Pitti FIlati

Day two in Florence and it's time for a trip to the fabulous yarn fair itself, Pitti Filati.

I headed straight for the Senso trend forecasting area to collect my shade card for Spring/Summer 2012 and see what those in the know are predicting we will be wearing and knitting in 2012.

The layout was slightly different to previous years I have attended, with the experimental and textural samples draped around tiny dummies to also provide an indication of the shapes for the coming seasons.

I noted a muted, organic colour palette, highly textured and layered, sculptural knits constructed with unusual yarns such as nylon monofilament, stiff raffia and draping, shiny tapes. The funnel neck also seems to be making a comeback - which we have already started to see in the present season.

There was so much to see, we were overwhelmed, so we are going back tomorrow to finish off the rounds of the yarn companies. However, we did round off the day with a trip to the unmissable second hand fair, Vintage Selection. The Italians have not yet grasped the vintage trend as wholeheartedly as us Brits, meaning the selection is simply stunning - they still have plenty of authentic items left from pre-1970, having not yet had every store plundered for goodies. Unfortunately, the growth in popularity of the show meant that the prices had increased too. I left with only some fabulous buttons to show for my trip. I had hoped to find a friend for the bargain basement price, amazing Italian leather, statement 60s suede wedges I picked up on my last trip. Twas not to be...perhaps next year!