Friday, July 3, 2009

Le Grand Depart

I'm all prepared for le Grand Depart of the Tour de France on Saturday.

TdeF KAL

More accurately, I'm all prepared for the Tour de France Knit-a-long, that I will begin at some ungodly hour on Saturday night / Sunday morning when le Tour starts in Monaco.

Pattern...check! [It's the Tangled Yoke cardigan by Eunny Jang that I'm knitting for my daughter, who's fortunately smaller than I am].

Yarn...check! [it's Grignasco Tango in a rich brown]

Tension square...check! Correct tension achieved using 3.75 needles.

Determination...check! Enthusiasm...check! Time...Hmmm. Capacity to stay up late night after night and knit...Hmmm.

I've been a keen follower of the Tour de France for some time, and have been delighted over the last few years as the wonderful SBS in Australia has gradually increased its coverage of the race. Being able to combine watching the Tour de France - even at the unsociable times one needs to watch in Australia - with knitting, is my idea of bliss. Last year I managed to knit a cardigan within the compass of the race; but it was in 10ply (worsted weight) and this year's challenge is 5ply (sport weight). I think I've been a bit too ambitious.

Many people are surprised when they discover my interest in following particular sports. I've spent a great deal of my life avoiding playing sports - I have bad eye-hand coordination, and when a ball is brought into the eye-hand combination the result is usually disastrous. Apart from dancing, which I love, and walking, which I tolerate, I'm deeply uninterested in physical exertion overall. But I grew up in a family where both my parents and my brother were keen and capable sportspeople, and in a small town where following the local sporting teams was a large component of everybody's social life. I'm literate in many sports, and take particular pleasure in watching sports that have a large element of strategy, and that extend over a period of time. Hence, my favourite spectator sports are cricket (preferably test format) and road cycling, particularly the Tour de France

So, only a day and a bit to go to cast-on, and to try to finish my current sock project before I'm caught up in the Tangled Yoke.

2 comments:

Rose Red said...

I swatched today (finally) and so am pretty much ready as well.

I am like you - in that I am terrible at playing sports, and don't particularly enjoy it, or any form of exercise, but I do enjoy watching it very much - I admire the skills and strategies, and the pure athleticism of the competitors.

DrK said...

yes very similiar sentiments here re sport, i do like me a good game of rugby tho! good choice for the KAL, i think you will make it!