Day 5 at the Kaleidoscope workshop

Sadly it is the final full day, the week seems to have flown by and I haven't picked up a knitting needle or had much of a chance to talk to anyone. I have decided that cooking for 24 people every day is hard work! and am looking forward to the smaller workshops at La Verderie next year. It will be sad not to come back to the Chateau, but this has been such a good week I think it will be hard to repeat, so a good time to move on to a smaller venue. We certainly couldn't have managed without Andy and Steve helping with the washing up and trundling the trolley backwards and forwards from the dining room - thanks guys!
A quick trip upstairs in search of coffee mugs reveals where all the wine bottles have been disappearing to at night!

Early morning in the workroom

 We have a free morning with an offer of a trip to Poitiers, but all are keen to carry on with their projects so Culli and I take only Katrin into town, we drop her off to do some shopping and make our final run to the supermarket. Back to the Chateau for lunch with Katrin cursing because she had forgotten to take her purse with her, so it was a cheap outing for her!
The afternoon is spent finishing projects, Toril has decided she doesn't like the beading on her project so takes a hammer to it smashing all the glass beads, how could she after all that work!

At the end of the afternoon everyone lays out their projects in the first floor sitting room for a show and tell. The results are beautiful and do justice to the title of the course with a stunning blend of colours.

Afterwards everyone receives a certificate hand drawn by Culli, we are thoroughly spoiled with gifts of whisky for Culli, bubbly for Steve and Andy and goody bags for Jane, Debbie and I with beautiful necklaces, bracelets, nail varnish and gorgeous Liz Earle products.
The final supper of provencal beef, fish pie or veggie crumble is finished off with pavlova and chocolate brownies. Then Wendy treats us to another of her stories about her trip to Russia, reducing everyone to tears of laughter. Culli has christened her the Kangaloonies answer to Ronnie Corbett.

Listen with Wendy

Andy and Steve at their chores

The traditional tour of the Chateau takes place, followed by more wine and another late night.

Days 4 at the Kaleidoscope workshop

 The sun is just coming up as I walk from the cottage to the Chateau, casting a beautiful light on the impressive church spire. It is another chilly morning but hopefully will warm up later.

After breakfast we take everyone to Chauvigny, a beautiful market town on the river Vienne. Some make the steep climb up to the old town to visit the church. 

The interior of the church is very light with white painted bricks and gorgeous painted friezes in soft subtle shades, perfect for knitting inspiration. We meet the group at a cafe ready for the trip back to the Chateau, Danny has picked up a brochure from a local estate agent and is scouring it for a property to buy, not sure if he is serious!

After lunch most of the group are back outside with their knitting and crochet in the sunshine. 

We have supper of paella, followed by croissant and brioche bread pudding. My feet are starting to hurt, it is a 70m round trip from the kitchen to the dining room, I reckon that in the course of a day I probably walk around 5km, it should be good for the figure but I fear all the left over croissant, cheese and puddings that I pick at all day long are not helping!

Day three at the Kaleidoscope workshop

Early morning in the Chateau

It is a bright sunny morning at Chateau St Julien, with golden light streaming through the windows. Today is another full day workshop working on chosen projects and being helped through various techniques by Jane and Debbie. Steve (Debbie's husband) gives a short presentation on the Debbie Abrahams Bead collection and the Bead Club visit here for full details and to purchase online. He has heaps of colourful knitting beads to sell, I know I will be tempted before the end of the week!

Debbie Abrahams knitting beads

Jane Crowfoot's Crochet club projects

Projects from the Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket Club

The work is growing quickly, with everyone keen to finish their project by Friday evening. Culli takes Katrin, Danny and I into Poitiers in the morning, Danny to book a train ticket, Katrin to buy a crochet hook and another supermarket run for me. We all meet for coffee in the sunshine then back to the Chateau for lunch.

Most of the workshop is now outside enjoying the sunshine. We serve apero's of rose and pamplemousse and cook supper of Normandy pork, moules a la mariniere and roasted veg and pasta gratin followed by chocolate pots. 

Day 2 of the Kaleidoscope workshop

A cool and cloudy morning, but never mind the knitting and crochet frenzy has started with everyone desperate to start their projects. Jane and Debbie have provided yarn for those who want to make their own designs from scratch and kits for those who want a starting point.

 Most of the day was spent in the workshop rooms on the first floor of the Chateau, a few brave souls ventured outside for apero's in the evening but after supper all were back upstairs working on their projects.

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.

2013 knitting and crochet workshops and retreats

are booking up quickly....!
We have one space left on the Mystery Blanket workshop in March and the knitting and crochet workshop in June with Carol Meldrum is now fully booked. However, there are still spaces available for the knitting retreats book here now!!!

Summer has arrived

The sunflowers are finally out in sunnyish France and at last the weather looks like it is improving. It has been  far better here than in the UK, but still not brilliant. However, we managed to pack in a fair bit with our French student last week.

My brocante purchase

Young Paul (age 13) was from Paris and stayed with us for two weeks to learn English. We have been cycling, sailing, shopping, visiting brocantes, playing tennis, building wardrobes, wood turning, painting, to the Blues Festival at Cognac, watching films, cooking and I am knackered, it was far more exhausting than a knitting workshop. The dogs are also shattered as he found communicating with them a lot easier than talking to us, poor Be Bo (he couldn't pronounce the p), has been made to sit, stand, walk, jump, lie down, run for 12 hours a day without a break.

sailing to Meschers

It was a big learning curve for all of us, however I am pleased to say that having arrived with no spoken English at all he was stringing a few sentences together by the end of the holiday. The next student arrives at the beginning of August, three weeks recovery time!

Culli's latest wood-turning projects

Paul's gorgeous chocolate cake

the jamming session at Cognac Blues Passion