Chunky knits abounded in the streets of Ravenna and Venice last week. Girls wore mufflers and hats knitted at about 2-1/2 sts per inch. Trim sweaters were done in multicolor yarns at no more than 3 sts per inch. Mostly it was a little too cold for sweaters alone, so I didn’t see a lot of them.
I liked this Alpen-style jacket. It looks hand-knit. In other store windows, I saw several very lacy knit jackets with scalloped edges, obviously meant to be worn for looks rather than warmth!
Crocheters, it looks like we’re rising in the wake of the knitting craze. These granny square scarves brought me back about 35 years, to the time I was crocheting granny square drawstring handbags for sale in junior high. Higher fashion crochet included shawls with flower motifs joined with chains of mohair-looking yarns.
Oh, but I was there to learn about mosaics. Luciana’s studio was a community and family affair, with students, apprentices, English teachers moonlighting as interpreters, professional tour guides working as mosaic teachers, and her daughter, who works at a foundation for the preservation of Ravenna’s mosaics, acting as our tour guide one day. They took us to all the best places, like this mosaic shop, annafietta Mosaico Contemporaneo.
I loved how the artist combined colored glass with Venetian millefiori pieces. The frames, little boxes, and ornaments were beautiful, but I settled for the blue and gold refrigerator magnet. The shop sold supplies, too, including long millefiori stems by the kilo.