"Florence in July" from KnitBits #97
Click on image to open Web Gallery
Today I will show you snapshots from my recent trip to Florence, Italy. I was there in the beginning of July to attend the yarn exhibition, Pitti Filati. I spent several days shopping for new yarns for Fall 2006. As always, I wandered the streets of Florence with camera in hand, looking for those precious morsels of inspiration that I find in my favorite stores and store windows.
Impressed
by
surface
decoration
in
the
architecture
and
fabrics
I
saw,
I
concluded
that
the
common
visual
stimuli
of
the
moment
were “repeat
patterns.” I
was
keenly
aware
of
patterns
on
the
façades
of
ancient
buildings,
the
repeat
of
people’s
footwear
as
they
stood
in
clusters
in
the
Piazza
del
Duomo,
the
lines
of 
motorbikes
and
the
streets
lined
with
mini
automobiles.
Stone
facades,
cobblestone
streets
and
sandaled
feet – all
marked
a
rhythmic
visual
as
I
meandered
in
and
out
of
streets
and
alleys
that
were
never
parallel.
Lost
in
the
renaissance
city’s
random
composition,
the
beauty
of
it
all
seemed
to
impose
order
over
chaos.
I
was
inspired
by
this
juxtaposition
of
symmetry
and
asymmetry
as
I
found
myself
thinking
outside
the
box
inside
my
favorite
ancient
city. The
surface
patterns
of
repeat
images
of
panini,
gelato
and
the
varieties
of
dolce
in
cafes,
panneterias,
and
pizzerias
throughout
Florence
struck
a
similar
note
in
me.
As
printed
fabrics,
textural
wovens
and
intarsia
knits
come
back
into
fashion,
I
find
that
as
a
knitwear
designer
I
am
seeing
Florence
with
new
eyes
and
therefore
I
have
new
ideas
for
seasons
to
come.
To
affirm
my
intuitions,
pattern
on
pattern
was
a
theme
that
resounded
throughout
the
Pitti
Filati
show
in
op
art
patterning,
fairisle
and
texture
on
texture. I
saw
graphic
contrasts
on
linear
yarns,
distressed
surfaces
and
color
changes
both
random
and
mathematical.
I took lots of shots with my digital camera and I shopped till I dropped. You can have a look at some of my favorite photos by clicking on the
Web Gallery.