TdF day 18 and 19 - Book hunting and knitting (again)

On Friday my blanket was at this stage.

We made a little Summer trip to Hämeenlinna, a city about one hour from us.

The church is from 1798. This Summer cafe is to the left of the church.

We wanted to continue our book hunting. Mr. K. had better luck than I, but I was happy to find a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in very good condition.

Yesterday was spent recovering from the trip and a lunch in town, so this post covers two days of the Tour. The knitting has grown a little:

New flowers have opened their buds in our garden:

TdF day 17 - foggy day

The Tour was riding through fog yesterday. Our views are foggy too, as the new windows are covered with plastic as long as the house painters have finished their job. The new blanket is growing.

I added a white first border to the Helping Hands quilt

and now I'm going through my stash for ideas for a wider border.

TdF day 16 - knittings out of the house

I promise this is the last you will see of my baby hats. I took the lot to the local maternity ward yesterday. 31 in all, if you want to know. And even if you don't. Wool, cotton and bamboo yarns, and a set of 4 in baby acrylic.

Four knitted blankets, these are all in baby acrylic.

Five tiny preemie quilts from earlier this year, one of my PIPs.

And finally the Angel Pods.

The nurses were pleased to receive all this. More than 1,000 babies come to the world there every year. They are getting hats from other knitters too.

The Tour was too exciting yesterday , I had to watch it from the beginning to the end. The Col du Tourmalet is the first thing I remember about this Tour from many many years back. All I can do without constantly looking at my hands is knitting, so here is the result:

I had about half of the blue square knitted on the rest day, and finished last night when the red square was ready. I have several balls of both yarns so this will be a red and blue blanket.

Our apple trees are full of promises of apples. Last year there was hardly anything, so this year my cellar will be filled with apple sauce jars again.

TdF day 15 - knitted minestrone

Yesterday's knitting was just using up the waste ends of the smallest rests of yarn:

You can read more about this yarn soup on the other blog I have joined. The group is "full" now, but you are free to steal the idea.

I have also been sewing but it is a secret project. What about our yellow rose instead:

Today the cyclists are resting and so do I. See you on Thursday!

TdF day 14 - knitting again

I knitted my first square for a baby blanket. I was shocked about the sabotage on the other Tour.

TdF day 13 - cotton stripes

Approaching the Mediterranean, I thought a cotton knit would be cooler. This will definitely be the last baby hat for now, before some new yarn jumps my way.

We are having typical summer weather, alternating sun and rain. The grey clouds look so dark when there is a little sunshine. At the moment it is pouring again.

TdF day 12 - The last pink one, with yellow

I weighed the last ball rest of the pink yarn, and added the pale yellow yarn I had left, and knew I could make yet another preemie beanie/cap/hat (pick the name you prefer, I call them myssy):

Mango and strawberry ice cream, don't you think?

Wild strawberries from our back yard this morning. Yummy!

Did you see what happened to David Moncoutie yesterday on the Tour? Broken collarbone and bleeding all over. If this can happen to experienced cyclists, can you wonder why I never learnt to ride a bicycle. When trying to learn as a kid, I fell over at least twice, and the second time I was bleeding. Who knows what could have happened the third time. Better safe than sorry.