Lady Eleanor in all her glory

Without further ado, presenting Lady Eleanor!

I love love love my Lady E. She's been worn to work, worn to the theatre and graces the formal lounge while she's at rest. I finished her last month but didn't get a chance to do a photo shoot until last weekend - our first weekend in a month which hasn't involved packing and cleaning and tidying and gardening - wow, a whole weekend to ourselves - pure luxury!

Details

Pattern: Lady Eleanor by Kathleen Power Johnson from Scarf Style. She was my Tour de France KAL project and I loved every minute of knitting her. Each of those fabulous little entrelac squares are addictive - just one more, just one more! Before you know it, you've got a whole tier done.

(heh! I'm a teapot! (with a very straight spout!!))

Yarn: South West Trading Company Karaoke, 9.5 x 50g balls in col 286 - a sort of burgundy/copperish colour. I choose this as I'd seen one knitted up in it on the Scarf Style KAL blog. Most people use Noro Silk Garden for Lady E, and it also works fabulously, but the wild colour changes are too much for me - this is more subtle but still retains the woven square feel, which I love. And the yarn itself is soft and lovely and so warm and drapey. Really perfect for this pattern.

Sticks: KnitPicks Harmony Options 7mm. You really need to use a circular needle for this pattern, particularly once you get some length on it.

Time: 5 July 2008 - 29 August 2008

Modifications: Absolutely none! I followed the pattern to the letter, including the number of tiers. I wasn't sure if it would be long enough, so I decided to block it after the last full tier (before the finishing triangle row) - very easy to do when using the KP options - just take the needles off the cord and attach the caps to the cord. I did a full wet block - after which I learnt that this yarn takes forever to dry in cold weather. And that it blocks out quite flat - it lost the lovely ripply, poofy texture you can see in the photo above.

But not to worry, still love it! As does Nelly, who decided to sleep on it while it was still damp - gah!

Oh, and the vital measurement details - pre-blocking it was 152cm/60", post-blocking it ended up 168cm/66". It's a good length - long enough to wrap around me and it will hold on my shoulder. And besides, any longer and the fabulous fringe would drag on the ground!

What I learnt: Ooh, a biggie - how to splice yarn! New ball to old ball - thanks Bells! I only wish I'd learnt that before ball 7 (or 8) - still so many ends to weave in at the start! Oh well. I do highly recommend the spit splice!! (hee hee). And I also learnt that the knotted fringe takes SO LONG to do!! But I love it - it is the perfect complement to the pattern. I wasn't sure if I'd do it, but I'm so glad I did!

Here she is, relaxing on the chaise longue, all worn out after a demanding photo shoot! And if you want more progress shots, click on the TdF 2008 label in the sidebar to see her grow.

Wimming all the way down the Champs-Elysées

When I chose Lady Eleanor for my Tour de France KAL project, throwing my chapeau into the ring as a contender for the polka dot jersey, little did I realise how appropriate a project it really was. I just thought I was making an obvious choice - entrelac is a French word after all (I hope ... ?), and it was something I've been planning to make for ages.

As I finished tier 21 last night - one tier for every stage - I thought it an appropriate place to stop and contemplate the scenery. Helloooo Paris!

I've loved watching Lady E grow as my knowledge of the Tour, the teams and the tactics grow. I've loved winding my way back and forth, back and forth, like the riders going slowly up the Pyrenees and the Alps. I've been fortunate to not have any spectacular crashes and the only scabs on my legs are from scratches where my cat has dug her claws in whilst watching the exciting bits of the race over the last three weeks. Travelling for work during the race has given me the luxury of being able to set my hotel room alarm for 7.15am to watch the race update on SBS from my bed before getting up for the day - and still being excited and cheering on Cadel and my team Silence-Lotto even though I was watching a repeat!

I've conquered the mountain that is remembering this pattern (finally! I think it was tier 19 that I felt confident enough to start a row without checking the pattern first!). Like Bernard Kohl, I'm a proud wearer of the polka dot jersey (only I've got better teeth! Sorry Bernard, but it had to be said!) although I can't claim a podium finish, as I've still got a ways to go before finishing Lady E (hopefully while watching the cycling in the Olympics, perhaps!)

I'm so proud of my team Silence-Lotto leader Cadel Evans. He did it hard, our team didn't give him as much support as he needed and he pretty much had to do it on his own, which shows what a great rider he really is. The pressure he must have been feeling must have been unbelievable and perhaps goes some way to explaining his somewhat odd behaviour off the bike during the tour (I hope so anyway). I almost shed a little tear for him last night as they were showing a retrospective of his race, as I felt his disappointment so much, but I hope he feels proud of himself, and that the experience of wearing the yellow jersey during the race will spur him on for next year.

Thanks so much to the KAL organisers, Meg and Debby, and to all the other participants - I have loved the stage reports every day and watching everyone's projects grow! And of course, to the race and the riders - bravo to you all!

As I wim my way down the Champs-Elysées, I'm standing up in my pedals, looking forward to the race again next year, and maybe some celebratory champagne!

Lanterne Rouge?

