home again!
Actually I've been home for a week and a half, but I've been getting settled into my new summer class schedule (which is pretty fast-paced, as one class needs to fit into only 5 weeks) so I haven't had time to update.
Italy was fun :) And man was it a lot of walking. And a lot of Italian food. And a lot of people talking in a language that we couldn't understand. So while we did enjoy ourselves, it was quite draining and we were glad to come home. Venice was definitely our favorite — we loved the canals and how everything was within walking distance. We also found a favorite restaurant in Florence that we visited a couple times — once for three and a half hours as we thoroughly enjoyed the Italian cuisine, some fabulous wine, and the company of our Scottish waitress.
While we were there, we happened upon a couple yarn stores as well (lucky us!). The first was in Venice, called Lellabella.
Nice small shop, but everything seemed pretty expensive in there so I declined purchasing something. It had a great location though, with one window facing right onto a quaint, narrow canal with a gondola stop right outside.
The other yarn shop we found was in Florence near the Ponte Vecchio bridge, called Beatrice Galli.
I found some extremely soft yarn that I decided to get there - Filatura Di Crosa angora & extra fine merino in a muted mint color. I can't find it on any website so I will try to take a picture later. I'm thinking of using this for the sophie bag knitalong. I also missed the deadline for the spring bucket hat contest - I had the hat finished but never got around to taking the picture! Darnit. Anyway, I'm going to go for the summer contest instead. This time I should be a-okay since I'm almost finished with the hat. I'll try to get pictures of both hats up soon. Other than that, I'm back to working on my hoodie from Stitch n Bitch too. It goes so fast. After these bucket hats, I forgot how wonderful some yarn is to knit with. Calmer is much nicer on my fingers than this linen print that I've been using lately.
Julia said:
Welcome back! We're headed off to honeymoon in Italy in September, so you'll have to let me know some of your favorite finds. Hope that the Honeymoon cami is still in queue! Julia
Posted on June 25, 2004 10:18 AMBecky said:
Aw, man. Part of my honeymoon was in Florence, AND I had visited Florence when I was in college. I didn't knit back then! Argh! How could I not visit such nice stores? I want me some Filatura di Crosa, too.
Thanks for sharing the pretty pictures!
Posted on July 2, 2004 10:07 AMAlison said:
Julia-
Yes indeed, it is still in the queue! It's my tank time tank-along project, which I will be starting as soon as this hoodie is over wtih. Which may take longer than expected, since i just had to rip out the entire front.
What parts of Italy are you going to? I can recommend restaurants in both Venice and Florence, though we didn't find a really super one in Rome. I'd also recommend getting the Knopf Citymap guides for each city you are going to. They were the most helpful thing in planning our activities and getting around.
Posted on July 2, 2004 11:54 AMRobin said:
Hello!
I'll be in Florence in a week, and I appreciate the referral to Beatrice Galli's shop! What were the restaurants you enjoyed, Alison?
Thanks!
Robin
Alison said:
Our absolutely favorite restaurant in Florence was Trattoria Baldovino. Excellent food and we were there for hours - because we wanted to be. Our waitress, Emma, was fantastic and even shared a bottle of wine with us at the end of the night. If they still have their summer menu, I strongly suggest the homemade spinach spaghetti. YUM!
Posted on September 11, 2004 06:37 PMLynn Zeringue said:
Was so glad to find your infomation re. knit shops in Italy. Going Oct. 10 and as an avid knitter hoped to find some interesting shops since most of the yummy yarns come from there! Will check out the restaurant too. Lynn Zeringue, St. Francisville, LA.
