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| The fountain of 99 water spouts, representing 99 paese of L'Aquila |
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| The duomo of Collemagno - the stonework inspiring some stranded colourwork knitting
Antonella drove us up and across the Altapianura delle Rocche, then up again to the small village of Ovindoli, 1400 metres above sea level, where she has her workshop
Antonella's workshop - I Campi di Mais
Ovindoli
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We visited the Bottega Artigiana La Buscella, where I couldn't resist buying some lovely big hand made wooden buttons. Then we came across this:
Probably a bobbin-winder rather than a spinning wheel, hand cranked and heavy
And beside it a sign reading Tisaneria. Always ready for a cuppa, we followed the sign and found this:
Not just a huge selection of herbal tisane, and delicious home-made apple cake, but a weaving workshop. We had an interesting chat with the owner, who runs weaving classes and also sells the tiny brown lentils special to the area.
Leaving Santo Stefano we headed to Rocca Calascio, stopping to admire the flowery roadside verges, pick some scented helichrysum and look at the stupendous views
Rocca Calascio is dominated by its castle, up on the peak above the village
Much of the village is deserted, but very atmospheric
We had a delicious lunch in the Rifugio della Rocca, baked scamorza cheese with mushrooms, and a salad
Our next stop was to visit Valeria Gallese, who with her husband runs AquiLana - wool from their own flock of sheep is processed into a range of lovely yarns. Valeria kindly provided the fleece for our workshops.
Then back to Ovindoli, where the first of the workshop particpants had just arrived - Patrizia. Once she was settled in to the B&B we had an unhurried picnic style dinner and a good long chat.
Saturday was Day 1 of the workshop. Eleonora arrived with her little dog, and we soon got to grips with grading and then carding the AquiLana fleece.
Patrizia and Antonella
Eleonora and Patrizia
Being partly Merino the fleece form Valeria was very fine but a bit sticky, so we also used some Zwartbles fleece (black) from Perthshire, some Alpaca from Aberdeenshire and some fibre from Patrizia's own alpacas and angora goats in the Veneto.
At lunchtime we took a table outside into the sunshine
and continued to work out there for the afternoon, much to the interest of passers-by
After a bit more carding we went in search of dinner, at a restaurant in the piazza.
On Sunday it was time to meet the spinning wheels - Patrizia's new Ashford Kiwi 2 and my (but now Antonella's) slightly older Kiwi 1. Alternately spinning and carding, the morning passed quickly and lunchtime was announced by the sound of Eleonora's fiancé arriving on his motorbike, bringing lunch.
Once again we ate outside in the sunshine, a delicious spread with Antonella's home-made bread and home grown artichokes and spinach, Patrizia's home grown tomatoes, mozzarella brought by Nico and a delicious spread made in Eleonora's azienda from garlic flowers, olive oil and wine - also all home grown.
After lunch the spinning wheels came out into the sunshine, again attracting lots of attention - or maybe it was Nico's Ducati parked next to them
Patrizia spinning her mohair/alpaca blend, wearing a hat made by Antonella
By late afternoon the ladies all had completed a second skein of wheel-spun 2-ply yarn
and also prepared and spun silk hankies,
Everyone said they were very satisfied with what they had achieved, they certainly got a lot done in two days, while still finding time for lots of good conversation and laughter.
I really enjoyed my first visit to Abruzzo, and hope to return there. The icing on the cake came when just before heading back to L'Aquila and the coach to Rome, Antonella took me to a small antique shop in Ovindoli. It is an absolute Aladdin's cave, piled high with treasures, many of which are Scandinavian as the owner is a Danish woman.
