Polly: Ok Catherine, now that we are alone...
Considering the price and variety of Italian wool at home, I was expecting to step off the plane into a bed of fleece. I was becoming a little dejected (the word completion tool suggested desperate then, and wasn't too far from the mark either ) to find some wool.
Napoli had proven barren, and Siracusa was looking just as bad until at 5pm on our last night there we got lost and drove up a side street where I spied my bounty. Tim was on a mission to burn the photos on to a cd for safety's sake, and I could sense his disapproval at the mere thought of coming to a screaming halt in the middle of an intersection to allow me to fondle some yarn, so I waited until he was safely installed at the internet café before pretending not to run downtown. Quite a disappointment in the end. Lots of overpriced acrylic, with the only really nice wool coming from New Zealand.
The next accidental sighting occurred in Corleone, and proved much more fruitful (it was at this stage that Tim started to point out that suitcases only carry so much, and he's the one who has to drag it upstairs). So I limited myself to one 200g ball of orange bulky tweed - a hat I think.
Imagine this scene - we had just disembarked from the overnight train from Palermo, arriving in Rome tired, aching and wanting nothing more than a shower and a lie down. We trudge through the cobbled streets, wearily toting our bags towards the B&B we have booked for the next 5 nights. We ring the bell and wait for Olga, the lovely owner to come and show us in. At which point, I raise my weary head to be greeted by a vision from the gods. Next door to our accommodation is a wool shop. And not just any wool shop - the biggest one I have ever seen. I had unknowingly booked us in to stay next door to the Filati mill shop. Cones and bags filled 4 shopfronts, stacked ceiling high. Some great bargains were available, but I had to avoid some of the lovely, bulkier yarns due to luggage restrictions. The most disappointing part of the shop was the signs everywhere saying "don't touch" - they seem to have missed the point of yarn shopping all together!
5 comments:
What lovely places. Even I am starting to get itchy feet. However, no mention of golf courses - so it can't be a real paradise. Think I'm safe, but thought I'd mention mention it anyway, please don't buy me a hat.
Love D&P
Do you need another bag for the wool? Are you going to have time to knit this year with your new job? What am I thinking, of course you will.
Oh my goodness - it makes my three nights in Melbourne with Ella very ordinary - and here's me thinking we had a rage! I can't imagine carrying bags all over the world - luggage enough for one woman and a girl to one place on a train was trial enough! I am very very envious
*unknowingly* - yeah, of course.
Gawd mum. good to see your handy dandy spider wool sense is still functioning. Also- if you're running out of bags to carry your wool in, just knit another bag. silly. missing you!
love Ellen
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