2011 Tour de France Knit Along

Bonjour tout le monde!

The 2011 Tour de France Knit Along will be happening on Ravelry. Signups will be open for a few more days. To take part, please visit the Tour de France Knit Along Ravelry Group. If you're not already a member of Ravelry, joining is easy!

2010 Tour de France Knit Along

Bonjour tout le monde!

The 2010 Tour de France Knit Along will be happening on Ravelry. Signups will be open for a few more days. To take part, please visit the Tour de France Knit Along Ravelry Group. If you're not already a member of Ravelry, joining is easy!

2009 Tour de France Knit Along

Bonjour tout le monde!

The 2009 Tour de France Knit Along will be happening on Ravelry. Signups will be opening shortly. To take part, please visit the Tour de France Knit Along Ravelry Group. If you're not already a member of Ravelry, joining is easy!

Nous avons une gagneuse!

She's the Mark Cavendish of the Tour knitting world! Introducing back-to-back intermediate sprint winner Caffeine Faerie!

Caffeine Faerie's parade of FOs down the Champs-Elysees just pipped Madalyn's commentaire a la Bob Roll by just three votes on the finish line - the closest in TDFKAL recorded history!

Felicitations to our winners, runners-up, finalists, and all our participants!

Polling open in the final sprint!

Bonjour knitters! We hope by now you have enjoyed a refreshing few days recovering from the gruelling tour! We have finally managed to choose our shortlist of contenders for the final prize in this year's KAL. We were struck by how many of you found an inspiring example in poor old John-Lee Augustyn's* Stage 16 dive over the side of the Col de la Bonette - and why not? It is one of the most memorable moments from this year's tour!

Without further ado, the finalists are...
(click on the link to go directly to their Final Sprint entry!)

Mari's stage-by-stage recap of the Clap[otis]
Riggwelter's mountain top experiences with lace
Madalyn's take on Craig and Bob's knitting commentary
Caffeine Faerie's parade down the Champs-Elysees
Helene/Furry with Ruffles' sprint finish (move over Thor!)

Vote below for your favourite! Remember, every vote counts and these ladies are battling it out for a real-life actual in-the-flesh Tour de France souvenir brought back for us from France by two-time Tour participant, Heather! Polls will stay open until midnight (PARIS TIME) on August 7th. Clickez-vous!



*John-Lee's birthday is coming up on August 10th, the day after the Olympics road race, in which he is competing! let's all wish him luck and happy birthday!

Rabobank Wrap-Up

Sorry for the delay (I was finishing the yellow cardigan pattern, which, for me, requires full submersion), but Team Rabobank wants to check in for a final lap of glory!

Is Kate's little daughter's tunic not glorious?



Let's keep in mind that talented Kate designed this herself. I love the buttons at the shoulders. You should really click through to her blog to see the adorable pictures of Miss V checking herself out in the mirror.

Beth finished not only her Baudelaire socks, but a French Market Bag, now felted, dry, and ready for Market Action:



Remember that mechanical Sandy had back in the first days of the Tour, when her Lorna's Laces entrelac sock suddenly got really ugly and she had to get a new bike (well, project) from the team car? Sandy's going to get the better of that rainbow yarn at last, by weaving a scarf with it:



The clever crafter always triumphs. Case in point: Erika didn't have a USB cable to show us photos of her Rabobank-colored bag progress, so she got creative and typed us a picture:

-v
v- = seed stitch

/o|o\ = openwork section

colour names = stripes

Progress report (this is disproportionately narrow):

-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-
blueblueblueblueblueblueblue
orangeorangeorangeorange
-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/\o|o/
-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-
orangeorangeorangeorange
blueblueblueblueblueblueblue
-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-

And Bells had to knit everywhere she went, but she did meet her goal of finishing the knitting on her eyelet cardi (shown here still partly wet, but otherwise ready for seaming):



And as for me, that yellow cardigan was ready for blocking by the end of the prime time coverage: I finished my tubular bind off on the last lap, just in time to watch the sprint (with those amazing camera angles!). I can't show you pictures yet, but keep an eye out for a preview from Popknits later this month! Ladies, it's been a privilege to knit with you and to be your Chef d'Equipe. I'm going to miss Ribby Man during the off-season especially! Now, on to the Olympics!

Final roundup from Camp Credit Agricole

It has been a real privilege to be Chef D'Equip of Team Credit Agricole. The team members have shown character, finesses, pace and skill that is quite overwhelming. As is the tradition at the end of sporting broadcasts I'm not going to rabbit on but let the photos speak for themselves.

Huge thanks to Debby and Meg for what has to be one of the best KAL's on the net and to all my fellow team mates for being such sports.

Look at what we've made....