Tour Progress

The Tour has had it's ups (Cavendish, anyone? Evans?) and downs (Ricco, you cheat!) this week. The sprint finish on Stage 12 was super exciting! I'm glad that Cavendish got the win, but I thought my QuickStep man Gert Steegmans had it- oh well!


I'm almost done with my main project, the French-flag market bag! It is a super easy knit- I can watch the Tour and knit- and I'm really happy with the striping. It's striping exactly as I wanted it to! Yay! I plan on finishing it tonight, so I can use it tomorrow at the farmer's market.

I'm thinking I might make more market bags, in kid-friendly colors for all of the kiddos. I have plenty of cotton yarns in kid-approved colors, so market bags for all!

Quick update for Team QuickStitch

I'm still chugging on with the peloton! Coverage is so exciting! We've been watching each stage multiple times- and it's just as exciting on the third viewing as the first.

Intermediate Sprint entry-

Here's my knitting project, inspired by the Tour de France-

I've just gotten started, but I should pick up speed coming down the mountain stages. I saw the red, white and blue yarn, and instead of thinking of Old Glory, it immediately gave me the thoughts of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite and the Tour.



Seems pretty self-explanatory to me!

I chose a market bag to knit with this yarn because it seems like the sort of bag one would use to shop in your local village, buying the freshest produce, and the freshest bread, to make your simple, but rustic ratatouille, enjoying a glass of chardonnay as you cook.

I only regret that I failed to take a picture of the ratatouille I made last night in celebration of the first week of the Tour. It was delicious, served over couscous, and we enjoyed a bottle of Ugni Blanc/Viognier, from the south of France, with our lovely dinner. The kids were skeptical of the meal, even with the Pixar connection. C'est la vie!

More knitting content later!
Till then-
G

Le Tour, Stage 2

We sure get sucked into the Tour quickly around here. Stage 2, and we've already taken to watching it multiple times a day. The kids are already asking "the bicycle race again?" Um, yeah. We've seen enough SpongeBob for a lifetime- we're watching le Tour.

For the TdF KAL- I'm finishing a UFO for a Ravelry swap, and will count that towards my maillot jaune. Next up- a QuickStep/QuickStitch blue hat- maybe a beret even! And the French Market bag- tres bien!

My favorite riders so far are Thomas Voeckler, whom I've admired since he started trying for the Polka Dot jersey back in Virenque's day. I remember him getting the white jersey then- and now he's going for the King of the Mountains. Way to go Thomas! I also like Thor Hushovd- he sure put on the jets today! Just a great rider to see get a stage win.

I better round up some needles, put the kids to bed, and get some knitting done during the re-broadcast.

Till then-
G

So that didn't last long...

Gosh, I sure fell off the blogging wagon with a tremendous thump square on my behind. Ouch.

Anyway- new motivation! The Tour! I'm part of the Tour de France KAL again this year, and hope to do better both with the blogging and the knitting! Last year's project, Wisp, remains a UFO. Ahem. This year, instead of going for the Polka Dot jersey, like my favorite all time Tour rider, Richard Virenque, I've chosen the goal of just keeping up with the peloton in the maillot jaune category.

Also new this year- teams!


I'm part of Team QuickStep, or Team QuickStitch, as we're now known. Seems like a great bunch of gals to pal around the peloton for the duration. My project plans? I'm planning on knitting a lacy scarf, possibly the Branching Out scarf from Knitty, in a deep golden (maillot jaune) Silky Wool. I'm also going to knit a market bag from red, white and blue cotton yarn, much like the French flag. And possibly a beret, for osme French style along the way. Sounds like a lot, but I'm not going for the sprint win, so if it doesn't all happen, it's a-ok with me!

In other news... it's my Sweet Man's birthday today. He's been suitably gifted, and will be stuffed with cake (cream cheese cake) later tonight. Chicken fried steaks for supper, some good brews, and a low key day- sounds good to me!

Till then-
G

Swap Loot!

Lookie what the UPS man brought yesterday!

Swap loot!

My partner, Laurie (Sassyknitter) sent some wonderful goodies from North Carolina. Yummy coffee, chocolate, cocoa, cookies, pretzel balls... a journal, sheepy Post-its, cuticle cream (so needed right now!), point protectors, an adorable crow bag... and yarn! Yarn galore! 2 skeins of a black, tweedy Cascade 220, two skeins of Crystal Palace Musique in Moss, two sekins of Crystal Palace Fling in Roses, and a skein of Lang Pearl in a pretty purple shade. Love it all!

Here's a closer look at the yarn-


I'll have to make something for the girls with all that pretty yarn! The swap was fun again, and I will definitely try to get into it again.

Now, I must do some straightening up. Turkey Day is tomorrow (though the girls keep calling it Chicken Day), and my parents will be here in a few hours. Gotta spiff it up a bit! Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Yep, still here!

Gosh, I am not great at writing! Definitely should work on that.