Posted on October 1, 2004 03:51 PMBeth Smolin said:
I was in Venice in September when the Vaporetto went on strike and my husband and I had to walk back to the hotel. We stumbled upon Lellabella as a result. I bought some beautiful Itallian wool that I didn't think was that expensive if you think how much it would be in this country. My poblem is that I want some more of it and I lost their e-mail address. Could you send it to me if you have it. Thanks,
Beth
Rochelle said:
Hi there. I was in venice a few weeks ago and came across Lellabella. Their address is: 30124 Venezia, San Marco 3718, Calle della Mandola (della Cortesia). Their Tel/Fax: 041 522 51 52. Their email address: lellabellavenezia@libero.it.
Posted on October 21, 2004 01:30 PMBeth Smolin said:
Thanks for the info Rochelle (although I found the store's business card at the bottom of my backpack a day or two after my post for help!).
I've since ordered and received the yarn I needed and am almost done knitting a beautiful sweater for my husband. (By the way, I found the same brand and color -- different lot number -- at Colorful Stitches in Lenox, Massachusetts, my absolutely favorite yarn store . . . outside of Venice, of course!)
Posted on October 23, 2004 11:36 AMCarol Kemper said:
I will be in Italy from May 13-26. I am an avid knitter and would like to know where to shop and what is the best yarn to look for. I will be in Florence, Rome, Venice, Capri, Sorrento, and Castelrotto. Any ideas?
Posted on May 4, 2005 12:18 AMAlison Elliot said:
Am going to Italy in Sept. Any more tips on yarn shops in Sienna,Rome, wherever??Or how about places to stay? Thanks Alison in Taos, NM
Posted on July 10, 2005 06:53 AMalison said:
Hello, other Alison!
Unfortunately I don't have any more advice on yarn shops. I've only been to Italy once and these are the two shops I found. We went to Venice, Florence, and Rome. The hotels that we stayed at were okay, but not incredibly wonderful enough to recommend. I do highly recommend the restaurant I mentioned above though. There was also a good one in Venice that I can look up the name for if you are interested.
Jodi said:
I will be in Italy from Sept. 23- Oct. 2 - we will be visiting Venice, Florence & Rome. I am looking for names of good knitting shops, names of restaurants and if there are any yarn factories. I will be with my best friend who also is a knitter and our husbands.
Posted on September 6, 2005 05:34 AMDorothy Long said:
i just returned from a long trip to Italy.
i came across the same yarn shop as you did
in Venice.
i bought some wonderful yarn there, the
price seemed just a little higher then here
in the good ol USA.
I would like to purchase a few more balls of yarn
like I bought but lost my receipt. Would you happen
to have the email address of Lellabella?
Thanks,
Dorothy Long
Dorothy Long said:
Alison,
Thanks so much for the information about
Lellabella yarn shop in Venice.
Dorothy
Posted on October 26, 2005 12:00 PMkaren said:
You have an awesome site! I'm in Italy now on vacation, in Liguria on the West Cost, however I will be visiting Florence in a couple of days and I wanted to find some Filatura di Crosa yarn to buy with my mom before I returned back to Brooklyn. I was so happy to stumble upon your site, I will definitely check out Beatrice Galli's shop near the Ponte Vecchio!
Thanks and keep up your knitting.
Karen
kathy said:
I am going to be in Italy in June going to Rome, Venice and Florence. Does anyone have any other information on Knitting shops in these areas. Thanks Kathy
Posted on April 26, 2006 12:50 PMToni said:
Just wondering if anyone knows where there are yarn and/or ribbon yarn shops anywhere in Rome? Leaving in a week. Thanx Ciao
Posted on January 1, 2007 03:45 PMMarcela said:
Hi there, I´m from Mèxico, I´m looking for good stores un Venice, a firend of mine is from there and she`s going to visit her family, I`ll tel her about lelabella store, and if she finds an other better store I´ll let yoy know, she lives here in guadalajara since 1990, so she does not know now what stores are better, she`ll find out and I`ll let you know
Posted on January 11, 2007 07:47 AMMea said:
I will be in Rome and need to find a yarn store. Does anyone have addresses for one?
Posted on September 13, 2007 10:46 AM