The September knitting
retreat started on a glorious hot sunny Sunday. All five guests arrived at
Bordeaux airport and by late afternoon were sitting in the sunshine chatting
away like old friends. Regular visitor Sue arrived clutching gifts of antlers
for BeBop and Buddy who were of course delighted to see her (I think she only
comes back every year to see BeBop), the other guests were Natasja a crochet fanatic (see her lovely blog Crochet time) and Brenda with daughter Alison and their friend Phina a tap dancing granny from West
Sussex!
It stayed warm enough
to eat supper in the garden, so after roast pork with courgette & tomato bake and dauphinoise potatoes followed by chocolate torte
everyone went off for an early night.
Everyone has a project planned for the week. Natasja has brought a bundle of yarn to crochet a throw inspired by the English countryside. It is a combination of vibrant green fields, crops of oat and barley and earthy ploughed fields, joined with a textured stitch to form hedges. Phina is working on crochet flowers, she is also a bit of a demon with fine knitting needles and makes me a gorgeous minature teddy bear. Brenda wants to master knitting in the round so starts on a small pair of socks and Alison wants to crochet a cushion cushion cover, so after reading through all my crochet books and the ones she has brought with her starts on granny squares in gorgeous pastel shades. Sue is working on a chunky cable jumper by Bergere de France for her son and a lovely soft scarf knitted in Rowan Kidsilk Haze.
Monday morning was fresh but dry and sunny. Sue joins me every morning for an early morning walk with the dogs before breakfast, then we all settle down in the garden and studio for a day of knitting and crochet.
On Tuesday we went into
Cognac to visit Tissus Bonnet the fabric and yarn shop in the centre of town.
Everyone loves the beautiful ribbons, trimmings, fabric and yarns and we all
buy something. After a coffee in the square we go home eager to start working
with our new yarns after lunch. Natasja knits a snood in just a couple of
hours using the pompom yarn she bought in the morning.
On Wednesday morning
we visit St Jean d’Angely and wander around the market admiring the colourful
pumpkins, giant beef tomatoes and beautiful flower stalls, then a bit of retail
therapy in the yarn shop and kitchen shop followed by a coffee and a walk
through the old medieval town.
Back home for a lunch
of fresh prawns and cheese from the market and an afternoon working in the sunshine.
On Thursday we made a
trip to Saintes to the big yarn and fabric shop on the commercial estate and
all buy more yarn and pattern books, then drive back into the town for a coffee
by the river and a quick visit to yet another yarn shop. I think this week
holds the record for the amount of yarn shopping.
The final afternoon is
spent trying to finish off projects, which everyone spreads out on the table at
the end of the afternoon. It looks like a huge amount of work when you see it
all laid out.
On Friday Culli takes
Sue off first thing in the morning for her early flight from Bordeaux, the rest
of us have a more leisurely start and drive down to Bordeaux later in the
morning. We drop Natasja off at the airport for her flight then the four of us
go into Bordeaux for lunch at one of the riverside café’s.
Then a wander around
the lovely pedestrian shopping streets with the final yarn fix at La Droguerie
and a visit to the huge book shop, a stop for a cup of tea, a bit more window
shopping admiring he designer clothes and mouthwatering chocolate shops then I
take Phina, Brenda and Alison out to the airport for their evening flight.
It has been a great
week, with lots of inspiration, perfect weather and lovely guests who I hope we
will see again.
