Spring at La Verderie

la Verderie

At last Spring seems to be here.

I have just been for a walk with BeBop in glorious sunshine and clear blue skies, it is the day after St George's day and the dandelions seem to have changed overnight from brilliant yellow to white fluffy balls, the bluebells are starting to come out and there is blossom everywhere.

We have a few days rest before the next knitting and crochet retreat at La Verderie which starts on 5th May, there is still one space available if anyone fancies a last minute escape to sunny France? Spend the week relaxing with your knitting or crochet, pick up some new tips or have a go at machine knitting. For further information send an email to Sue or visit the Knitting Holidays in France website here.

April knitting retreat

A section of my crochet throw

On Thursday morning we visited Saintes for a bit more shopping. After a long browse in the stationery and book shop we wandered down through the pedestrianised streets to one of the lovely chocolate shops so that Shelagh and Fiona could buy gifts to take home. In the afternoon the girls from my craft group came along to join us, it was a fairly noisy few hours with 12 of us working on various knitting, sewing and crochet projects and all talking at once, but the new studio proved to be the perfect venue. Fiona bravely started on her Fairisle slipover and managed to do the first block of pattern with no mistakes in spite of the various conversations going on around her.
After supper of chicken stuffed with mushroom and pancetta and tarte tatin we settled down to watch the final episode of Star Wars.

masterclass in picking up for necklines and ribs

start of Fiona's fairisle

Friday was the final full day, sunny but a bit cooler. Fiona was keen to have a go on my knitting machine so I gave a quick crash course. It is a fairly ancient chunky machine that I bought second hand many years ago and was already missing some parts, however, it still works and is a great way of using up the stash quickly. She soon got the hang of working the machine and went off hoping to find one on ebay as soon as she got home. We also had a quick masterclass in picking up and knitting stitches around necklines. After lunch we went to visit Veronique, one of the ladies from my craft group who wanted to show Fiona her beautiful cross stitch samplers and pictures, worked on the finest aida and hardanger.

dancing reindeer

Sheelagh's crochet dishcloth

In the evening we had a final show and tell to see what had been achieved through the week and it was fairly impressive. Shelagh felt that although she had un-ravelled a fair bit, she has finally mastered crochet having completed her dishcloth and made a start on her stripey cushion cover and crochet throw. Fiona had finished the back of her chunky jacket with the intarsia reindeer, started the fairisle slipover, completed a hot water bottle cover and then settled down in the evening to knit bags for the sweets she had bought to give as gifts. I was happy to have completed my little crochet throw and have made a start on a crochet cushion cover.
On Saturday morning we set off early under a cloudless sky for the trip to Bordeaux and their return flight to Luton, it has been a really lovely relaxing week and I am looking forward to the next visitors on the May retreat (we still have one space available for the 4th - 9th May if anyone would like a last minute holiday, see here!)

Machine Knitting workshops

It promises to be a blisteringly hot day here, I have just been out with the dogs and it is already over 20 degrees centigrade so a good day for working in the cool. I have a stall at a Brocante tomorrow with my friend Barbara so need to sort out some of my endless junk to take, at the same time I thought I would have a sort through the stash pile. I am on the hunt for a second hand standard guage knitting machine, I love the old chunky one as it is great for using up the stash of hand-knit yarns but feel the urge for something fine and lacey, will check out ebay.
We also have a booking for our first knitting retreat in the autumn and it is someone who wants to learn about machine knitting, so the September retreat has now become a machine knitting workshop, with spaces for three more guests.