I’ve never been beer tasting in Italy. Frankly, I’m not much of a beer drinker. At the pizzeria, I’ll order a glass of wine while the rest of the table enjoys a beer. During my years in Frascati, I viewed each new “birreria” as an assault to the town’s white wine tradition. When Tactile [...]
Antique textiles radiate spirit, holding secrets, stories and signs of their creators. The Guicciardini Trapunto is an amazing example of this.
Think back to Sicily, late 1300s. Books were a rare find, and fewer were the people who could read them. Storytelling passed legends along, and getting married meant furnishing your home for life. The Guicciardini [...]
Sunday morning. Good for sleeping in, right? Waking refreshed and renewed. Not me. Not this Sunday.
Following the volcanic ash cloud and airport closures for more than a week, the final decision was made to cancel the 2010 Tuscan Textiles trip on Wednesday. A decision not made lightly, as I know everyone in our small group [...]
Along with the other lovely projects rolling in April, I’m showing my mixed media quilts, cards and perhaps a few knitted lampshades at the Melrose Arts Festival from April 16 to 18. Stop by and say hi! This is the first year that this juried show includes fine craft as well as the painting and [...]
Pasquetta, Italy’s national holiday after Easter is the first “official” opportunity to eat outdoors and enjoy spring. After the downpours that drenched most of northern Italy last week, there will definitely be trepidation to picnic. Even in Sicily, the highs will be around 20 C… around 69 F.
You may have heard about the torrential [...]
It’s another rainy March Monday and I’m ready to be taken away….
I’m watching people while eating gelato along the “passeggiata.” The afternoon sun is slowly giving way to the evening breezes that make the evenings so pleasant in the Castelli Romani.
From September 6 to 16, our Knit Romana will call Frascati home. ”Capital” of the [...]
It’s that time of year again: choosing journals to distribute on the Italian tours. Starting last year, I began ordering them online… I was burned during the fall of 2008 when I ran down to my art supply store to pick up the standard favorite. And they were OUT OF STOCK! Ok, I know this [...]
Roberto Capucci is one of my favorite designers of all time. In 2001, I had the opportunity to translate between him and a Japanese interviewer, viewing truly the artist he is. I fear that I hogged up most of the questions….
Originally from Rome, he worked in Paris before coming south again. As part of the [...]
At the last Greater Boston Knitting Guild meeting, Adrienne Sloane shared a picture of this:
The 65 meter hand knitted “toilet paper pink” rabbit was created by the Austrian artist’s collective Gelitin. It took five years to construct the rabbit, which was installed in September 2005. Stuffed with hay and oozing knitted organs (the rabbit is dead and [...]
The holiday party season is in full swing here in Boston. Can I admit? Looking festive and keeping warm has been a challenge. It is cold. It is very cold. And all of my favorite party clothes do not accomodate New England winters.
During my Italian years, wind and temperatures this cold were only [...]