"Honey, How Much Yarn Did You Buy This Month?"

That's always a good question to be greeted with when you walk through the front door.

In my defense, I needed to order from two different sources, Knit Picks and Webs. It's pure coincidence they showed up on the same day.


9 balls Swish Superwash in Truffle, for a Vest for my dad


8 hanks Berroco Seduce in Vintage White, for Pucker.

And I'm not going to lie, I am little bit concerned that 8 balls that are this size:

are actually going to create a garment that will cover my D's. I guess I've gotta trust Norah on this one.

And by the way, I LOVE Norah Gaughan Vol 4. Love it. I've got about 4 of the other designs floating around in my head.

Italy: Day 6

On day 6 we woke up and walked to our tour of the Academia and the David. Since we couldn't bring our camera inside, you'll have to use the powers of imagination to picture us walking around in there.

The tour was definitely worth it, since we didn't have to wait in line. Walking into the gallery and laying eyes on David for the first time really was a breath-taking experience. It really is an AMAZING piece of art.

Something else I found interesting from the tour was the process in which Michelangelo carved his pieces. He carved in a way in which the subject seemed to be "breaking free" of the marble, a process in which he believed he was freeing the art that was already contained within. It was fascinating!

After the tour we had some lunch near the Duomo. A plate of assorted Bruschetta's and Panini's. Prosciutto and Mozzarella for me, Gorgonzola and Radicchio for Matt.


I was so freaking hungry, I ate all of mine and about a 1/3 of Matts. This is why I love Italy. I ate like a horse and didn't gain a pound!


My hot husband demonstrating how to enjoy lunch in Italy.

After lunch we headed to the Beatrice Galli Yarn Shop, thanks to a recommendation from Kimberli. We learned she was closing up shop at the end of the month so her stock was realitvely bare, but I picked up some Adriafil sock yarn and a few other skeins of merino/silk (hmmm... no photos of those.... coming soon). Before leaving, she graciously gave me a large cross-stitch pattern of the Ponte Vecchio. Someday when I get around to stitching it, it will be a nice reminder of the trip!

We spent a few more hours wandering around downtown and bought a few more things (a leather wallet for Matt, a royal-purple silk pashmina for me), before retiring to the hotel for a siesta.



We decided to make it a low-key night since our friends got us pretty tipsy the night before. We had a drink in the hotel lobby (above) of you guessed it! Campari & Peroni! and asked for a dinner recommendation.

They sent us to this FABULOUS place (which I can't remember the name of at the moment. Helpful, huh? I know we have the card around here somewhere so if you want it, let me know). Seriously, this was probably our favorite dinner to date. We should have known this place was the real deal since each of the menus, INCLUDING the wine list, was hand-written.

We had the Tuscan antipasto of cured meats, a salad mista, and then I had Duck Ragu over cheese ravioli that was to DIE for. Matt had Eggplant Parmesan and he did everything but pick up the gratin dish and lick it clean. By this point we had also learned to stop messing with the wine list and just order a carafe of the house stuff which was a perfect compliment.

Italy: Day 5

Day 5 was our travel day between Rome and Florence. We got up and ate our last Roman breakfast, checked out, and headed to the train station.


I finally had some time to knit!


Italian Countryside (click for full size - it's beautiful!)

After a quick 1:45 train ride, we pulled into Florence, hailed a cab, and went 1 mile to our hotel (yes, we felt silly too... but we had 2 massive suitcases with us!) We were both starving so we found a cafe and you guessed it, more pizza and wine. Well, Matt actually had this friend pork cutlet with marinara that was pretty yummy as well.

Some of our family friends own an apartment in Florence and were there during our stay, so they met us at our hotel later in the afternoon and walked us around town.


The Ponte Vecchio

We stopped at La Rinascente, a department store in Piazza della Republica. They have a roof-top cafe that was a perfect spot for sharing a bottle of wine!



After some more sightseeing and FINALLY landing in an Internet Cafe (where we SWEAR the computers from from 1998), we headed to dinner with our friends to a great local place in Piazza Santo Spirito. Matt got his first taste of Bistecca alla Fiorentina, and I had Gnocchi with Arugula Pesto. It goes without saying that this was all beyond yummy.

We finished the night having a cocktail at Open Bar, that had a killer view of the Arno River, and our friends told us all about the terrible flood in the 60s that destroyed many parts of the city.

I decided after Day 1 that I was in love with Florence. Maybe because my family is Tuscan and it seemed a bit more familiar, but either way, I was smitten!