Let’s talk about food! Yum! Last night I went to a Japanese restaurant and had Hibachi for the first time. How have I NOT had this before? I’ve been to the same restaurant for sushi many times. How have I missed this experience? YUM! I think I was the only person there to miss the shrimp in the shrimp toss though LOL
The famer’s market is open in my city and in an effort to be more Green I ride my bike there every Saturday morning. It’s early still so mostly I get greens, asparagus, radishes, fresh pasta, but today I discovered something new. Molasses cookies. Oh. My. God. These are so freaking delicious! I swear these cookies hae officially ruined me for any other cookie. I already ate 2. I need to hide them. I need that person I’m going to hire to follow me around and keep me from buying yarn to also hide these cookies for me and just give me one a day.
I haven’t taken any pictures of the kitchen or much cooking because there is no natural light in there. But I’ve been doing a lot of cooking since getting back from Italy. I’ll be making pizza from scratch again this weekend, some ragu I think and I’m not sure what all else. Since I was taking pictures of the cookies I took one of my coffee mug. A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of matching dinnerware for the first time ever. Yes really, ever. I’m 31 and I’ve never had a matching set of dinnerware before. It’s a long story involving moving a lot, having stuff that people gave me etc. I still don’t have matching flatware, the stuff I have is what was given to me by family members when I went away for college. I love my matching dinnerware. It’s a beautiful shade of blue.
I also got some of these great Rubbermaid containers. (I realize excitement about kitchen products reveals a deep inner dorkiness, but lets ignore that.) I gave away all my old ones. These are awesome cuz the lids lock together, no more loose lids falling all over the place! Plus I got one of these large produce savers for my lettuce, I’m only one person and I can only eat it so fast, sometimes it gets yucky before it’s gone. So far this thing is working great.
OMG !!!! Did ya’ll see Lost? For real people if you’re not on this bandwagon, GET ON IT. Season 4 is almost over and Season 5 wont start till next January so you’ve got time. Come on over to the dark side, we’ve got cookies!
Yeah, yeah I know some of you are here for the Pr0n. yummy! Claudia Handpainted. I just love me some blue and brown. These is already on it’s way to be being Mitty Envy.
Guys I have lost my knitting and blogging mojo. I don’t know what it is but since I’ve been back from Italy I have almost no desire to knit, blog, read knitting blogs, whatever. I feel bad about this. I’ve rounded up my WiPs to blog about them in an effort to get my mojo back.
But first! The contest! Contestant names were printed on strips of paper and put in a bowl. The knitting winners was Shannon & the non knitting winner was Jenster. Send me an email with your Snail mail addy and I’ll send off prizes soon. I think I’m gonna go to an out of town yarn shop to get prizes. Jenster - you too, for some reason Idon’t have your address.
On to the knitting! Ok seriously remember my yarn diet? uh yeah, I’m ashamed to say I’m not doing well. Granted I’ve curbed the impulse more often than not but there has been some yarn buying! I can’t help it! I seriously need someone to follow me around and kick me in the shins when I want to buy yarn.
On to the WiPs!
Juno Regina went to Italy with me and I knit on it quite a bit, but my focus was on Tuscany so I didn’t finish it. I’m getting close to the end though. Just need to actually work on it! It’s beautiful and I know I’ll wear it a lot once it’s complete. The Lorna’s Laces is yummy! I can’t help but remember it arrived while I was staying in a hotel due to The Ice Storm From Hell and how happy it made me!
This is some secret knitting, it’s a gift.
The Melon Pattern Scarf from Victorian Lace today. Remember it? From waaaaay back when. I love this yarn and the pattern and them together. So why haven’t I been working on it? I have no freaking idea. But I have picked it back up again. Originally I wasn’t going to add the border, but now I think I will, I have enough yarn and I’ve gained confidence in my lace knitting skills. So I’m changing the name from Melon Pattern Scarf to Melon Pattern Shawl. Hopefully it will be big enough to be called a shawl!
This isn’t really even a WiP, I picked up some recycled silk, did a simple knit-every-row-on-too-big-needles scarf and just need to weave in the ends.
Er, yes I bought it recently, yes I know I’m on a yarn diet. It was a sale and it’s black it will go with everything! Ok fine, you’re right I shouldn’t have bought the yarn.
Ah these, Mitty Envy from Weezalana. I bought this yarn because I loved the color and had no idea what to do with it, not being a sock knitter you know. Browsing my queue I came across Weeza’s pattern. Perfect they were made for each other. The pattern is great, but apparently I’m not. I’ve already frogged once and have to do so again because I can not read. I am a moron. I should be done with both mitts at this point. Maybe I deserve to have my mojo missing.
Not a WiP but soon to be, this yarn will be the Apres Surf Hoodie from the new issues of Interweave Knits. I’m just waiting on the needles to get here.
