Spain - the final episode (I promise)

Ok, last installment of Spanish pictures, as there is knitting & all sorts of other stuff to write about, and I am sure you are all sick of this. Today - Cordoba & Madrid.

Cordoba was very pretty & very very hot. The mesquite was spectacular. The newer Christian part was much less cool, but the Moorish part was incredible.

It was enormous and beautiful and well worth the visit.

We went to some palaces, which were also lovely, and had wicked gardens with them - not quite as beautiful as the Alhambra, but lovely on a hot day nonetheless.

If you ever thought those Spanish fans were an affectation, think again. They are a life saver. If you ever go to Spain in the summer, buy one as soon as you land - you'll love it. Also, you can learn to make a cool noise with them when you open and close them, and the local women in the towns give you a little nod when you use it. Mine was just a cheap one, but there are some gorgeous ones around - mostly in the hands of locals, rather than in the shops though.

Madrid was great - a proper city full of living & working & stuff. Not touristy at all. Not a whole lot to see, but still good. The Prado had some lovely stuff (excellent Heironymous Bosch paintings!) Somehow, we didn't take any pictures, except of this yarn shop. We stumbled across it, and I was allowed in if I didn't buy anything (oh!). It was unbelievable - so many colours & weights & colours! Apparently, you bought it by weight (you chucked your required hanks on the scale there & added it up - just like at the butchers!) Seemed to be very reasonably priced. If you ever want to go there, it was on one corner of the main square where all the Inquisition stuff happened (your travel book will tell you what it is called, I'm sure).

Anyway, I guess I have had to revise my view on Spain. Prior to this trip, I hadn't really enjoyed our Spanish travel. Now, I'd recommend it. Even the food. Especially gazpacho & Espanol tortilla. Mmmm.

Weekend o' yarn

I had a fantastic, yarn-filled weekend, starting with the very exciting news that I won the UFO contest that Ali, over at Skeins Her Way was running in January! So as well as getting a bit of a push to finish my anemois (and just in time for very very chilly times), I also got a surprise! Go check out her site and see what I won - I would be jealous if I were not me.

Then I moseyed into London to catch up with Esmerelda, who took me on a fantastic tour of some of London's knitting delights - IKnit London, All the Fun of the Fair and Liberty. We were both extremely restrained (I know, hard to believe), although I picked up a few nice odds and ends. I didn't need to buy much yarn because the gorgeous Esmerelda gave me a stunning late birthday present - from my new found favourite yarn makers! Can't wait to get this on the needles. Its Natural Dye Studio Dazzle Blue Faced Leicester Sock Yarn, in (I think) midnight blue - the pics are a bit washed out, it is a much stronger colourway. It is divine and cuddly. And I like the sheep picture.

Also, pics of the now-on-hold Hederas - terrible pics, sorry! Again, the colour looks quite washed out compared to 'real life':

Knitting Tourists in Italy

well, despite much knitting going on, alot of it is gift knitting, thanks to Secret Pal 10 and an upcoming visit home to Australia, so no photos as yet. i think i will probably try and do some close-up, not too revealing shots given that there are many things in the knitting pipeline and more than one thing on the needles at this time (a big thing for me!) But after May there will be many things to say, I promise!

So, on knitting related topics, here is a precis of my experiences of finding knitting shops in Venice, Florence & Bologna...

Venice: well, I saw at least 3, and two nearer to Piazza le Roma. Unfortunately due to my incredible disorientation in this city I could never reliably find them, and somehow they were always closed when we went by (the whole siesta thing I think), but they looked very functional in a way that most of the other shops didn't - I guess most of Venice is aimed at tourists, but obviously tourists don't knit! Italian and German yarn in the windows. So if in Venice, keep your eye open and a pen in your bag to mark your map!

Florence: Nada. We walked this city well, but no yarn shops in sight. On the northern side of Piazza Republica, where all the schmanzy shops are, there are some amazing tailors shops with amazing arrays of fabric - I kept meaning to take pictures but never quite got there.

Bologna: we didn't have much time, and it rained hard every minute we were there, but we were staying outside the city ring road, over the train lines from the station. If you keep going up that street (I think it has Giacomo in the name, anyway it is parallel but one main street west of Stalingrado) there is a HUGE yarn shop. Massive. It is local, not tourista, so it is open in the mornings, then from 3.30 to 7.30pm. The guys that run it are great, but speak absolutely no English. They have more stock than anyone I have ever seen. It was astonishing. Much of it is cotton, which of course has great clear gemlike colours, but lots of very interesting stuff. A bit of a treasure hunt of a shop. If you want better directions I can give them to you. I was unbelievably restrained, mostly because I was sick and just wanted to lie down! But I regret it now...they had an amazing grass green yarn...oh well!

In terms of fashion, obviously the italians have molto style. But few hand knits in the shops - what there was though, was spectacular (though expensive!). Gorgeous edible colours (think chocolate, coffee, caramel), mostly cardigans or wrap style, interesting textures, waist-high belts - bellissimo.