diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fb929d2..11e37d2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ a library for parsing Bitsy game data.
 * position to
 * sprite from
 * sprite to
+* item from
 
 ## todo
 
 ### functions
 
-* item from
 * item to
 * room from
 * room to
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 08e2da4..9472dfb 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ struct Sprite {
     position: Position,
 }
 
-/// avatar is a "sprite" in the game data but with a specific ID
+/// avatar is a "sprite" in the game data but with a specific id
 #[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 struct Avatar {
     animation_frames: Vec<Image>,
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ struct Item {
     id: String,
     animation_frames: Vec<Image>,
     name: Option<String>,
-    dialogue: Option<Dialogue>,
+    dialogue: Option<String>, // dialogue id
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
@@ -491,12 +491,69 @@ fn test_sprite_to_string() {
     assert_eq!(output, expected);
 }
 
+fn item_from_string(string: String) -> Item {
+    let mut lines: Vec<&str> = string.split("\n").collect();
+
+    let id = lines[0].replace("ITM ", "");
+    let mut name = None;
+    let mut dialogue = None;
+
+    for _ in 0..2 {
+        let last_line = lines.pop().unwrap();
+
+        if last_line.starts_with("NAME") {
+            name = Some(last_line.replace("NAME ", "").to_string());
+        } else if last_line.starts_with("DLG") {
+            dialogue = Some(last_line.replace("DLG ", "").to_string());
+        } else {
+            lines.push(last_line); break;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    let animation_frames = lines[1..].join("");
+    // print!("{}", animation_frames);
+    let animation_frames: Vec<&str> = animation_frames.split("\n>\n").collect();
+    let animation_frames: Vec<Image> = animation_frames.iter().map(|&frame| {
+        image_from_string(frame.to_string())
+    }).collect();
+    
+    Item { id, name, animation_frames, dialogue}
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_item_from_string() {
+    let output = item_from_string("ITM 6\n01000000\n00000000\n00000000\n00000100\n00100000\n00000000\n00000000\n00000010\nNAME door\nDLG ITM_2".to_string());
+    let expected = Item {
+        id: "6".to_string(),
+        animation_frames: vec![
+            Image {
+                pixels: vec![
+                    0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,
+                    0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
+                    0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,
+                ]
+            }
+        ],
+        name: Some("door".to_string()),
+        dialogue: Some("ITM_2".to_string())
+    };
+    
+    assert_eq!(output, expected);
+}
+
 // fn game_from_string(game: String ) -> Game {
 //     // probably needs to split the game data into different segments starting from the end
 //     // e.g. VAR... then END... then DLG...
 //     // then split all these up into their individual items
-// }
 //
+//     // no - let's try going from the beginning and popping off elements from the start?
+// }
+
 // fn game_to_string(game: Game) -> String {
 //
 // }