I hope everyone else’s mojo is just fine. I’m off to try to get caught up on my blog reading!
First off, wasn’t Lost freaking awesome last night! I can’t believe the season is almost over!
On the Italy Pr0n! I bought this in Lucca, I completely forgot to snap a picture of the shop, but we walked by it everyday. All the yarn was behind glass under the counter or in displays. I had to ask to see anything and since I only speak limited Italian and the gentleman helping me only spoke limited English it was a challenge. But what kind of knitter would I be if I let a little language barrier keep me from yarn! LOL This lace weight merino in a gorgeous ruby red color. I have two hanks about 1376 yards each. I think it will be the Cap Shawl or the Large rectangle in Spider Net or one of the other rectangle shawls from Victorian Lace Today
I finally started knitting again yesterday. I didn’t want to tell ya’ll this, but Italy stole my knitting mojo and I was starting to worry I’d never get it back! Seriously yesterday was the first time I even had the urge to knit.
Oh and I’ll be drawing a winner for the contest tomorrow !
So, the Tuscany Shawl, when I was trying to decide what knits to take with me I remember this one from No Sheep For You and I just had to make it. I cast on for it in the Airport.
worked on it while in England
During my siestas in Cinque Terre
Waiting for the train
On the train
Finished it in Rome.
The pattern was easy to memorize and the shawl is beauiful. But. You knew there was a but didn’t you? I’d never knit a triangle shawl before because I suspected I wouldn’t like it. I was right. It doesn’t cover my arms enough and it makes my but look big. I want a shawl to be warm and snuggley and it might be if it were bigger. I’m not sure even how to wear it.
None of this is the fault of the shawl. Really, it’s not you, it’s me. I knew I wouldn’t like a triangle shawl so why did I knit one?
Any suggestions on how to wear it so I’ll actually wear it? It is beautiful!
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I blocked it by misting it with water, will wet blocking make it bigger? maybe I’ll like it more if it were bigger.
This is going to be along one! We were only in Rome for three days but there are so many pictures. These are just a few of them. If you want browse them all go here.
We took the train from Lucca to Rome in the morning, checked into our hotel then headed out. After we got the Metro system figured out and swore off buses everything went smoothly. First stop the Pantheon, it the only place we had trouble finding, but I think thats due to our getting off from a bus rather than sticking to the metro which we did after this. You’re walking along these narrow streets then there is is. Amazing! We choose to eat and rest where we could see it. Totally worth it, even though they forgot our pizza for a loong time, at least we had wine!
Then we took a walk towards the Trevi Fountain but one of the guide books mentioned an old and famous gelato shop along the way. We gave up on gelato after our second one, and had ordred desert after all our meals instead, but a friend told me I had to try panna cotta gelato so we were looking for some. We didn’t find any but I braved the crowd to get us each a cone. Sweet freaking deliciousness! This was by far the best we had and I had cream on top of mine!
Then it was on to the Trevi Fountain. Amazing! Truly beautiful and the crowd around it. WE both tossed in a coin ensuring our return to Rome.
Then we continued our stroll to the Spanish Steps, it was almost dark. They were covered in azaleas. Beautiful.
Then it was back on the metro and back to the Hotel. It had a rooftop terrace with an amazing view.
The next morning we headed to the Colosseum bright and early. All the guide books say there are long lines to get in, but we got lucky and there was no line and we got right in, there really weren’t many people in there. It was truly amazing. You come up out of the metro then, bam, there it is.
Then we headed to the Forum. It was just amazing. I’ve titled and tagged all of my pictures in Flickr so if you want to know what you’re looking at browse through them.
The Temple of Julius Caesar is mostly ruins but there is still a niche in front where his body was burned. It’s covered with metal to protect it and you have to wait in line to go around part of the wall and there are flowers on the remains of the altar.
The other thing Chicabean and I found most interesting was the Umbilicus Ubris, it gets very little mention in the guide books and not a lot of attention from the crowds, so we had to hunt for it to be sure we’d found it. It was the designated center of Rome, the point from which all roads were measured. So when you say all roads lead to Rome, this is where they lead.
We had lunch near the Colosseum.
Then it was back on the metro to go back to the hotel for our siesta.
Then we headed back to the Spanish Steps in the daylight
We headed to a Irish Pub for dinner. Doug & Tab, I thought of you where there and took more pics of it. This is the first beer we’d had over there, I had Kilkenny, yum!
We lingered there for a while so we had an appetizer first. There is cheese, stuffed olives, something with rice in a tomato sauce and cheese and I can’t remember what the other things was.
Then Pizza!
