Well...I'm back! In full force after an amazing trip to Italy with my friend Lynne. What an adventure! Planes, trains, boats, taxis...and yes, even a Vespa. If there was a mode of transportation available, I think we found it.
Of course, you know me, I wasn't going all the way to Italy without checking out a few yarn stores. They were fascinating! One thing I noticed is that European yarn stores are either beautifully curated, with every skein looking like it belongs in a museum, or they're packed floor to ceiling into the tiniest little spaces imaginable. There doesn't seem to be much in between.
What surprised me the most was what they didn't have:
No wall of knitting patterns.
Very few knitted or crocheted samples.
And when I asked where the patterns were, the shop owner simply smiled and said, "We don't sell patterns."
Wait….what?
Apparently, customers already walk in knowing exactly what they plan to make. They choose their yarn and off they go. No browsing through pattern books. No sample sweaters tempting you into another project. (Can you imagine?)
Most of the yarns were beautiful wools, many with private labels from small local mills; brands we’d never seen before. It made me smile to realize that back home at Yarn Store Boutique, we carry quite a few yarns made in Italy.
Another interesting difference? The stores sold...well...yarn.
That's it.
No walls of knitting needles.
No crochet hooks.
No stitch markers.
No project bags.
No totes.
No gadgets that somehow jump into your shopping basket when you're not looking.
Just yarn.
Now, we did stumble across the cutest button store...and sadly, we didn't have time to go inside. I may still be mourning that missed opportunity.
Getting to Italy was an adventure all by itself.
Our flight out of Houston was delayed because of weather, and while we were sitting on the plane we realized there was absolutely no way we were going to make our connection in Washington D.C. As everyone was boarding, I quickly called United, and they rerouted us through Frankfurt before finally landing in Rome...only about five hours later than originally planned.
Not terrible...
...until we had to find our luggage.
To put it into perspective, when we landed in Rome my watch said I'd walked about 3,000 steps.
By the time we finally located our suitcases, it was closer to 9,000.
I'm pretty sure we toured parts of the airport that passengers aren't supposed to see. At one point I honestly thought we were going to get arrested. Thankfully, we escaped with our freedom—and our luggage.
Lynne and I spent the first day feeling like Abbott and Costello.
"Who's on first?"
"No, where are we?"
Then came Venice.
If you've ever traveled there with luggage, you know exactly what I'm talking about. We proudly hauled our suitcases up bridge after bridge after bridge, bouncing them over countless stone steps, sweating the entire way...
...only to discover at the hotel that there was a much easier route.
Without all the bridges.
Without all the stairs.
Wouldn't that have been nice to know an hour earlier?
Somewhere during the trip, I also decided to take up sketching.
Because apparently knitting, crochet, pottery, running a yarn store, and teaching classes simply weren't enough hobbies.
At this point, I don't collect hobbies...I rescue them. They all seem to find their way to me.
What's one more?
Thankfully, the trip wasn't all walking, luggage hauling, and transportation adventures. One of my favorite surprises happened while we were wandering through the Piazza della Repubblica in Florence.
Thousands of miles from home, standing in the Piazza della Repubblica, and suddenly hearing, "Doris!"
There were Myra and Alita!
What are the odds? We were halfway around the world and somehow ran into two of our very own YSB friends. It just proves that no matter where you travel in the world, yarn people always seem to find each other. I guess yarn really is an international language.
I've been home since Thursday evening. I unpacked, tackled the mountain of laundry, and somehow managed to get organized enough to be back at work on Friday. The jet lag is slowly wearing off, and honestly, it feels wonderful to be back at the store with all of you.
Of course, here it is Sunday, my mind is already wandering, and instead of sitting still...I've started another project.
No, it's not knitting.
No, it's not crochet.
It's another fun little craft that I'm hoping to share with all of you soon.
Apparently, my passport came home from Italy, but my squirrel brain is still travelling.
It's good to be home.