Knitting after Le Tour

Life is a little strange without the Tour de France Knitalong...I don't really quite know what to knit next.

I have a few UFO's lurking in the bottom of my knitting bag that I should really pick up, plus an ever-increasing blocking queue that really does need tackling, but of course I decided just to cast-on something new instead!



This is the 'With Added Gust Scarf' and will be for my 'nearly' Mother-in-Law. It is in the lovely Caber yarn by The Yarn Yard and the colours are so stunningly delicate I can't stop holding the piece at arms length and admiring the dye work! The best description I can come up with for it is almost like a muted version of Dolly Mixture sweets, full of lavenders, pinks and greens but quite dusky...just beautiful.

I hope I will be able to part with this one as the previous Gust scarf was intended as a present and didn't quite make it that far!

Le Tour - Le Grand Fin

I made it!

Did you see me riding full blast down the Champs Elysee with the wind behind me and La Asphalt Chanteuse flapping in the slipstream just before midnight?

It was a hard fought battle at the end, but with grit and determination I made it!






I am left wondering now if I have done enough to earn my King of the Mountain jersey as it has certainly been an uphill struggle at times.

I have learnt a lot of new techniques throughout the course of the Tour...

1) The Double Start Cast-On
2) Using contrasting colours for the cuff, heel and toe of a sock
3) A new heel technique (apologies that I do not know the official name for it)
4) The rosebud toe (which was later abandoned in favour of kitchener stitch)
5) Shaping through the calf to give a better fit
6) Lovely twisty cable stitches done without a cable needle

All in all I am pretty pleased! There are a couple of things that I will do differently next time, for example, I am not that keen on the way the heel sits when it is on the foot and I started the contrasting wool a couple of lines too early but, hey, this is only my fourth pair of socks.

I can't wait to see all my fellow Moutons Volantes cyclists crossing the line with their garments in hand, it has been exciting to see what everyone has been knitting and the gusto with which they and all the other riders have approached this project.

Right I do believe it is time for a well deserved glass of something very cold and slightly fizzy...Salut mes amies!

Le Tour - Into The Final Stages

Following a quiet second week I have managed to pick up a bit a speed and make some headway with sock nombre deux...


Thought I would show you the 'neglected' back view so you can see the efforts of my ribbing! I love the heel flap stage of sock knitting as I still find it difficult to believe that this strange alien shape is eventually going to fit a foot, and it reminds me how clever knitting is.

I think I should just scrape through the finishing line on Sunday with a bit more pedal power over the next few days.

Allez mes petits Moutons Volante

Un Toe et Deux Cuff

Le Tour Update: Somewhere near Pau

As it is rest day I am using the time to knit a new baby hat, but can now update you on The Singing Road socks...


As you can see there is now a finished toe and another new cuff which can only mean that sock one is complete, but I will keep you in suspense to see the whole article until the pair is knitted up!

I am a bit disappointed with the toe and it does bear a passing resemblance to a breast, however it fits quite well so I guess I did alright for a first effort? I will learn to master the kitchener stitch and use this from now on rather than this technique of gathering the remaining stitches together.

I have a train journey to look forward to tomorrow and I always see them as the perfect opportunity for pure unadulterated, guilt-free knitting time so I am hoping to make good progress.

A bientot mes amies!

Winter is a comin'

Look what popped through my letterbox on Saturday...


The continual rainy days in London over the last week had put me in a wintery mood so there was much excitement chez moi as the realisation hit me that it is now perfectly acceptable to begin knitting in earnest again for winter...Hurrah!

I won't discuss the content of the latest Rowan book just yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise for all you other subscribers, so I am going to hold off for another week or so. All I will say is that there a stunningly, stylish shoot but a glaringly obvious lack of anything for the men...shame on you Rowan, particularly when you have so many male designers and more and more men are picking up the needles, plus it is winter, the perfect time for knitting snuggly woolens for men. Please do let me know what you think about this as I am going to let Rowan know what I think, as it is so strange that they have cut men out of the book completely.

