A Great Yarn

Well, the first of our 2011 workshops has just ended and what a time we all had! A fantastic group of women came from as far afield as Vancouver and Stockholm, Leicester and Melbourne to glean some of Patricia Roberts' knitting magic and share their own inspirational skills with colour, texture and design. A truly great start to our season of events!

Patricia's husband, John, joined us for the five days of the workshop and the 12 participants enjoyed a mixture of sunny and cool days. Luckily there was enough of the former to allow an occassional dip in the heated pool and numerous meals outside on the terrace of the Maison de Matire, whilst the less warm days encouraged hard work and longer hours in the studio many of which stretched into the early evenings, with a little extra help and guidance from Patricia.

Meanwhile, back at the barn it was all hands to the needle in order to finish the "glove project" that Patricia had handed out on the first day - each knitter encouraged to design on their individual pair a motif inspired by their stay at Les Soeurs Anglaises. The results were cracking.....

Half way through the workshop we organised a visit to the local marche and brocante (the whereabouts of which is a closely guarded secret) where various items of colour and delight were purchased to take home or use as inspiration for their projects.

On the final afternoon high tea was served on the terrace outside the studio

after which each of the participants was invited in turn to talk a little about their knitting history, favourite knitted items and finished gloves - another perspective on each knitter's personal "creative journey" .

On departure day contact details were exchanged and a few tears shed. As one of the participants wrote to us later: "I am still trying to hold onto the warm, happy bubble that I felt when staying with you. I can honestly say it has been one of my happiest weeks ever!"