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The World of Illusion Knitting

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PICKING UP THREADS

This was written in
2007
so is now very dated

The time of the Festival crept nearer. We had expected to get more nervous about it but we didn’t. The decision had been made. We were jut going to go and enjoy it. We were busy up until the last minute, making hats and poncho and collecting together all the information we had that could be put onto a PowerPoint presentation. We couldn’t take any of our best-known items so we had to take pictures of them all. There were really several small presentations – for cushions, afghans, optical illusions and any other grouping we could think of. We even made one that we could use as the basis for a formal talk, should we be asked to give one. They were linked together so that anyone could move round them as they chose. Wherever possible we included ‘hidden’ slides giving explanations. Anyone wanting to read them could click on the page though we knew these wouldn’t be widely read by the Italians. We were able to put all this information onto a CD so all our history was on something so small it could be slipped in a pocket to be used on any computer we found.

This was using technology that had been around for a few years but it reminded me of the time when I approached a large computer firm with the intention of buying a computer with a CD writer. I was told there was no demand as the equipment was so expensive. I went elsewhere to buy what I wanted. It was expensive but was obviously the way the technology was going. It has moved on even further now. CD readers and writers became standard equipment until something bigger and better came along. We are now in the realms of DVDs and memory sticks.

How times and attitudes have changed. Ten years ago, if we had presented someone with a computer, instead of a photograph album most would have backed away in terror. Information has never been so transportable.

When the presentations were ready we decided it was so cheap and easy to make copies that we made a few more. As it transpired this was a very good move.

The big day arrived. It was Halloween, and the morning after the clocks changed. Travelling abroad and trying to sort out the time is always a problem but this was easy. We kept our watches on British Summer Time and we were in line with the Italians. We only got confused on the way back.

Our flight was from Manchester to Milan, where we had to change planes to Genoa. The first leg of the journey went without a hitch. We should have had about thirty minutes between the two planes. In Milan we were caught up in a huge crowd waiting to go through Transfers and it seemed as though everybody else had all the time in the world. We eventually passed the barrier with very little time to spare and still had to get the other end of the airport for the Genoa flight. I just couldn’t go fast enough so Steve ran ahead to the gate where there was an airline check-in girl and a man in a fluorescent jacket. I eventually got there and it turned out that the man was the bus driver who was waiting for us and they were holding the plane until we got there. It couldn’t go without us as our baggage had made a much speedier transfer than we did. I can’t imagine meeting such a laid-back attitude in this country.

Everything had worked out fine – until the computer ate our boarding passes. Technology is not always a good thing! Equipment had to be unplugged and moved and eventually the mangled passes were levered out of a printer. We were the only people who seemed to be concerned. As soon as we had the cards, the bus driver ushered us on to the empty bus and drove as fast as he could, straight across the tarmac to the waiting plane. It was the smallest commercial plane I have ever been on but was extremely plush with large leather seats. Boarding was very embarrassing as we knew everyone had been waiting for us. At first glance the plane appeared to be full but most pairs of seats were occupied by just one person and many of these were Alitalia crew - a plane full of pilots. Someone moved so that we could sit together and we were off immediately. The journey was shorter than the time we had spent in Transfers and we were soon landing at Genoa’s airport which is worryingly close to the sea.

The next problem was how we were going to find whoever had come to collect us. Luciana had said she would probably be there herself, with our hostess. Despite the delay the plane landed about ten minutes earlier than we had expected and progress through such a small airport was very rapid. When we reached Arrivals there was hardly anyone in sight. A couple were wandering around and seemed to be looking for someone. We approached them and, fortunately, they spoke English. It wasn’t us they were looking for. A few minutes later two men arrived and it was clear that they were looking for us and spoke English. They whisked us off to their home which was indeed a beautiful place. We realised then that Italians use the word ‘house’ where we would say ‘home’. This was a grand apartment in a 1930s building.

It was spectacular and we were somewhat taken aback to find that it was lavishly  decorated for Halloween. Not surprisingly, we soon found out that Anna, Alberto and their son had recently returned to their home after living in US for several years. They were wonderful hosts and went out of their way to help us. They made sure we were in the right place at the right time, they made numerous phone calls for us and even booked a hotel when Ben, who had recently driven to Gibraltar , decided to take a detour and turned up, out of the blue, to meet us.

25d. ADDING MORE STRANDS continued