I also picked up the latest issue of Vogue last week as it has all the new trends in for Autumn and Winter, plus a supplement from the catwalk shows.


As I do have a fashion degree I thought maybe I could try and put it to some use and pick out a couple of the key knitwear trends that will be appearing in magazines and stores over the coming season, but I will be creating my very own individual interpretations at home!

Burberry Prossum have a 'bit of a thing' for luxurious cashmere and silk mix fibres knitted into ribbed and cabled beanie hats and another key accessory, the fingerless glove. Using luxury fibres for small accessories is a great way to treat yourself or a loved one without breaking the bank as you do not need that much yarn.




A lot of coverage of gansey and aran patterns has had me reaching for one of my favourite 'comfort' books by Gladys Thompson, entitled 'Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys and Arans - Fishermen's Sweaters from the British Isles'. It covers a wide range of stitches and patterns traditionally used in making Jerseys and Guernseys and there are some excellent photographs illustrating both the knitting and the fishermen.

I have spent most of the day thinking about 'big' scarves and when I say big I mean big! I want to create a big chunky, statement scarf for this winter but as the weather has turned and we are now once again basking in glorious sunshine just the thought of it makes me overheat slightly!

Back in the Saddle

Le Tour: Stages Huit et Neuf

Inspired by the superb performance of British rider Mark Cavendish, I have battled through the rain and nearly reached the end of sock number un...


Team C.A. are putting in a particularly fine performance as we enter the second week and there are socks, crochet squares, cardigan and jumper parts flying off the needles!

Allez Allez Team!!

Gin, Germolene and Rocky Roads

Le Tour: Stages Cinq, Six et Sept

Well, I really shouldn't have spoken too soon in my last blog entry about the knitting going so smoothly as these last three stages really have been an uphill struggle...

Official descriptions from the TDF website speak of, 'the longest stage of the 2008 Tour', which it feels like at the moment. 'The pack will encounter its first difficulties', and yes I am feeling the burn! And just to bring the first week to a close...'A short, but very nervy stage along the steep roads of the Massif Central. Climbing the Puy Mary before descending on to Aurillac could hold some interesting surprises. The riders need to be careful not to lose precious seconds', or in my case stitches!

The trouble started on Wednesday during stage five when I realised I was going to have to back-peddle a substantial number of rows after getting slightly lost on my chart. I put in a request to Jane for the Le Germolene and a dab of that plus a small gin soon had me back on track!

Progress was then scuppered by a very nasty puncture on the number 12 bus this morning and I had to do an emergency en route repair with my crochet hook. I have a strange love/hate relationship with dropped stitches as I do quite like picking them back up to see how they work but as this one was a 'knit into the back of' stitch it proved a little trickier.

So, unfortunately not much progress, in fact so little I will wait for more sock growth before posting another picture rather than playing spot the difference between one here and that on stage four!

Adios amigos! (my French is failing me today)

Need For Speed

Stage Four: Cholet Time Trial

Phew, just made it through the time trial!

The official desciption of this stage is 'short and intense, but also smooth', and as I am finding the TDF stages are relating spookily well to my sock stages. I have 'intensely' sprinted through the heel of La Chanteuse and have learnt a new technique in the process. By knitting to the bottom of the foot then beginning even short row shaping you get a lovely right-angled heel cup to sit your foot in.


As you can see I have worked in the Asphalt yarn again for contrast and will pick this up again for the toe. My main concern at the moment is that everything seems to be going rather too smoothly...

Au revoir mes petit pois!

Le Tour Stages Deux et Tois

Stage Two: Auray - Saint-Brieuc

Following a slow start I feel that I am making good headway and have rejoined the 'pack' in this stage.

The main colour has been introduced and after originally naming it 'Chartreuse' I have change it to 'Chanteuse' the French feminine word for singer. Combine this with Asphalt and in a rough Franglais I have christened my TDF socks 'La Asphalt Chanteuse' or 'The Singing Road Socks'.


