June knitting and crochet retreat in France

This must have been the noisiest start to any retreat.

picnic supper at Chatageasse

Margaret arrived on Saturday afternoon, she lives in Brittany, so drove down to us with a car full of yarn, books and projects, after helping her unload the car and a quick catch up on the gossip we set off for a midsummer party at Chantageasse, where Culli's band 'The Billy Whizz band' were playing. Second guest Lin was dropped off at Chantageasse to join in the party and we bopped the night away.

 

 Sunday morning, the three of us settled down for a bit of knitting, whilst Culli drove off to La Rochelle to meet third guest Pauline. Lin, Margaret and Pauline all came on a retreat last October, they were total strangers to each other, all with very different backgrounds and geographically living a long way apart, however, they hit it off from the moment they arrived here and have remained firm friends ever since, it is really rewarding to see returning guests like that and the same rapport between them is definitely still there.

On Sunday afternoon Lin finished off a crochet cot blanket, Pauline started a blanket square and Margaret became re-enthused about a summer top that she was about to give up on. I finally sorted through my stash basket and UFO's. We had supper of Charentaise melon with parma ham and Pineau, followed by Provencal fish stew and homegrown rhubarb fool, then an early night for all.

Charentaise melon with Pineau chasers

Today we have been working on our knitting and crochet projects all day and have managed to make the studion look like it has been hit by a yarn bomb in the space of a few hours (admittedly mostly my mess!). Lin is working on a crochet alphabet blanket which is amazing, she is racing through it so should easily finish in the next couple of days. Margaret has started on an Elizabeth Zinnerman surprise jacket using the box of blue, grey and neutral shaded yarns that she brought with her. Her technique involves getting each of us to choose a shade for the next stripe, which a) saves her having to get up and b) gives a totally fesh view on the stripes. Pauline is knitting facecloths, having quickly finished a lovely, simple textured one she has gone on to a flower shaped version. By the evening we had clear blue skies, so sat in the garden enjoying apero's before supper of goats cheese souffle, followed by chicken breast wrapped in sage and prosciutto with roasted vegetables and then wickedly delicious chocolate pots.
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