Knitting holidays in France June retreat

We have just had an amazing week of knitting and crochet at La Verderie and Bercloux. It has turned into an annual event for a large group of our regular visitors to meet up, this year there were 8 of them - Caroline, Felicity, Elizabeth, Amanda, Wendy, Toril, Astrid and Katherine with two new visitors to Knitting Holidays in France - Joanne and Terry.

The week started with cloudy skies, pouring rain and a few delayed flights, but that didn't stop the constant chatter, hysterical laughter and of course endless knitting and crochet. Within a few hours everyone was looking relaxed.........

and ready for the week ahead...........

They brought along a a variety of projects, including this years Debbie Abrahams mystery blanket and cushion, a gorgeous sparkly purse kit, crochet blankets, Wendy's unique multi stitch sweater, socks, a knitted dress, top down sweater and yes - I am still finishing my sideways shrug, but only the sewing up to go now!

Toril even managed to find time to make a beautiful dream catcher, which I have just discovered she left in her room for me - thank you!!!

We had a swop shop of unwanted stash - and lucky me as I ended up with all the leftovers - more thank you's to everyone.

We went shopping in Saintes and Cognac for fabric, yarn, clothes, shoes, Indian tablecloths and cushions and more Pandora jewellery.

We sat in cafes with our knitting and crochet.

 In the evenings we sat listening to Wendy's magical story-telling, sipping the odd glass of wine or two, looking out at spectacular sunsets.

They managed to eat every scrap of food that was put in front of them, even fighting over the last few morsels of the strawberry pavlova

Culli has also been busy creating more yarn bowls. Elizabeth had pre-ordered two, but Amanda, Toril and Astrid also bought more.

He is now working on a new line of hand turned wooden crochet hooks coming soon, watch this space........

The week has flown by, everyone left this morning with promises to meet up at Ally Pally in October and to return here next year.

October knitting and crochet retreat in France

The October knitting and crochet retreat started on another beautiful warm and sunny day. I drove to La Rochelle to meet Catherine, Alison and Dorothy who all flew in from Southanpton. Dorothy and Alison had a really early start flying from Aberdeen and Catherine came from the South of England. Culli picked up Jane from Bordeaux and the other two guests Cate and Pam opted to hire a car, Cate has lived in the US for the last 30 years and came to spend a week with her sister Pam, knitting!

We sat and enjoyed the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon and soon got stuck into food, drink and lively conversation.

On Friday after a leisurely breakfast we started on various projects. Catherine has brought along a sock project called ‘socks on a plane’ the ideal choice for a holiday knit, a cowl and a crochet throw. Jane is working on a calf length crochet waistcoat, a gorgeous retro design in a smoky blue bamboo blend. Dorothy has started on a fairisle beanie in lovely subtle Shetland shades. Alison is knitting an Artyarns kit for a lacy shawl in a gorgeous yarn that comes ready beaded with tiny sparkling beads. Pam is knitting a cardigan and Cate is working on a lacy shawl pattern that needs a bit of concentration.

After lunch we made the compulsory trip into Cognac for a visit to Tissus Mercerie. There was much excitement over the fabric, Cate buying linen remnants to make table cloths and aprons and Catherine bought a lovely polka dot fabric to make table mats.

Back home for more knitting and crochet in glorious sunshine, followed by apero’s and supper of smoked salmon pate starters, moussaka then home grown rhubarb with ginger crumble. More knitting in front of the TV and then bed.

On Saturday Cate and Pam went off to Angouleme to pick up Cate’s niece Rachel who is studying at the Sorbonne and is staying just one night with us. The rest of us went into St Jean d'Angely for a wander around the market and a bit of sightseeing with some retail therapy for Alison and Catherine who both bough sparkly tops, then a coffee in the square another yarn fix in the little yarn store and a quick stop at the supermarket for pate and more wine!!

Back home for lunch followed by a fairisle workshop for Catherine who picked it up straight away, then a quick dash indoors as it clouded over and started pouring with rain. We had  a noisy supper filled with laughter and conversations ranging from the olympics to cannabilism(!), whatever happened to good old knitting……..?

Sunday started with very different weather, a clear morning with bright sunshine and a cold wind, no more autumn mists. By lunch time it had warmed up and we were back out in the garden for an al fresco lunch while Cate drove niece Rachel back to Angouleme for the Paris train, clutching her nearly finished scarf. We had an impromptu workshop on knitting with beads, which everyone loved churning out colourful swatches, then tea and birthday cake for Dorothy and Cate who coincidentally shared the same birthday. After a dinner of Sunday Roast and strawberry cheesecake we settled down to watch Downton Abbey.

Monday morning was cool and grey, but in spite of the forecast of rain we decided to brave the elements and go to the all day market in Saintes. First stop was the umbrella stall, then a coffee and a bit of knitting another brief scurry around the market, a stop at the supermarket on the way home, then after lunch the final afternoon of working on projects.

