October 2017 knitting and crochet workshop with Carol Meldrum

Carol is back again to Knitting holidays in France for another Texture with a Twist workshop.

The weather has been fantastic and we have managed to sit outside every day so far! The projects are all coming along well with some very different ideas to last month.

On Sunday morning we had a trip out to one of the local brocantes at Annepont which was packed with a wide variety of goodies. I managed to find 14 balls of Alpaca for the bargain price of 18 euros and a trug!

Interesting mix of gourds & a spinning wheel

I don't think we need any of these........

After lunch Carol set up the workshop ready for everyone. They started with a stitch dictionary, trying out different textures and then went on to decide on a project to make using various techniques.

Monday was a full day workshop, then on Tuesday morning we went to Saintes for shopping and sightseeing. Starting with a visit to l'Oasis for yarn and fabric

and then a wander along the river to the yarn shop and back through the town to Maison du Monde

via the chocolate shop

and the lovely cafe outside the museum

Back to the barn for more knitting and crochet in the afternoon

and a few lessons on how to block their swatches

On Wednesday morning a few of us went into St Jean d'Angely to the food market for a few supplies, fresh fish for supper and local honey for gifts to take home.

Ceps for garlic mushrooms

Knitting holidays in France - October knitting retreat

The last retreat for this year has just finished. We have had a fantastic week with plenty of sunshine, lots of outings, masses to eat and a bit of knitting.

We started the week with a visit to the Brocante in Saintes and found a few bargains - metal signs, trays, beads, necklaces and fabric.

On Monday we had a day at home working on projects. There is a good mix of scarves, shawls, gloves, a child's sweater and a lovely X-stitch project.

Dale's scarf and gloves

Anne's completed shawl

Veronica's completed shawl

 Experimenting with double knitting

A bee from my bargain bracelet from the Brocante completes Purl's scarf

Sue's fish sweater

On Tuesday we spent the morning in Cognac shopping and sightseeing, then in the evening we went to Egreteau our local Cognac producer for a tour of the distillery and tastings of Pineau and Cognac.

On Wednesday it was a visit to Saintes, shopping for fabric and yarn at L'Oasis and gifts at Maison du Monde.

 Some amazing fabrics for cushion covers and bags

A lovely gift for me - a Louisa Harding shawl pattern and yarn

For our final outing we went to La Rochelle for the day, starting with a loo break at the Aquarium where there was an amazing exhibition of x-ray photographs.

Followed by a walk in the sunshine around the old port and down to the beach

 where we had a coffee in the sunshine

 and a paddle

 then back to the old port for lunch

 followed by a wander around the shops

 and a visit to the wonderful little yarn and fabric shop Mercerie l'Aguillee

We managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the market in St Jean d'Angely on Saturday morning before the trip to Bordeaux for their flight home.