Peloton: TdF KAL, 2014

Last week I showed you the prizes for my 5th annual Tour de France Knit Along (TdF KAL). Today I’m here to share the pattern. It’s called Peloton:

This semi-circular shawl is inspired by the riders of the Tour de France. The lace patterns show the different shapes that groups of riders take during the race: diagonal lines in a crosswind, a pointed arrow when in hot pursuit, and a long winding string when climbing tough mountains. The shawl finishes off with bicycle wheels (adapted from Barbara Walker’s Cogwheel pattern).

A small shawl can be knit with one skein of fingering weight yarn (approx. 1 set of “wheels”). The sample shawl was knit with almost two full skeins (800yds) of Tosh Sock in Saffron.

You can pre-purchase this pattern now at the discounted price of $4. At the end of the Tour de France the price goes up to the regular price of $6. What you’ll get right now is just the first 2 pages. The full pattern will be uploaded on July 4th, 2014, so that we can all start the KAL on July 5th together.

As usual, the KAL will be run out of my Ravelry group. There will be a general thread for chatting and questions and a few prize-related threads. Again, here’s a group shot of all the yarny prizes:

The prize categories are pretty much the same as last year, but with a special addition. Winners will pick from the prize pool in the following order:

1. Maillot Jaune – Yellow Jersey: The first prize goes to the person whose post with a picture of their finished object gets the most love in the designated Finished Object thread in my Ravelry group.

2. Maillot Vert – Green Jersey: The sprinting prize will be a draw from among the first 5 finishers of shawls – this only counts for people knitting the shawl with at least 1 full repeat of Chart D (likely more than 1 skein of fingering weight).

3. Maillot à Pois Rouges – Polka Dot Jersey: The mountain prize will go to the person whose tale of tribulations experienced during knitting gets the most love in the designated thread in my Ravelry group.

4. Maillot Blanc – White Jersey: New to lace? New to knitting? This prize for rookies will be drawn from among the list of finishers who tag their project with the “white-jersey”. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you belong in this category.

5. Past Glory: As this is the 5th year, I’m celebrating people who’ve made the shawls that have been featured in previous KALs. There will be a thread to post a picture of your finished project and there will be a random draw from among all of the entries. This is a great category for folks who got addicted to a shawl and knit more than one!

6. Finishers: A draw will be done among all finishers who haven’t already won a prize.

7. Lanterne Rouge: Started but didn’t finish? You’ll be eligible for a draw for this prize, provided you’ve got a picture of your progress on your project page.

8. Red Devil (Spectators): We don’t all have the time and space to compete in the Tour, but there will be a prize category for those who wish to follow along and cheer on the competitors. Join my Ravelry group, like my Facebook page, or join my mailing list and you’re in the running. The inspiration comes from Didi Senft, a notorious spectator, bike-builder, and cycling fanatic. Here’s a great short video of Didi.