The next morning we had to check out by 11 am, so we looked for things to do close to the Hotel, so went went to the Capuchin Crypt. Um, yeah I totally wussed out, I had to sit down then leave. No pics because we weren’t allowed to take any and it was too hard to sneak one while feeling like you’re gonna pass out. But google for images and you’ll see plenty.
Then we went to the Baths of Diocletian, which include the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.
Then it was time to switch hotels, we went back to our hotel and checked out and got on the train to the Airport to go to our next hotel. Our mom was able to get us a free room at the Hilton next to the airport for the last night, which was nice since we had to be up at 4 am for flights out. We had some Panna Cotta in the hotel, we never did find Panna Cotta gelato but this was delicious!
We took the hotel bus to the metro then went to St. Peter’s Square. We didn’t go into the Basilica, but the Square was very impressive!
This is probably one of my favorite pics of my sister, we were sitting on the steps in the shade, resting.
After that we went back down to the Colosseum area, the street was closed off for a street fair! Very cool
Near it is the Capitoline Hill, the highest of the7 hills of Rome and the piazza was designed by Michelangelo.
There are so many views overlooking the Roman Forum. There are many small forums in this area, but the biggest is the most famous.
Exhausted we found a place for lunch. This was the worst wine we had. We shared a pizza too.
We had to get back to the metro to make the bus back to the hotel and the prices of the hotel food were expensive so we got a pizza to go. We were being pokey until we realized we’d miscalculated the time we had left and the number of metro stops. The buses only run every 2 hours and we didn’t want to have to wait for the next one. We were pushing it down to the minute. When we got off the metro we ran for the bus, I got confused and went the wrong way so even though Chicabean was carrying a pizza she beat me! LOL Plus we were laughing so hard. But we made it.
The next morning bright and early began my long trip home. I was not ready to leave, usually by the end of a trip I am ready to go home and sleep in my own bed and be around my own things. I could have stayed in Rome.
I had to go through security in Rome, London and Chicago and the TSA agents in Chicago were unbelievably rude. It was clear that they were little people high on a power trip. A very sad re-entry to the States.
We’re almost done! Rome is tomorrow and it’s going to be a long one guys! Then I’ll do a knitting on the trip recap for ya’ll, if I can get some pics taken of the finish Tuscany. Then draw a winner in the contest and oh yeah Yarn Pr0n Friday will be of yarn I bought over there!
We loved Pisa. It was cloudy and rainy but so beautiful! The Leaning Tower gets most of the attention but the Duomo in the Piazza is very beautiful!
Everyone seemed so much friendlier/nicer here, just a general happiness. Maybe it’s that fact that most of the people were striking poses to hold up the tower and when you’re all being silly together in the same way.
We opted to sit and eat where we could see the tower. These places are generally more expensive and the food isn’t as great. As long as you know that and are there for the view it works.
Plus it’s kinda hard to mess up pizza! Yum! We did eat things other than pizza, but past doesn’t look that great in pics.
The Arno River was amazing when we crossed it.
I’d love to go back and explore Pisa more. It’s a beautiful city and there has to be so much more than the Tower. You can see more Pisa pictures here.
Oh man, my sister pointed out that I forgot to tell you guys about the Killer Pigeon in Lucca. Ok pigeons were freaking everywhere and they were kinda of aggressive! We were eating pizza in Lucca and this pigeon was all under our table and our feet and stuff and I was completely freaked out it was gonna peck me on the leg or something. Seriously !
Also I’m going to leave the contest open until after I’m doing with the Italy trip, I think I have 4 more posts counting this one, so if you haven’t entered go leave a comment with your favorite travel story!
Ok the next stop on the trip was Florence. I’ve got to confess Florence was our least favorite place. We took the train there from Lucca with the only real goal being that we see David. Which was freaking awesome. But other than that, eh. I’ll freely admit it was cold and rainy when we were there, so maybe….
We also went to the Bargello, a museum with a large collection of a statue and engravings. I got yelled at for taking this photo of these ivory carvings.
One of the things I was really impressed by was these tiny books we saw in a stationary store. They were so small, and they were hand made.
Then of course there was David. I think this is one of those things is doesn’t matter how many pictures you’ve seen of, it is so amazing when you see it in person. You weren’t allowed to take pictures, but everyone was doing it, no excuse I know, so I snuck a couple without flash, not the greatest quality but still.
Then we had to figure out how to get to the Florence airport because my sister’s bag was there. Yep her luggage was lost and the way over and they were supposed to deliver it to use in Cinque Terre but didn’t so we had to get on a bus on go to the airport. You can see more Florence photos here.
The next stop on our trip was Lucca, we rented an apartment there and made it our base for day trips to Pisa and Florence. You never know when you rent online, sight unseen how things will work out and I’d say we were very lucky with all our places. Our apartment was righ at the end of the main street. If you went out the door on went left you were on it. If you went right there was a bar where I got my cappuccino everyday and an internet cafe. Perfect!