I'm feeling a bit Wim Vansevenant at the moment - bringing up the rear in the Tour de France. I keep plugging away at Lady E, but there's still a looooooooong way to go.

Here she is at tier can'tremember (lucky I can count - it's tier 11):

I can't get a great picture of the colour and variations within this yarn - the one above is a good representation of the different tones in the yarn, and the one below is a better reflection of the colours (and also of the back, which is quite different in texture to the front - I'm quite taken with it actually!)

I've done a couple more tiers since these pictures were taken on the weekend, I am in fact on tier 15 right now - out of 34 in total. So really, I'm not that far behind or anything. But it is starting to look like a bigger ask than the Alpe d'Huez.

But there's nothing wrong with being the Red Lantern, is there? Do I get a nice red jersey?

Sprinting for the line

I thought I'd take advantage of the flat stages over the past few days in the Tour de France to have a bit of a sprint, before the race hits the Alps and into Italy. Makes a nice change from the long slog of climbing mountains with Lady Eleanor.

And besides, I had a good reason - I can't let this go naked, now can I??!!So, to the creation of the iSock! Or the iPocket (I can't decide which name is better ...)Details

Yarn: Wollmeise sock yarn in Rosenrot, about 10g - had to have a RoseRed iSock/iPocket for my rosey red iPod...Sticks: 2.25mm KnitPicks fixed circular and then metal dpns for the flap strap.

Pattern: My own - after all, it's not rocket science. CO 40 stitches in the round, work 2x2 rib until it's long enough, do 3 needle bind off (or kitchener if you can be bothered, which I couldn't!), pick up enough stitches to make the flap strap (9, in my case), garter stitch until it's long enough, make buttonhole (3 stitch wide 1 row buttonhole) and do a few more rows, cast off! Weave in ends. Sew on button (one day, hopefully I'll find a button shaped like an apple. Or would that be too much?)Time: Heh, I'm not a very quick sprinter. Would definitely not beat Mark Cavendish! 17 July - 19 July 2008.What I learnt: I'm quite happy with this little iSock - will help avoid scratches, holds the cord as well as the iPod, can be worn whilst in operation and doesn't have to be removed to change songs (I often listen to the iPod on shuffle, so can just click to next song through the sock if I need to) and hey, it's red. Rose Red even!

Blazing Saddles!

(no, not the movie! the book!)

To ensure I didn't suffer by missing anything Tour de France on the rest day on Tuesday, I bought a book at the airport in Melbourne while I was waiting for my (delayed) flight - Blazing Saddles by Matt Rendell. It's a potted history of the TdF (subtitled "The cruel and unusual history of the Tour de France").

It's not bad if you want a quick read, with an overview of each year of the race, and don't mind a fairly florid writing style - for example, of the "founder" of the TdF, Henri Desgrange, Rendell says "If the mad Marquis with the pornographic imagination had never existed, the word for taking pleasure from the infliction of pain and mental suffering on others would be 'desgrangism'".

Which, let's face it, is probably true given that Rendell reports that in the early Tours, the riders had to perform all mechanical repairs themselves, from items carried on them (most pictures show them with at least 2 or 3 inner tubes wrapped around their upper bodies, not unlike a bolero style cardigan!), they didn't wear any protective gear, and weren't allowed to ride as teams and to "assist" each other in the way they do now. Oh, and the Tours themselves were often over 5,000km, ridden on dirt (often muddy) roads over mountains and apparently during the night as well as the day. And spectators would regularly scatter nails on the road and even beat some of the riders!

But it's not all bad - apparently some used to drink champagne before each stage, and fans (or perhaps, saboteurs!) would often give them bottles of beer during the race (and not stubbies, oh no, longnecks!!).
So I'm onto tier 9 of my Lady Eleanor - sorry for the dark picture but it's not easy getting a day-time photo at the moment! Will update more on the weekend. It's not going to be finished during the race, but I've totally got the hang of this entrelac business. Now I just have to memorise the pattern so I can stop referring to it each time I start a new tier! That's when I'll have really earned my polka dot jersey!

Stage 1: Brest - Plumelec

Tension increased throughout the day as the wait continued for the start of the first stage of the Tour - I've signed up for the TdF KAL and am going for a polka dot jersey - something that is meant to be a challenge - for me, learning a new knitting skill, entrelac -which seems appropriately gallic!

So 10pm (the start time of the telecast) approached and I made myself a nice pot of tea and settled down with my yarn and pattern, ready to cast on (go Cadel!).

Clearly, the alcohol I'd had that afternoon did not act as a performance enhancing drug, as I had to cast on 4 times - the first 3 times because I underestimated the amount of tail I needed to do my backwards loop cast on, and then the 4th time as I realised that you don't use the tail to do a backwards loop cast on...le sigh!

But after my initial tumbles, I got back on my bike and made it through the first tier of triangles:

Then today, through the second tier:

And the third:

And I'm on the fourth now, as I watched the day 1 highlights and saw my Team Silence-Lotto teammate, Cadel Evans, one of the tour favourites and Aussie to boot, come in 6th at the end of stage 1, and I was pleased. Clearly my knitting efforts have carried him through so far (heh!)