Crazy how it already has been more than 2 months since I came back from my life changing trip to Peru… How time flies! After having spammed you guys daily for 3 weeks straight I thought it would be a great idea to offer you some LN| rest. Now, hope you have enjoyed it because exciting things are happening again on the LN| field!
These past few weeks I’ve mainly been working on the brand new LN|Andes webshop, as well as on the sales of these Alpaca beauties to luxury shops in Belgium and the Netherlands. Business is going great! A list of all the shops will follow soon.
As you might remember one of the major reasons why I travelled to Peru in March & April was to buy the beautiful 100% baby Alpaca yarn for LN|Beanies Winter 2012-2013 collection at Mitchell. After the ‘business’ aspect was done, Alejandro, my contact person at Mitchell, informed me of a very interesting yarn fair, namely the ‘Pitty Imagine Filati’ in Florence that I really had to visit. This is the biggest ‘yarn fair’ of the year. Not only to check out what the world wide yarn manufacturers had to offer and to go crazy on the beautiful new yarn trends, but also to hit the Florence nightlife with sympathic Peruvian yarn sellers as himself!
Sounds like a plan! Obsessed with yarn, colors, structures, knitting, crocheting, etc… as I am, this ‘LN|business trip’ was going to be great fun! I already bought the yarn for coming Winter at Mitchell, Peru, so this visit to one of the most beautiful city’s in Italy, namely Florence, was more to get inspired by the ‘trends’ on the ‘yarn field’ and to… I admit… Go crazy on the Italian ice cream. And so I, we, did!
Besides my grannies I couldn’t think of many people that would be in to stroll around a yarn fair for a day or two… So I decided to go by myself until I enthusiastically started telling about my little yarn business trip to Ruth, blond beauty and one of the fashion brains behind the amazing blog The Merrymakers. Ruth and I go way back! We are more or less sisters, try figuring out who’s who on the pictures! We’ll always be good blond pals! Ruth, fashion minded with also a small obsession with beautiful knits and an eye for fashion and detail, she decided to come with me to Florence, city of beautiful architecture, ice cream and yes… Italian men. Single ladies, that’s where to spot them!
So off we went! Cheap flight Rynair: check, cheap yet lovely B&B: check, camera: check. The first day we acted out being tourists, enjoying all the beauty Florence has to offer. The nice thing about Florence is that it is pretty small and you can do everything by foot. So we just strolled around town, experimenting with Ruth’s camera and enjoying our gelato’s.
After a delicious, and surprisingly cheap, Italian meal & idem ditto wine we went to bed early to be all fresh for the ‘Pitty Imagine Filati’ yarn fair. Since it was more than 35°C I though it would be appropriate to wear short, sneakers and sleeveless top. I think I might have been the youngest ‘yarn buyer’ at the fair, and the most casual dressed one as well! Thing to remember for next year: dress up a little bit ;-).
The fair was extremely overwhelming… First of all it was huge! Never seen so much yarn together in one area. Simply amazing. At the fair I discovered 100% cashmere… If you think 100% baby Alpaca is soft… 100% cashmere is beyond softness! Beautiful, yet extremely expensive. But, however, Winter 2013-2014 I will definitely make a few limited edition knits made out of this heavenly soft product. Btw… Did you know cashmere comes from a cashmere goat? They are hilarious! If you know where I can find them… Me and Ruth would like to herd a few!
So Cashmere is on the list! After visiting most of the different yarn manufacturers stands (and eating their ‘small appetizers’), for a couple of hours, we arrived at the final destination stand, namely the Peruvian yarn manufacturer from whom I’ve bough my entire LN|Andes & LN|Beanies collection, Mitchell.
Great to see Alejandro again and to go through the new colors and structures of the Winter 2013-2014 yarn collection. So far ahead, yet so nearby! The coming Winter sales haven’t even started or I am already brainstorming/working on the next one. I like!
Me, Ruth and Alejandro ended our little get together with a ‘plan’ to go out for drinks later on that night. Too bad Alejandro didn’t dare to show up ;-)! Next year, no excuses mister! Me and Ruth ended up having such an amazing time in Florence, great vibes, great atmosphere, great foods, and more than great fabrics and yarn.
I’ll see you end of January Florence, then I will be present wearing a sophisticated jumpsuit, heels and make-up for my 2nd Pitty Imagine Filati yarn fair, namely for Summer’s 2014-2015 LN|collection!
