Italian Knitting Review

Fate guided me to two yarn stores in Italy. I used the woolworks site and found a listing of yarn stores, but the directions were so vague and mapquest wasn't helping. So, I threw caution to thew wind and I found two wonderful little shops.

First off, I explored Lucca with the bride and groom. It's a walled city and cars aren't allowed in. We had a nice lunch and tiramisu while the rains came down, then we walked. We just strolled through the city heading towards the center plaza. A few block in, I looked in a window and saw sock yarn. "I must stop here." The bride was more than happy to pick some yarn for me to make her something and the groom entertained himself politely. I got some lace weight-1400 yards for 4 euros! Hello, that's like a third of what I pay in the US. Also, some self striping mohair for myself. The store has been there for over 60 years and they make most of the yarns in the city. We continued walking and hit the wall on the opposite side of town, then walked along the wall on our way back to our car. Later that day we drive to the coast and saw the mountains, stopped for gelati and heading back, with a rainbow following us.

Later in the week, I went to Florence, with this family. We had a great time exploring the Duomo, that plaza, that bridge. We sat down to lunch, I looked up, and there was a knitting store!! I met Beatrice, the sweetest shop owner. We had a laugh over the pregnancy language barrier. She asked me how longer I had and I thought she asked how far along was I. I told her 6 months, she said, "no, no, no." It was then I realized that's what most Italians had been asking, and we say the opposite, I wondered why they looked at me funny. I found the softest most amazing merino wool, blue for a sweater for Butters and pink heathered for a sweater for the bump. This was a bit more of a splurge, it's a larger city and a very popular area. But, it was worth it!

Here's what I knitted on the way to, in and on the way home from this amazing country. A new wedding shawl. I told Maria I'd bring my wedding shawl for her to wear and I couldn't find it! I started this on the day I left and tried my hardest to make it work, but I failed. The bright pink middle photo is a fuzzy feet slipper sock, to be felted. The last is the Zimmerman February Sweater in a lilac-y pink from Nature's Palate.

Back from Italy!

My high school Latin teacher would be so proud...I made it to Italy and back!

My bump and I left the husband and little butters together for a week and we jetted off to boot country for my friend Maria's wedding. I would play the part of the pregnant bridesmaid.

I landed and Rome (via JFK during all the buzz) and walked to the Collesium. Took a train to Florence and got a ride to the Villa where we'd be spending the week.

I toonzed in Florence, Lucca, and lots of little villages that I can't remember the names, but I have it all written down somewhere! Here are a few snaps of the bump in various places.

First Haircut!

BeforeAfter

He likes it!

Butters is TWO!

The boy turned two on Sunday, we had a party here with a bunch of his friends. None of his guy friends could make it, so it was all girls! He's popular with the ladies.

Here are some quick photos. Grandma came to town for the big party, we're having sunny weather and a great visit!

Ultrasound Results

I'm twenty weeks now and officially half way! The halfway point was always such an important milestone for rowing crew, and since I got sick this morning, it still is!

We had the ultrasound tonight and 3 of the 4 grandparents were in attendance, along with Butters and T. I had to be there. They did all the import measurements and the baby looks healthy.

Then, we saw a little cell phone and credit card and a sign that said, "Elect a Woman President: Me," and now we know it's a...

GIRL!

What Mothers Day is All About

This is an excerpt taken from this site about the origin of Mother's Day. It's not all about cards and getting away from your kids! I encourage you to read the whole story on the site.

"Julia Ward Howe, writer of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, was moved to call upon the dignity of women everywhere to protest the “cruelties of war” and to unite together in a call for peace. “Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters,” she said, “ to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?”

She proposed a Mothers’ Day for Peace in 1872, to be held every June 2 in protest of war. In her proclamation she called on women and mothers to “Arise, then women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts… Say firmly: ‘Our husbands shall not come to us to reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Ours sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience… Let them (women) then solemnly take counsel with each other as the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.”

Howe’s Mothers’ Day for Peace was celebrated until the century’s end throughout Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and other states.

Designed as organizations for social and political activities, these celebrations bore little resemblance to modern Mother’s Day celebrations. Their purpose originally focused on the collective efforts of women toward improving and organizing their communities and on women’s suffrage. The emphasis was on Mothers’ Day rather than Mother’s Day.

After Jarvis’s death in on May 9, 1905, her daughter Anna set about to have Mother’s Day established as a national holiday. Along with many supporters, she began a letter writing campaign to convince clergymen, politicians and business leaders to help establish the observance. The first formal Mother’s Day was held in Grafton, West Virginia and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the second Sunday in May, 1908, to commemorate the date of Ann Reeves Jarvis's death. By the following year, a majority of states had established a Mother’s Day holiday, and finally, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday."

Happy Mothers' Day, everyone!

Finally, A New Post!

The beloved P. Mookie has suggested it's time for me to write again. I've been busy, husband was out of town for 8 days! My sister Mer came to town (I'll do an update on that trip when she sends photos).

I don't know where to start, so I'll tell you about our morning. A typical day and our first little tantrum. I drink tea in the mornings and Butters gets his own mug with blueberry tea. Today he wanted to try mine. I told him no. It was hot and it's Earl Grey with a bit of sugar and milk, he'll like it too much and I'll never get to drink in peace again! We make some play-dough snakes and I try to write this. Butters comes back for tea. He sees my spoon and asks to "Dip it?" Okay, I relent. I let him do it a few times. "That's enough," I say.

Dip it.

Dip it.

DipitDipitDipit.

Tears start streaming down his face. I can't reward him now, what if he thinks this technique will work in the future? So, I try to distract him, "Let's go make breakfast, what should we make?" "Cookies." "Maybe we can have cookies later today, but not for breakfast."

Cookies.

Cookies.

Coooooookies.

More tears. Okay, I'll let him get this out and I give him a big hug. We're in the kitchen; he spots my lunch box collection above the shelves. "Piggies. Play with." Up until this point, I've never let him play with the lunchboxes, T thinks I'm mean, but that could be his college fund some day! Great, he's calming down, we can play with the Pigs in Space lunchbox. It's full of old corks for a craft project I'll probably never do. He points to the Return of the Jedi, I hand him that one. He's happy moving corks from one to the other and counting them. "One, two, three, two, five, six, seven, nine, ten." I work on breakfast and turn on some Liz Phair to continue his feminist music tutelage. (He heard Ani Difranco at the Warfield in SF when I was 8 months pregnant, thanks Gillian!)

Bang. Bang. BANG. He's banging on Pigs in the Space with the tea spoon. "Oohhh, hey buddy, let's play with this Holly Hobbie instead, it has a lower resale value. Isn't it fun."

Now, we are finishing breakfast and trying to decide what to do today. It's going to be around 65 and sunny. It's about 70 in the house as we can't open the large windows in the front two rooms, but I don't mind because it's making the dog nice and tired!