I have done a bit of knitting since I finished Soph's hat. I did a fast, soft hat for a friend's baby; alas, no pic taken! It was made from Berroco Pure Merino, in the colors of Teaberry and Ensign Blue. I made a tiny tassel for the top, and it is cute on the sweet baby. Next up- finishing Goodwin's hat. It's a multi-blue and orange, made from Softee-Chunky. It'll be quick, and I'll probably make him two, since I will have plenty of yarn left over. The second will most likely be orange and green, possibly in a pumpkin sort of way. Can you tell the boy likes orange?

Holiday knitting? To be determined. We should be doing our gift drawing on Thanksgiving, which is next week. Eeep! How did Turkey Day sneak up so fast? I can't wait for it, though. The food, the company, the babysitters... sigh. Yep, a few dates will be planned! Yay! Anyway, as far as holiday knitting- maybe some hats for the niece and nephews. If I get in gear, I could probably whip some out pretty fast. Must ask about color preferences soon!

Here's another of my coffee/yarn still life pics from this morning, just for fun.

Finished object!

Yay! I finished Sophie's new hat this afternoon. I should have finished it last week, but, well, didn't. I had it ready for her to try on after school, and the verdict is "Thanks Mommy! I love it!"






Sophie's Vita von Hat






Details-

Pattern- based on the "Vita" pattern from Hip Knit Hats
Yarn- Brown Sheep "Cotton Fleece" in Robin's Egg Blue, and Moda Dea" Mosaic" in Bottle Green held together
Needles- size 9 dpns and circ
Notes- Easy pattern, fun hat, and the Moasaic yarn is snuggly soft! Hope it'll keep her head warm this winter!

Now on to the next project...

Beat it, Sorcerer!

Just a quick post before bed. We're watching our usual late Sunday night tradition- TCM's Silent Sunday Night. The movie is "The Battleship Potemkin". It has been pretty good so far, with an excellent score.

We had a great fall day today. Slept in (miraculous!), a wonderful yummy brunch, some general lazing about... then to the farm market to pick out pumpkins to carve soon! The kids had a great time picking them out, and all came back with very different looks. The weather was gorgeous, the kids had fun, all was great.

"To the bottom to feed the worms!"

Except the damn lady bugs. Technically Japanese Lady Beetles. Nasty little buggers. They kept flying at me, landing on me, and giving me bites. Then releasing their lovely, musty stink. Ugh. Hope they freeze soon!

"The land is ours!"

We also took the kids to Governor Dodge State Park. The fall foliage was beautiful! We let the kids play on a playground till the darkness drove us home. We will go back- we didn't get to see as much as we wanted. The Stephen's Waterfall was especially pretty.

"Together with the sun, the news hits the city... rebellion..."

Knitting news- I have my CoffeeSwap 3 partner- on to shopping!
-maybe a knit night on Tuesday, replete with wine and dessert- here's hoping!
-still need to finish Soph's hat, the Wisp, a washcloth... the list goes on. Trying to not get distracted by other
projects... must resist!

Till then- G
"Eternal memory to the fallen fighters!"

I'm in!

I got a Ravelry invite this morning! I'm Neanderknits over there- the name is a representation of two things I really enjoy; human evolution, specifically the Pleistocene era when the Neanderthals were king, and knitting, 'cause, well, duh!

Now I need to figure out what Ravelry is all about!

Here I am again!

Great day in the morning! What once was lost, now is found!

Yeah, it's been a while. The Tour is long over, along with my hopes of a scandal-free Tour. Ugh. Still miffed about that one. I am still working on my TdF KAL project- you can tell I don't use performance enhancing substances! But I did knit on it for 2 hours last week, and it will be done!

Knitting news- I'm in the third Knitter's CoffeeSwap- yay! Can't wait to see who my partner is this time around. I love, love, love this swap- coffee and yarn- what could be better? I'll answer the swap questions here, in case this blog actually gets read!

SWAP QUESTIONS

Here are the questions:

1. Whole bean or ground? whole bean

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully-loaded here!

3. Regular or flavored? either is fine, but I don't care for fruity flavors

4. How do you drink your coffee? sweet with cream

5. Favorite coffee ever? Just Coffee's Bike Fuel blend- it is truly scrumptious!

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I prefer fair-trade coffee, and don't like Starbuck's at all

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? I love scones, baked goods, dark chocolate, doughnuts... you name it!

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Can't think of any

9. Yarn/fiber you love? soft wools, like merino, some superwash (since I have kiddos), variegated colors, tweeds... it's all pretty good! I love cashmerino, and covet Malabrigo. My LYS has sooo many goodies right now, but I'm trying to use up some stash right now, and it's hard!

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? 100% mohair- I'm allergic, glitzy fun furs, not a huge fan of 100% acrylic, but it has it's place -see kiddos above.

11. What's on your needles? My TdF KAL lace project, finishing up a hat, a washcloth, a small felted bag... soon to try mittens! I'm also planning some ponchos/shoulder wraps for my three girls, and a sweater for my son. Where's the time? Need more time!

