Knitting during the Tour de France 2009

The 3-week bike race that my husband and I watch religiously every year started yesterday in the beautiful backdrop of Monaco. I always get a lot of knitting done during the race. Exciting news this year is that Lance Armstrong is back in the race after 3 years of retirement. Lance won 7 Tours in a row, 1999-2005, a feat that will probably never be repeated. My mother, the frenchie, couldn't believe that he won 2 in a row (1999 & 2000) and then she died in 2001 and never saw that he won 5 more consecutively. I think she was proud of him but her french heritage demanded that a Frenchman win the Tour. (It's been a while since a Frenchman won.) This year's route is quite unusual as they aren't doing a circle of France, they actually start in the south, move west, dip into Spain, travel northeast, back south again and then take the train to finish in Paris. The last Saturday before the finish they tackle Mont Ventoux. It's a difficult ride when you're feeling good. To tackle it after a grueling 3 weeks will be extremely hard. That mountain is unbelievable. My husband and I visited Mont Ventoux in 1998 and we basically went from 1st to 2nd gear and back to 1st gear all the way up. Every time you think you have to be near the top, you keep going. When you finally get to the summit, it's spectacular. The elevation is 6,273 feet.

Anyway, at the beginning of the race yesterday, I cast on for the Angel Sweater, a cute pattern from Oat Couture. I'm knitting the 12 month size. One of my knitsibs is making it as well.

I'm using yarn conveniently made in France :-) from Anny Blatt in a salmon color. It's 100% wool that is machine washable and it feels wonderful. I believe I can get it done with just 2 balls.
I'm still working on the Kicking Bag mentioned in the previous post. I'm on the 3rd ball of Sirdar Baby Bamboo.