This particular section of the race is described as 'short and tense on hilly roads featuring the climb up the Mur de Bretagne “wall”' and it seems to describe perfectly how the sock is progressing. Getting to grips with the travelling pattern is a tense affair and a couple of my little birch Brittany needles have developed a nasty bend but they are hanging in there. There is a relief though as the pattern calls for a knit 2, purl 2 rib on needles 1 and 2.


Having a look at other Team CA projects everyone is putting an excellent first push and probablyjane has posted a superb commentator's report and there is the low-down on all the other competing riders.

Onwards and upwards!


Stage Three: Saint-Malo - Nantes

Moving confidently on to Stage Three with the promise of 'a rolling early part of the stage along the banks of the Rance, through Dinan and Calorgen, (plunging) into Brittany on straight and fast-riding roads to end at Nantes, the farthest point of the Loire area. This will be the first real chance the sprinters have at a stage win.' This looks as though it is time to settle back in the saddle, don my comfiest cycling shorts and knit like the wind down the leg before facing the time-trial tomorrow and the possibility of a heel?

Knit on mes amies!

Le Tour de France Knitalong 2008

Le Grand Depart - Brest to Plumelec

And we are off!

Well almost!

I have got off to a slow start as the riders left Brest on the first leg of Le Tour, my yarn finished its journey from Edinburgh to London and threw my project plans into disarray. It is so beautiful that I decided my chosen project wouldn't do it justice and have had to rethink at the last moment. I am considering this to be a technical difficulty along the lines of having the wrong saddle for the terrain. On a more positive note my Yarn Yard colours match pretty well with my riding team, Team Credit Agricole, in fact I could not have requested a better colour scheme, although the yarn shows up more bluey in the pictures!






My decision is now made and I am going to knit the Canal du Midi socks from Knitting On The Road by Nancy Bush. This will be my fourth pair of socks and they have a relatively fiddly lace detail on them, a different heel to the ones I have knit before and some shaping around the ankle which are all new techniques I have not tried before making them perfect for the Polka-Dot jersey category.

Cast-on is complete and I have learnt a new technique already, that of the Double Start Cast-On and thanks to the wonder of the internet found a great video to help me. This particular method gives a nice elastic and very neat edge making it perfect for sock cuffs.


Doesn't the yarn look great! I have named this one Asphalt as it has a lovely gravel appearance.

Bonne Nuit!

Hyperbolic Crochet & Coral Reefs

I have had the most amazing visual overload today that has re-ignited the itch in me to pick up a crochet hook again.

The astonishing Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is currently on display at the Royal Festival Hall and the Hayward Project Space on London's South Bank and if you can get there for a visit I highly recommend it.

Daina Taimina picked up her crochet hook about ten years ago with the aim of creating a model of hyperbolic space, which is where parallel lines do not stay the same distance apart but gradually curve away from each other. This goes against everything we have ever been taught about parallel lines and was so conceptually challenging in the minds of the worlds greatest mathematicians that they have never been able to write a formula for it or indeed even visualise it...enter Daina.

Using basic crochet techniques and increasing in a calculated way, Daina discovered that it was possible to see the curving of the parallel lines and invented Hyperbolic Crochet. These hyperbolic crochet models have gone on to be used around the world as demonstration models in universities and throughout the mathematics field and Daina has gone on to invent hyperbolic sewing.

The finished hyperbolic crochet items resemble pieces of coral and inspired Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring to begin crocheting a coral reef in order to raise awareness of the plight of reefs. The Hyperbolic Reef is touring and people are welcome to join in and learn about hyperbolic crochet and add their own piece of coral to the reef. If you can't make it to the exhibition but are still inspired there are instructions on creating your piece and it can then be sent to Margaret and Christine for addition to the model, just follow the link for the IFF given above and the details are at the bottom of their page.

It has been a long time since I experienced the Wow factor and this did it for me! The work is incredible. So inventive, colourful, thoughtful, experimental and breathtaking. Craft brings people together in amazing ways and I will just share this last comment with you...

There was a mother with her young son and daughter at the exhibit and they were so excited and the little girl said, 'is this all really made from knitting' and Mum replied with a 'yes', and the daughter piped up, 'well when I get home can you teach me?'

And so from one generation to the next the craft passes again.