables.


This yarn knows exactly what it wants to be. It is a moorit sort of brown. There's a hint of red in it. The halo is saintly. It will be "Mary Jane" from the "Twist Collective" winter 2008. The yarn and the pattern are soul mates, destined to meet on my needles.

Sockus Maximus

We're rampaging around Italy like our barbarian ancestors, eating, checking out the nekid' statuary and eating deadly amounts of gelato. There has been a fair amount of car time, and that has allowed for some sock knitting. In between gaping at this.



and this.....



I have been knitting these. The Yarn is made by "A Swell Yarn Shop" and is called Duet, because there's one mini skein of a matching color for heels, toes or whatever strikes your fancy.



I am trying to finish this pair before Father's day. I should be able to do this. They aren't a perfect match. They're more like fraternal twins, which is nice. It's the first plain pair of socks I've ever knit. The knitting is pretty boring, but it's fast, and it allows for the ogling of more nekid' statues.

One of the real highlights of our trip has been a stay at an agritourismo called Il Cortile, in Cicciano. You can Google them to find the website. The courtyard was vast,



and the rooms were furnished with family antiques. There were several acres of gardens, which we had all to ourselves. Every night we ate a four or five course meal prepared by the family. There was even some homemade booze. This is a glass of a limoncello like liquor made from what looks like a giant lemon.


It was excellent. It think you could have guessed that by the fact that I took the trouble to photograph it like it was a holy relic. I would have photographed the burnt orange ice cream with candied orange zest......but I ate it too fast.

When my parents met up with us in Rome, they came bearing gifts. This was probably because they'd heard we're barbarians. There was a sea colored skein of Malabrigo Sock.



There was another skein of Madeline Tosh sock yarn in a variegated shade of grey called "Tern".



There was even a copy of Cookie A.'s new book "Sock Innovation".



The gifts were very very good, and so we let them join the rampage.