It has been another fantastic week that seems to have gone far too quickly, with lots of laughs and plenty of knitting and crochet. Jane’s crochet waistcoat is growing fast, maybe not quite the finished project she was hoping to take home but it looks amazing. Catherine has started her chevron crochet throw, in lovely aqua tones. Pam is on to the second sleeve of her sweater, Dorothy has quickly knitted a chunky hat in between her Shetland fairisle hat, Alison has finished her lovely lacy shawl with the ready beaded yarn and Cate has started another scarf project.

Everyone has ordered wooden yarn bowls from Culli and Cate has gone back to Boston clutching a lovely spalted bowl that he turned on Sunday. 

On Tuesday morning they were all off back home, it is sad to think that there are no more guests until next Spring.
To see available dates for 2015 holidays click here

Mystery Blanket workshop day 4

It's Sunday morning and a slightly later start to the day.
The weather is awful with torrential rain, wind, the odd sunny spell and rainbows.
Everyone settles down for a full day of knitting, the conversation ranges from condoms to continental knitting. It is great to listen in from the kitchen.
I have been making soup for luch every day which seems to be going down well, followed by salad, bread and cheese.

Culli's least favourite cheese - Goat!

After lunch the sun comes out and a few brave souls venture out for a bit of fresh air and a walk around the block, but soon scuttle back as it starts to rain again. Back to knitting and an even livelier discussion after a glass or two of wine at lunch time.
There seems to be a bit of competition on the amount of squares knitted so far for the Mystery Blanket,  however, the standard is perfect from all, with just a little colour deviation from Gill..................

Oops! I think the one she has her hand over should have
been lighter grey (see below)

Add caption

After a hard day of knitting and putting the world to rights we have apero's around the fire followed by dinner of roasted red pepper with cherry tomatoes for starters, roast pork and dauphinoise potatoes followed by banoffi cheesecake.

The final morning

The alarm goes off at 6am, I wish I had gone to bed earlier. I stumble over to the Chateau and make coffee for Amanda and Danny who have to leave at 7 to catch their train to Biarritz and continue their European tour. After breakfast Culli and I drive 12 guests to the station and wave sad goodbyes, then back to the Chateau to finish clearing up say goodbye to Jane, Andy, Debbie and Steve and take the final five to the station. We discover that Chris has left her bag of knitting behind, fortunately she lives in France, but having made the 3/4 hour long drive home and realised she has no knitting she jumps in the car and comes back to collect it.
By the time Culli gets back from the final trip to the station I am packed up and ready to go, the drive home seems to take forever, but we are home by 3. After collecting the dogs we have an early supper of leftovers from the Chateau sitting in the sunshine, I am asleep in front of the television by 7.30.
Sunday morning is spent unpacking everything and catching up with the washing, we decide to treat ourselves to lunch out, no cooking and no washing up, so head off to La Goule Beneze in St Jean d'Angely for a lovely lunch of melon gazpacho with parma ham and salmon nicoise starters followed by entrecote steak with herb butter and duck breast with peach sauce and for dessert creme brulee and the most divine trio of strawberry puds, now if I could produce food like that every day.............!

The first knitting retreat

The guests have just all departed from our first knitting retreat here at La Verderie. We have had a fantastic few days with three lovely people. Mark and Diane came all the way from Canada to visit Paris and our little corner of rural France. Whilst Diane was happy to launch into her knitting as soon as she arrived, Mark was a little worried that he had been talked into spending five days with three slightly nutty knitters. However Culli came to his rescue and whisked him off around the countryside to sample a little of the local cognac, check out the bar at St Meme, assist on a few site visits and even grovel around in the engine of the boat - what a lucky man!

The lovely Michelle from Devon kept us entertained with her stories and came up with some great ideas for my book - thank you Michelle! She is a knitter with the patience of a saint, producing her own designs for beautiful floaty garments in laceweight yarns, just stopping every so often to pop outside for a quick fag.

We managed to consume breakfast, lunch and a four course dinner every day with ease, washed down with lashings of wine. It was great to have three real foodies with no dislikes, the seafood lunch on Saturday was attacked with relish, oysters, prawns and bulot enjoyed by all. I try to make the menus a mix of french and english so came up with the following for the evening meals -
Thursday - smoked salmon pate, Normandy chicken, cheese board, peaches baked in pineau
Friday - pear, roquefort and walnut salad, salmon and prawn pie, cheese board, tarte tatin
Saturday - pumpkin soup, magret de canard with red wine sauce, cheese board, squidgy lemon pudding
Sunday - charentais melon with pineau, roast lamb with dauphinoise potatoes, cheese board, mousse au chocolat
Monday - prawns with ginger and chilli, boeuf bourguignon, cheese board, croissant bread pudding
We had an outing to the market at St Jean d'Angely on Saturday morning and I took Mark and Diane into Saintes yesterday afternoon for a wander around the shops and a visit to the Roman Amphitheatre.

It was sad to see them all leave today, Mark and Diane are back to Paris for a few more days of culture and Michelle is off for a week's adventure in La Rochelle. Tomorrow the house sitters move in and Culli and I are off to the UK for a wedding, Monday the diet starts..............