Kaleidoscope knitting and crochet workshop in France

The September workshop has got off to a good start with 13 residential guests and one day girl.
We had a frantic day yesterday picking everyone up from La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Angouleme, after a late supper and lots of excited chatter catching up on all the news we all staggered off to bed, but everyone was up and keen to start this morning. Toril went for a 10k run and a swim before breakfast and Katrin managed a 5k walk.
Everyone has an option to do knitting or crochet or a combination of the two, based on a cushion project but there are many variations on the theme. Jane and Debbie have brought along some beautiful samples to inspire everyone, along with some copies of Kaleidoscope, a gorgeous selection of yarn and beads and some fab buttons.
Astrid has chosen to make a crochet jacket using lovely soft colours in Felted Tweed, Toril is making a scarf using crochet and knit, (they both come from Norway and say that cushions don't keep you warm!), others are still working on swatches and choosing colours. The weather has not been brilliant but looks like it is improving through the week and had cleared enough by the evening for drinks on the terrace and a clear starry night.

www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com

Spaces available for Knit and Crochet workshop with Debbie Abrahams and Jane Crowfoot

Kaleidoscope knitting and crochet designs by Debbie Abrahams and Jane Crowfoot

As there has been such demand for this workshop (8th - 14th September 2013), I have arranged extra accommodation. We now have three spaces left 2 sharing a twin bedroom (£450 per head) and one in a single room (£525), the cost of the holiday includes, workshops, materials, meals with wine and transfers from La Rochelle or Poitiers, for further details email sueculligan@gmail.com

Chocolate dessert

The workshops will be based around designs from Kaleidoscope, Jane and Debbie's latest book. Guests will have the option to work on a set project or to incorporate their own design ideas using knitting and/or crochet.

Studio and garden at La Verderie

La Roche

La Nougeree

Guests will be accommodated at La Verderie, La Nougeree and La Roche and the workshops and meals will all be at La Nougeree.
www.knittingholidaysinfrance.com

Kaleidoscope workshop

My tomato harvest!

The Kaleidoscope workshop at Chateau St Julien with tutors Jane Crowfoot and Debbie Abrahams has started!
We had B&B guests at La Verderie on Saturday night, which left me in a total panic trying to get everything ready to take up to the chateau on Sunday morning, however, we managed to pack everything into our super sized borrowed minibus and Grande Espace, I even remember to pick all the ripe tomatoes to take with us. We screeched into the Chateau on the dot of 12, unloaded the Espace in 5 minutes flat so Culli could head off to the station to meet the first two arrivals, Toril and Astrid from Norway.
There are a total of 20 guest this year, international guests include our two Norwegians who are returning guests and Canadian couple Amanda and Danny who are visiting the chateau for the first time. Danny is here to relax and teach himself how to play the mandolin while Amanda knits, I hope he survives being surrounded by all these women! Returning visitors include Felicity, Elizabeth, Sandra, Rhona, Chris, Clare, Wendy, Mary and Tania, new guests are Stacey, Vicky, Ros, Amanda, Fran, Eleanor and Katrin. The trains were on time and by 6pm the 20 guests were sitting in the sunshine sipping kir royale, all we are missing now are the tutors!
Jane and Debbie arrived with hubby's Andy and Steve just as we were serving dinner of lamb tagine with couscous, followed by cheese and chocolate gateau. After an exhausting day and a few glasses of wine we managed a reasonably early night.

On Monday morning Jane and Debbie gave an introduction to the course which is based around their new book 'Kaleidoscope' due to be published in spring 2013. The gorgeous knitted and crochet samples from the book are displayed in the music room, the vivid colours are guaranteed to inspire the most timid of knitters. Jane and Debbie's original inspiration for the designs in the book came from the beautiful painted friezes in the church of Notre Dame in Poitiers, when we visited it on our first stay at Chateau St Julien, five years ago. To show the guests how a knitting design can be developed from source material we took them into Poitiers in the afternoon to visit the church and take photographs. Sadly the yarn shop in Poiters is closed all day on a Monday, so we may have to make another trip later in the week.

Jane and Debbie

Supper was a choice of lasagne, prawn or veggie risotto followed by cheese and a wickedly rich banoffi cheesecake. Thanks to Andy and Steve helping us in the kitchen we managed to finish clearing up by 9pm, not sure if this is such a bonus as it seems to give us much more time to sit and drink too much wine. Wendy entertained us with tales of her daughter's travels and the laughter echoed around the mirrored dining-room.

Vintage KnitKnacks

Book No. 3 has been published and is available to pre-order on Amazon, I should have my copies next week. Can't wait to see it!
Fingers crossed that the new projects sell at the Frankfurt book fair in October.

Learn to Knit workshop in France with tutor Sue Culligan

11th - 16th April 2012

If you have an urge to learn how to knit, or want to brush up basic knitting skills join tutor Sue Culligan on this residential course at La Verderie in France. The course is designed for a maximum of 4 guests with workshops held over 4 days. The cost of the holiday (£295 per head for a single room or £225 per head based on two sharing a twin room) covers all the workshops, materials, full board, outings to local towns and transfers from local airports and stations. Travel to France is not included in the price.
We will go through all the basics of knitting to cover casting on and off, different stitches and simple colourwork with an aim to create a knitted patchwork cushion cover during the course.
See further details of the accommodation here and for full details of the course email sueculligan@gmail.com or BOOK HERE

Techno Cozies by Sue Culligan

An exciting little package has just arrived in the post! My advance copy of Techno Cozies, I can't believe it is finally in print. Writing and designing Techno Cozies was a real challenge, as well as knitted projects it includes sewing, felting and crochet. There are a total of 30 designs for cozies, bags and cases and all are suitable for any level of experience in each craft. It will be available to the general public the first week of September and can be ordered in advance now on many of the major websites including Amazon and WH Smiths, I will have some copies available to order on KnitKits at the beginning of September.
A huge, huge, huge thank you to everyone who helped me along the way, especially Kim, Frances, Jo and Wendy for helping me meet the deadline by making up some of the designs.