Goodbye, Blue Monday

So, I've returned from Italy. The trip was good - sadly, not great. We were treated very rudely everywhere and I heard several people at the airport saying the same thing. I don't know if its the war, or if the Italians are just weary of tourists (because the crowds were brutal, let me tell you), or what, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant place to be. It pains me to say so, it really does.

As for Eurofly airlines, it was a good experience all in all. The seats on the plane were fairly worn looking but that might be my only real complaint. The food was basically edible for airline food, they served wine with dinner, the staff was young and good looking, and they flights were more or less on time. We arrived at the airport in Italy a bit over three hours before departure and no one was there to check people in until exactly three hours before, but thats not so bad nor so surprising. So if you found some crazy deal on Eurofly and are wondering what its all about, I'd say, take the deal and run with it - there are a lot worse major airlines in terms of service and timeliness here in the US.

I went to one yarn shop to try and find the Bollicine from my mom, but no luck. The people there were nice though. I also went to a really amazing fabric shop on Via Sistina, near the Spanish steps called Lisio Tessuti d'Arte. As you can no doubt tell from the link, those fabrics defy description. The gentleman in the shop didn't speak English, but we communicated in Italian/Spanish as much as we could - enough to find out that there was no way I could afford so much as a scrap, even if they had them. But if you go to Rome and are fabric shopping, do take a look - they are some of the most exquisite fabrics you'll see outside of museums.

I FINALLY got around to photographing some WIPs so lets talk about those:

This is the purple cotton lace cap sleeve shell from Elann that I mentioned. I've been cooking along on it and enjoying it thoroughly. I've never knitted a sweater in the round before, because it doesn't lend itself to being dragged around town, but this little summery number is fine for that. Too bad the pattern is no longer available in their free patterns section!

And here is the Classic Elite Vintage shell thing that I'm working on:

I haven't picked this thing up in a while, so I don't even know where I left off. There isn't much to the pattern but there is side shaping - shouldn't be too hard to figure out, except that stitches not on the needles are hard to count because of the texture. Which reminds me, I really like the texture of this yarn in reverse stockinette.

I last talked about this project in my "yarn snobbery" post where I went off on the Michael Kors project in the current issue of VK. Well, get this: the Michael Kors offices are in the same building and elevator bank as my office. So the evening I was leaving for the trip, this girl gets on the elevator off a Kors floor and she's wearing a sweater that is almost identical to the one in VK - only difference is hers was belted. So I asked her if it was a Michael Kors sweater and she said yes and I told her about the pattern in VK and how much it cost to buy the yarn. And she said that $300 was a bargain compared to what she paid for it and that "Thank God I get a clothing allowance." Anyways, moral of the story: if you want to wear a designer (which I don't, especially, I just liked that sweater), then knitting one of his or her designs in expensive yarn is still a better deal than buying it ready-made.

There are photos of the bog jacket too, but they aren't that great and I will save those for another day. Same goes for photos from Italy - lots of floral inspirations!

I'm off!

Yes, off again. But don't for a second think I'm some "trust fund kid" (as my husband insists we must seem like to others). We're going to Rome tonight! But we got a great deal on the flight, direct on Eurofly, an airline NOBODY has heard of. I will let you know how it goes, but it looks promising. And for $350 each, direct to Rome, I can't complain too much. Plus its a European airline which will hopefully mean free drinks.

The project for the trip is a lace t-shirt thing that was a free pattern on Elann but is no longer available in their free pattern section. I don't think I'm going to get much knitting done on the way there, since we leave at 10 pm tonight so it is a real overnight flight (not a fake overnight, like going to Japan) and I usually go to bed at 11 pm anyway. Still, the return flight will leave me ample knitting time.

Plans for the trip? Well, the first time we went, five years ago, I was a bit of a sightseeing taskmaster and we crammed insane amounts of seeing stuff into each day. This time I want to be a lot more relaxed, do a lot more strolling and random exploring, and I really want to see The Protestant Cemetery, which we missed before. And we have reservations for the Borghese Gallery which we also missed last time. I have also always wanted to rent bicycles and ride the Appian Way, but I don't know if that will happen this time either. I'll be happy just to soak up the sun, the pines and palms, and of course all the marvelous architecture. It's completely Victorian, I know, but nothing makes my heart a-flutter like ruins covered in weeds. Especially since the "weeds" in Rome are basil, rosemary, fennel and oregano.

Despite the fact that so much yarn is made in Italy, after reading this blog post, I'm not going out of my way to buy yarn. Even despite the fact that my dear old mom is hoping for me to find the made-in-Italy Bollicine Victor in color S7. But there is no way I can go to a yarn store and not touch the yarn. I got yelled at for touching produce in Florence on our last trip, but as the daughter of a produce man, I'm making darn sure my fruits and veg are ripe before I buy. And I'm making darn sure my yarn is soft and wonderful before I buy it and I won't support these crazy no-touching policies. Unless it means Bollicine for my mom. But now I'm just rambling.

So, I'll be back in 8 days - ciao for now!