12. Favorite colors? Fall colors especially now! Jewel tones, blues/greens... I love variegated yarns, multi-colored yarns, self-striping... I'm not into pastels right now, and tend to only use solids for felting.

13. Allergies? Just to mohair.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I really love a great cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning, I really don't like the Indian summer we've been having, and I can't wait to meet my partner and start shopping!

There- that should cover that!

I'll have to post more later- I have many projects in the works, both knitting and sewing, and need to get cracking on some housework now, since my inlaws are coming for a visit tomorrow! More later!

Till then-G

The Tour, the Tour...

Wow! Stage 15 was great! Vino sure "reached into his suitcase of courage" and "danced on his pedals" to get the stage win. What a great comeback from yesterday's disappointing ride.

Bob Roll has to have some of the best quotes on the Tour- he just used a great one-
"I don't remember the bible saying that Lazarus had schizophrenia!"
Where does Bob come up with such nuggets? He also said last week, upon seeing a neat display that was along the roadside-
"Wow- that is a lot of bikes on a giant crane. That..... is cool."

I will be missing the guys next week! How can it be so close to ending? Can we make them go around again? Or do it backwards? Please?

I do love that my man, the Chicken, Michael Rasmussen, still retains the maillot jaune! Woohoo!

Wisp continues. I'm not sure I'll be done by the time they roll into Paris, but I'm not after the Green Jersey, after all. Tomorrow is the last day in the mountains, and I plan on knitting as much as I can on that special day.

Till then-G

Just a quick note...

So I've done three and a half repeats of my TdF KAL project. I mostly have it memorized, but was blindsided by a dropped stitch last night- ugh! Still, progress was made, beers were consumed, the Tour has been obsessively viewed... all is well.

I hope to finish the project by the end of the Tour. No abandoning here! I felt awful for Michael Rodgers the other day- the bruises covering his chest were horrible. I can't believe he rode on with a dislocated shoulder! And poor Stuart O'Grady! Broken ribs and a punctured lung? Owwww!

I am happy that my favorite climber, Mikael Rasmussen, is the leader! Way to go for the Chicken!

I'm still thinking about my wine cozy idea- I just can't decide on a color for it, and if I want it felted or not. Decisions, decisions!

Till then- G

Ouch!

Well, the Tour was exciting today! My brother will be saddened to hear his favorite, Vinokourov, went down hard. The road rash on his backside? Owie! His teammate, Kloden, went down as well. A rough first climbing day on the Tour. Hopefully they will both be back tomorrow.

Progress to report on my TdF KAL project, Wisp! With a new needle purchase, and staying up way too late (I felt it this morning!), I completed one full repeat of the pattern. Only 15 more to go! At least at this rate, if I do one repeat a day, I WILL earn my King of the Mountains jersey! YeeHaw! I'm even considering yarn for my wine cozy. Do I stay good, and use something from stash, or do I celebrate the Tour and feeling of joie de vivre, and splurge on new yarn? Hmmm. My LYS has the perfect new yarn, that's red, white and blue (named "Old Glory"), but suitable for a French flag reference.... or I could find some yellow to honor the maillot jaune.... choices, choices!

We've had a break in our sweltery weather, and nothing beats having a cool breeze sweep through the house in July. The kids had a great picnic and park outing yesterday, and will get some outdoor time today as well.

Till then- G

Is this thing still here?

Yeah, so, the blogging thing? Not so easy to do. Doesn't help that it took me until now to figure out how to access the blog after the Google switchover. Yeah, lame. Anyway....

So I'm launching into it again. Kids are good, albeit trapped inside due to the heat. Sweet Man is great. Life is pretty good.

On the knitting front-
I've joined the Tour de France KAL. I'm attempting to capture the King of the Mountains Polka-Dot Jersey. Considering the Tour started on Saturday, and I have yet to knit a stitch... we'll see how it goes. My project for the KAL is Wisp from Knitty. Instead of Kidsilk Haze (I get itchy from mohair!), I'm using Alpaca With a Twist, Fino, in "Twilight". It's my first attempt at lace, so here's hoping I have some success. As for the Tour- the addiction has reared it's ugly head already. I watched the live coverage this morning, saw the replay already, and will most likely catch the expanded coverage tonight. Yeah, it's a sickness.

Other recent knitting-
I made four hats for the Dulaan Project. I used leftover yarn from the kids' winter hats (yep, finished those during the winter!), and yarn from a gift project from the holidays (felted tote bag for my soon to be SIL). They turned out pretty cute! Pictures should be forthcoming soon- my laptop died, and I haven't had a chance to load anything on the replacement yet. But at least I figured out how to post pics on the blog!

Well, now that I've started back on the blog, and have it mostly figured out... I have no excuse to not keep at it. I have so many projects in the works (little felted bags, a tank-top for Soph, more hats, my Wisp) that I need to track them so they don't languish in the UFO bags any longer. I have so many other crafty projects in the works as well- sewing doll blankets, totes, dresses for the girls... and I'm going to learn how to crochet (Sophie wants to learn)- so I have got to have some accountability!

Till then-G