First May knitting retreat
We had a slightly staggered start again to this week as 5 guests had their flight cancelled so had to come a day early! The other two arrived on Tuesday and after a late lunch everyone settled down to their various projects. Everyone brought along a fantastic mix of projects, including knitting, crochet, needle felting and embroidery.
This week My Little Mailles the yarn shop in Cognac was open so we spent a lovely afternoon drooling over the beautiful hand dyed yarns, I bought a skein of Cowgirl Blues Merino, all I need now is to find a pattern! Stephanie had some lovely designs made up in the shop and quite a few of the group bought kits to make them, so I have been busy translating patterns.
On Friday morning we had a little Brioche workshop for some who were keen to learn, after a few false starts and choice words they got the hang of it.
The needle felting that Wendy brought along inspired two others to have a go, and in short time Lesley had made a gnome and Ruth had made a Seal that evolved into a Manatee.
The weather has been getting increasingly warmer so the pool is getting good use, we sat in the garden every day and everyone was starting to look relaxed and sun-tanned.
On Sunday afternoon we went to a local craft fair and found lots of goodies to buy including ceramic flowers, soap, wood turning and cards plus some rather scrummy cakes!
The week seemed to fly by and all too soon it was time for the show and tell and look how much everyone has achieved.
Lesley's gnome! She also nearly finished a lovely cosy Drops sweater called December Moon knitted in the round with 2 strands of yarn.
and a pair of socks
Angela has been knitting a chunky fairisle sweater, Paintbox Fizzy Fairisle
and another two projects
Ruth has been working on crochet squares for this great smiley bag from the book Crochet Crush by Molla Mills and of course her felted Manatee resting on his brioche blanket.
Julia has started the Ukraine Snood by Svetlana Gordon
and finished off a gorgeous pink shawl - Close to you by Justyna Lorkowska
and is working on her own lovely design inspired by the flower borders in her garden on the Isles of Scilly (Julia runs the only craft shop on the island if any of you are visiting the Isles of Scilly)
Wendy's splendid gnome was the start of the needle felting
She was also working on the lovely Tripplett shawl by Linnea Ornstein, I have ordered the pattern for my next project.
And last but not least we had an embroiderer in the group, Julia and Wendy's sister Kate has been working on these exquisite embroidery's. It was lovely to watch her patience and skill.
Another lovely bunch of ladies with some great stories to tell.
This week My Little Mailles the yarn shop in Cognac was open so we spent a lovely afternoon drooling over the beautiful hand dyed yarns, I bought a skein of Cowgirl Blues Merino, all I need now is to find a pattern! Stephanie had some lovely designs made up in the shop and quite a few of the group bought kits to make them, so I have been busy translating patterns.
On Friday morning we had a little Brioche workshop for some who were keen to learn, after a few false starts and choice words they got the hang of it.
The needle felting that Wendy brought along inspired two others to have a go, and in short time Lesley had made a gnome and Ruth had made a Seal that evolved into a Manatee.
The weather has been getting increasingly warmer so the pool is getting good use, we sat in the garden every day and everyone was starting to look relaxed and sun-tanned.
On Sunday afternoon we went to a local craft fair and found lots of goodies to buy including ceramic flowers, soap, wood turning and cards plus some rather scrummy cakes!
The week seemed to fly by and all too soon it was time for the show and tell and look how much everyone has achieved.
Lesley's gnome! She also nearly finished a lovely cosy Drops sweater called December Moon knitted in the round with 2 strands of yarn.
and a pair of socks
Angela has been knitting a chunky fairisle sweater, Paintbox Fizzy Fairisle
and another two projects
Ruth has been working on crochet squares for this great smiley bag from the book Crochet Crush by Molla Mills and of course her felted Manatee resting on his brioche blanket.
Julia has started the Ukraine Snood by Svetlana Gordon
and finished off a gorgeous pink shawl - Close to you by Justyna Lorkowska
and is working on her own lovely design inspired by the flower borders in her garden on the Isles of Scilly (Julia runs the only craft shop on the island if any of you are visiting the Isles of Scilly)
Wendy's splendid gnome was the start of the needle felting
She was also working on the lovely Tripplett shawl by Linnea Ornstein, I have ordered the pattern for my next project.
And last but not least we had an embroiderer in the group, Julia and Wendy's sister Kate has been working on these exquisite embroidery's. It was lovely to watch her patience and skill.
Another lovely bunch of ladies with some great stories to tell.