Roma Shawl

The thought was that you need a little shawl/wrap in Italy to go inside certain churches. So I thought, why not try my hand at knitting one? Having never knit a shawl, I picked an easy pattern off of Ravelry and began with some nice 5 ply merino I had already.

I gave it a go and knit away on the way down to the ocean, and while at the ocean.

 Here I am modeling it after completed. It is rather smallish and curling at the edges at this point. However still pretty.

I am holding it down in the back so you can see the pattern. A very simple and free pattern called Azzu's Shawl.

Here it is "blocking" at home, damp on a beach towel pinned to some foam mats. This process will  hopefully help it lay nice and flat. It would be nice if it gains some width and length in the process.

And well, if it's too hot to take to Rome, then it will make a nice little thing to wear around Seattle!

Post-blocking it did flatten out and uncurl itself, as shown below:

 Even with my unofficial method of blocking with push pins over a towel and floor mats, it came out much better. Blocking always has that magical effect on things.

I shall model it more later, and today's Seattle heat will be a good test to see if I could stand to wear it in Italy's heat.

Packing With Cubes

Packing cubes are the way to go....They keep all your stuff tucked in a neat bundle. This one could be used for shirts or larger items. They are great for keeping "like" items together and keep you from having to repack your suitcase each time you pull something out of it.

Each small item has its spot. Rolling the shirts saves space. Everything fits inside a cube!

Shoes are going to go in the bottom of the suitcase.

Thanks to my sister, I will borrow one of her baggallini bags for the tote that will zip on top of the suitcase.

This was a great practice run on packing my things. After watching a free U Tube on packing from the Rick Steves' site, I am getting closer to knowing what to pack.
About 10 weeks until our trip. We've got the rental car reserved, now we need to just confirm our reservations and do a bit more reading and preparation. We will also need to still get our museum tickets and plan what we actually want to do in Rome and Florence. I should have enough time now after my surgery to regain my fitness level, as far as walking again.