Hand turned wood chess set

Culli has made a really beautiful chess set. The Crusader set is made from Cherry and Laburnum and will be available to order soon! Just waiting for one of us to come up with the ultimate board, either a wooden one (him) or a bound leather one (me).............

 

 

www.artinfrance.co.uk

Knitting Basics workshop, final day

By the end of Sunday morning most of the patches on the bags were finished and the ends sewn in, time for a lesson on pinning and blocking followed by a long leisurely lunch in the garden then back to knitting bases for the bags. A demo on picking up and knitting stitches and how to make a neat finish around the neck of a sweater, then the final leg of knitting the sides and strap for the bags.

Monday was the last day of the workshop and at lunch-time everyone had completed their bags except for  sewing up the side seams. Considering this was meant to be a workshop for beginner's I think the results were absolutely fantastic. The knitting basics workshop is mainly for encouragement and convincing students that they can go on to knit just about anything, as they all left clutching yarn and patterns, enthusiastically looking forward to the next project hopefully I have achieved just that (but will they sew up the final seams on the bags I wonder....?)

Culli and I drove Liz and Barbara back to Bordeaux airport with a quick detour into Ikea on the way back for light bulbs and a new rug for the sitting-room. Today it is back to catching up on emails, pattern checking and a  new window for the kitchen so currently every work surface is covered in junk, I should be painting window frames and doors but it is freezing cold and raining and there is a huge pile of laundry to be done....... Looking forward to the next knitting retreat already, but with just a week to go there is a lot to be done.

Crochet workshops in France with tutor Jane Crowfoot May 2012

Freeform crochet samples

We have one residential space left (or two if you want to share a twin room) and three spaces for day guests if you live in the Charente-Maritime area. This brilliant workshop is tutored by crochet expert Jane Crowfoot and is suitable for all skill levels, it runs from the 5th -12th May at La Verderie in the heart of rural France, see the venue here.

La Verderie

The workshop covers all aspects of crochet and can be tailored to suit individual needs, with a small group of up to five guests Jane can offer one-to-one tuition for each student, the perfect environment to learn to crochet or to improve existing skills.

Colourwork Crochet designed by Jane Crowfoot

The cost of the holiday includes all the workshops, full board, outings to local towns, materials and free transfers to La Verderie from La Rochelle airport and Angouleme station. For further details visit www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com.