Knitting Basics workshop at La Verderie

The knitting basics workshop started here on Wednesday. Liz and Barbara flew into Bordeaux airport on a slightly wet and windy April evening, after reviving G&T's and a late supper we all retired to bed ready to get the needles clicking first thing in the morning.

For this workshop we have two residential guests and two day girls, Jackie and Lorraine. None of them are complete beginners, but are keen to learn new techniques and be reminded of a few of the basics. I have designed a patchwork bag using a variety of stitches - 18 patches starting with the obvious easy ones such as garter st, stocking st and rib, then progressing on to stripes, fairisle, cable and beading. Some are working their way through from easy to more complicated, Lorraine decided to jump in at the deep end and go for the complicated fairisle after the first few squares, lots of concentration and some very impressive results all round. As I am tutoring this one Culli is in charge of cooking and doing a grand job, last night we had starters of Kiwi fruit and cream cheese wrapped in parma ham followed by seafood tagliatelle and the most divine chocolate pots.

In this mornings workshop everyone has got to the halfway point on the squares, so this afternoon we are heading off to Saintes for a bit of fresh air and shopping.