stage 8 & 9 updates

Stage 8

Columbia once again with a terrific stage win by Cavendish yesterday. His lead out man, Ciolek, made it across in second place. Once again Kirchen ended the day in yellow.

I did manage to get some much needed knitting done on the clapotis despite a slight mechanical problem. Tangled yarn. I had to do some cutting and splicing. It has about a foot in length now. Not bad, but not good.



Stage 9

Today's stage was the first in the Pyrenees. It is time for the climbers and the overall GC contenders to make their moves. It was actually a quiet day for the favorites. None of them made a move, probably saving their legs for tomorrow's stage. There were a lot of attacks by others, however, and in the end the stage win went to Ricco. His second in this year's Tour. GC standings stayed about the same except for American, Christian Vandevelde of team Garmin-Chipotle moving into third.

Just like the sprinters in this stage, I fell back into the "autobus". I really need to get some knitting done on this scarf or it will never get finished by the end of the tour. I was distracted by a pretty sock. I started the second of my Beatrix socks for the SPEW KAL.

a finished pair

Pattern: Merletto Mitts by Jodi Scofield
Yarn: Betepok Nepy
Needles: US 2


They're cute. Don't know when I will get to wear them, but they are cute. I have a long time to wait until it is cold here again. The hubby thinks they are a bit "goofy" since they have no fingers. I then explained how handy they will be for when it is cold and I want to knit. "That actually makes sense," he said. I will make him a fan of the fingerless gloves, yet.

Oh, and look.



Even thumbs.

stage 6 : rain delay?

Can I claim rain delay?

Oh wait, that only works at Wimbledon. :)

These riders keep on going in the rain. Me, on the other hand, got absolutely no knitting done yesterday on the clapotis. None. I watched the stage with lots of forwarding so I could see the finish before going to a training. Do you think Kirchen really was the one responsible for Shumacher's fall, or is he just making excuses? I will have to see the recap of the finish today. I have yet to watch stage 7. I plan to get a lot of knitting done today. I must "put the hammer down".

In other news...

A ridiculously big prize package, all Twilight related, is being given over at the The Story Siren's blog. I mean big!
I know there are many of you anxiously awaiting the new book , Breaking Dawn, just as I am, so get yourself over to her blog and see how many times you can enter.

mosaic meme

1. Insomniac's dribble., 2. Sushi, 3. time to leave., 4. After the Rain, 5. HiRes Promo Image, 6. ready for the next one , 7. Masai Mara Sunrise, 8. Flames, 9. Retired After Hard Work, 10. Toothbrush Tryst (Day 119), 11. one with the sea, 12. Anbotoko Mari

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

This was fun.

To make your own, go to the Mosaic Maker, and then open another window with Flickr.com. In the Flickr search bar, type the answers to these questions:

What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What high school did you go to?
What is your favorite colour?
Who is your celebrity crush?
Favorite drink?
Dream vacation?
Favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
One word to describe you.
Your nickname.

My answers: 1.Maribel 2.sushi 3.Sanger High 4.periwinkle, green 5.David Boreanaz 6.Guinness 7.African Safari 8.Betty Crocker chocolate cake 9.retired 10.husband 11.happy 12.mari

on the mend

It looks like a big mess, but I was actually able to get all my stitches back on the needles and have begun the thumb gusset in the correct place. Yay. I hope to have these finally finished today.

urg

Do you see the problem here?

I didn't. How could I miss that? I was so excited that I was almost done with these last night until I put the two mitts together (like I should have done when I first started that thumb) and realized my mistake. I thought that I had repeated the pattern 6 times before the thumb gusset when, in fact, it was only 5. I should have written this stuff down!



I bet you can guess what I will be doing tonight.

Any advice on how to rip back without dropping stitches in those lace sections?

sprint finish (stage 5)

So far today, we have done nothing but sit in front of the television watching the Tour de France. Yes, Joey, too.



She loves watching the bikes zoom across the screen. She especially loves the boys in light blue. Columbia showed themselves to be a very strong team today. Hincapie was amazing coming from back in the cars all the way to the front to help with the lead out for Cavendish. Team Columbia gets their first Stage win. Woot.

All that sprinting really wore out the kitty. It was the last 5k that did it. She needed a rest.



I think I may join her for a little cat nap.

stage 4 sprint

stage 3
Originally uploaded by my_weezy

It was so odd to watch the last three to come out of the start gate be so far back in time today. Definitely not the norm for a Tour sprint stage.
It was nice to see Kirchen, Hincapie and Lovkvist put up good times for Team Columbia. They are all in the top 10 of the Overall Standings. The US teams are doing pretty good this year. Garmin-Chipotle has Miller and Vandevelde up there as well.

I managed to get a little bit knit during the broadcast today. Since it was dvr'ed and the hubby forwarded through a lot it cut down on my usual Tour knitting time. I will make up for it later tonight with the highlights.

Now I have to go and see if my sunburned body will allow me to play some Ultimate Frisbee. First, I have to see if it will let me put on a bra! I got a bit crispy on the 4th of July when we went floating on the Guadalupe River outside of New Braunfels. It was pretty painful. Still is in places, but mostly itchy now.

contest alert

Do you like books? Knitting? Pets? Contests of any sort?

Well then head on over to Monniblog where Monica is celebrating her 1000th post with a four prize packages! There is something for everyone over there.

day without a car

(archived from mariknits)

I went to the library today.

The first time in probably 4-5 years. I wandered the stacks for about 30 minutes, taking my time to find books on my to-read list. I found a couple actually even with the small selection. The Rosetti Letters and The 5th Horseman. Two books I have been wanting to read for awhile. I also got Debutante Divorcee. A fluff book, but what the heck.There wasn't much of a selection of YA books, unfortunately. I was really hoping to find these in the library to lessen my buying.

I had an $11.25 bill to pay at check out. Three books that were turned in late many years ago. The books?

The Invisible Circus
Jemima J (fluff book)
London

The first and the last I remember being really good. I don't remember much about the second.

There were a surprising number of people at the library. Busy.

So, I walked to the library from the tire place. I had a screw in my left rear tire of the Prius. We had three hours to fill. The hubby went straight to the Starbucks to work. I went to the HEB to check and see if my Italy pics were ready. No sign of them. Urg.

After the library, went to the Starbucks and tried to read. Very noisy. Lady on the phone trying to keep her motorcycle from being taken away by the creditors. Workers on their break chatting. Two guys, one with a mohawk, talking about something on the computer. The hubby on a phone conference. Hard to concentrate on my book. Had to put in the headphones and listen to music on the ipod. Much better.