For the second year in a row, I'm participating in the Tour de France knit along. Anyone who knows me and my monstrous lack of interest in sport, and particular in actually watching yawn inducing sport, might well be surprised that I'd sign up for this, but the Tour de France is different. It's not sport in the usual way, I think. There's pretty scenery - and no I don't mean the cyclists - there are hours and hours of beautiful French scenery to watch. That's what got me in last year.
So to be honest, this event is really about the motivation get something substantial knitted up fast. Watching the race is really secondary. I'm not sure I even understand how it works. A bunch of obsessed guys ride their bikes around France. They wear different coloured jerseys. And it's hard. That's about all I understand.
But it's a great opportunity to really flex my speed knitting muscles and to focus on getting a single, decent sized project done in a very limited amount of time.
Last year I worked hard for three weeks and produced a cardigan for my sister, Adele. If you were reading then, you might remember it?
It was an achievement I was really proud of and I know Adele was thrilled with the end result but it was hard work, really hard, to get it done in that time.
This year I've been putting a lot of thought into what I wanted to do. I knew early on it would be something for me, most likely another cardigan, and it would be a piece that, although challenging in terms of size, would not just about kill me like last year's project did. For that reason, I scrapped early plans to knit a Tangled Yoke cardigan. I knew I had to be realistic. If I chose a fine gauge cardigan I'd struggle.
So I chose worsted weight yarn from my stash - Rowan Kid Classic in Peat.
And I matched it to the Garter Yoke Cardigan (Rav link).
I love the shape of it. I love the idea of it. Now that I've done a couple of top down cardigans, I'm in the zone. I'm good to go. I'm pretty confident that, dramas notwithstanding, I'll get it done on time.By mid-late July, I'll have a brand new cardigan in luxurious Rowan Kid Classic. Happy happy joy joy.
Bring on July 4. I'm ready. Are you? Fancy joining in the fun? The Ravelry 2009 Tour de France knit along group is taking sign ups now. And you don't have to do a whole cardigan or garment. There are several categories, one to suit everyone!
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