Chicabean in front of the apartment. I took this standing at the cafe.
One of the things that I liked the most about Lucca and Cinque Terre was how narrow the streets were. In Cinque Terre they were often too narrow for a car to come down at all. In Lucca they were just wide enough for one car.
Lucca is a walled city, well the old part is. The new part expanded around it and the wall remained which is very unusual and cool. The top of the walls, originally built to withstand cannon fire, is now a part with a path all the way around with the larger areas having picnic tables and children’s play areas.
There is the tiniest remnants of a Rome Amphitheater, all the really remains is the shape and a few stones. The original floor was 9 feet below what is there today and the buildings are all tourist shops and cafes. Of course we had to eat there, tourist swill or no.
We shared a pizza and some wine. Oh man, the pizzas were soooo good!
We also climbed the Guinigi Tower, it’s this amazing old tower with trees on the top. You climb like 130 steps and then come out on top. The view of the city is amazing, plus it’s a tower! with trees!
We had cecina, a flat bread made from chickpeas that’s a local dish. Yum! For less than 3 euro we got that and a piccolo glass of wine.
We loved the internet cafe near us. The decor was awesome and the staff was great.
You can see more Lucca photos here. Still to come Pisa, Florence and Rome!
Oh and I have a new addiction to cappuccino to deal with. Do any of you make these at home? How do you do it?
When we last left our heroine (that’s me) was leaving England for Italy and she was traveling from the dreaded Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Will her baggage make it? Yes it did! I was really worried and packed everything I could into my carry on. My sister flew into Rome to meet me and by chance we ran into each other before we even got on the Train to the main train station. Unfortunately her checked bag didn’t make it We got on a train to Cinque Terre. We rented a room while we were there rather than staying in an apartment. It was so much cheaper and we were really pleased with the location and the room.
Me on the balcony of our room.
It rained a good portion of the first day we were there. But that didn’t stop us from exploring. Umbrellas in hand we walked around Riomaggiore and over to Manarola.
It was sunny and clear the following days and we spent time walking around all 5 towns, hiking and exploring. We walked soooo much! We even hiked part of the trail along the coast.
There was also time for breaks. Cappuccino, my friend Jenn is right it IS better in Italy, pizza, pasta and desert. Neither of us was a big fan of gelato so we gave it up and shared a desert after every meal, we ate loads of tiramisu!
I did try to learn some Italian before I left, but I can not express how grateful I was that so many Italians speak some English. I felt very impoverished that I hadn’t been taught another language as a child. We sat next to some Americans at lunch one day and overheard them making fun of the signage in English, it wasn’t also perfect. I couldn’t help but think how grateful they should be that there were signs in English at all. Most places in the US don’t even offer signs in Spanish.
We followed the siesta plan, going back to our room after lunch for R&R everyday before heading out again.
Cinque Terre was beautiful, I think my favorite town was the one we stayed in Riomaggiore. The towns are very old and built on hills and we had to get used the the streets. Many aren’t even wide enough for one car to drive on you must walk.
The famer’s market is open in my city and in an effort to be more Green I ride my bike there every Saturday morning. It’s early still so mostly I get greens, asparagus, radishes, fresh pasta, but today I discovered something new. Molasses cookies. Oh. My. God. These are so freaking delicious! I swear these cookies hae officially ruined me for any other cookie. I already ate 2. I need to hide them. I need that person I’m going to hire to follow me around and keep me from buying yarn to also hide these cookies for me and just give me one a day. 
I haven’t taken any pictures of the kitchen or much cooking because there is no natural light in there. But I’ve been doing a lot of cooking since getting back from Italy. I’ll be making pizza from scratch again this weekend, some ragu I think and I’m not sure what all else. Since I was taking pictures of the cookies I took one of my coffee mug. A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of matching dinnerware for the first time ever. Yes really, ever. I’m 31 and I’ve never had a matching set of dinnerware before. It’s a long story involving moving a lot, having stuff that people gave me etc. I still don’t have matching flatware, the stuff I have is what was given to me by family members when I went away for college. I love my matching dinnerware. It’s a beautiful shade of blue.
I also got some of these great Rubbermaid containers. (I realize excitement about kitchen products reveals a deep inner dorkiness, but lets ignore that.) I gave away all my old ones. These are awesome cuz the lids lock together, no more loose lids falling all over the place! Plus I got one of these large produce savers for my lettuce, I’m only one person and I can only eat it so fast, sometimes it gets yucky before it’s gone. So far this thing is working great.
First off, wasn’t Lost freaking awesome last night! I can’t believe the season is almost over!
We got on a train to Cinque Terre. We rented a room while we were there rather than staying in an apartment. It was so much cheaper and we were really pleased with the location and the room.
