Stanley sporting a scarf knit from Trendsetter's Cha Cha in Dark Denim

I've said it before, travel is bad for blogging. OK--bad for blogging if you lack the discipline to "tweet/facebook/blog" while schlepping computers and cute outfits around the world.

There may not have been blogging, but there was knitting. To and from Rome, I whipped up the above. (A veritable Walter Raleigh, isn't he?) Cha Cha is a "railroad" yarn constructed from a thick ribbon to which a slim rail is attached. By using the slim rail as your "working" yarn, you get these dense, elaborate ruffles. It's all very fiddly and tricky when riding the waves of turbulence over the U.K.

Rome was molto bene. There was no time to explore beyond our small quarter of the city, Trastevere, a cobblestoned web of streets and 500-year-old buildings. Alas, no yarn shops, but there were leather stores (nice leather, not leather leather), cafes and gelati. I felt blessed to have the opportunity to work in the city--and eat there--to experience a taste of what it might be like to live there. (Taste being the operative word.)

Photo by Stephanie Simmons Geyer