6th Annual Mariner's Stitch N' Pitch

Last year I had, had such a good time at the Stitch'n'Pitch night, even though I didn't really know anyone, that I swore I would go again the next year. The feeling of being surrounded by thousands upon thousands of knitters was so much fun. So when the tickets came out this year I was all over it! And when the day came I packed up my knitting and after work took the bus into the city ready for a great night.

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One of the best things about this year was Pacific Fabrics, which hosts the event with The Mariners, was giving out bobble head Mariner Moose Mascots (last year it was a knitting accessory bag that I use like crazy). I'm not into baseball, funny enough, but I knew that the bobble heads were covetted and even better this Moose was knitting the Mariners colored scarf that he was wearing around his neck and I had a very strong "I must have it!" feeling. So the minute I reached the 300 section of the stadium I went looking for what turned out to be a very elusive moose. I finally ran into a group of three elderly gals all hugging (I'm not kidding) and comparing their moose and I asked them where they got their bobble head moose? One of the gals turned to me and said, "well you have to have a Stitch'n'pitch ticket to get a Bobble Head Moose" in a (I was trying not to read into her) snobby way. To which I replied that I did have one. She then followed with "well you have to have gotten your ticket from a yarn shop to get the moose." Feeling my back straighten at the direction this conversation was going I said "I did get my ticket at a yarn shop." She said then with a slight hautiness "Well they are all the way on the other side of the stadium, but you have to have gotten your ticket at a yarn shop to get a moose." I said "Well, I DID, so I guess I'll go to the other side. Thank's for the help." and I left them irritated and wondering what it was about my teal t-shirt, with yellow tank on top, pig tails, stripped socks, Mary Janes, and giant bag obviously full of something that must be knitting seeing as I was wandering around the 300 section reserved for the Stitch'n'Pitch night, that made them think that I couldn't have possibly gotten my ticket at a yarn shop. Knitting snobs... I then made my way to the other end of the stadium to find...no moose. Finally after some more asking I discovered that the Bobble Head Moose Giver-Outers were hiding on the back side of one of the Stadium's main souviner shops. I supposed this may have kept the line down, or the mad rush away, and possible stampeed, but man! The longer I spent looking for the Moose the more anxious I got. I don't have a lot of money so keeping me from a free present puts me on edge and taking it away from me will make me cry. And knowing that the signs were saying that there were limited quantities was making me even more anxious, feeling like I was reliving the inability to get my hands on the free bag of swag at the Urban Craft Uprising festival a couple weeks previous because they gave them away to EVERYONE including the kids. When I did have my moose in hand I too had it cluched to my chest with a perma grin threatening to pounce on my lips at any second. It was a beautiful thing and now graces my desk at work.

Once I had my moose in hand I found my seat and it was almost in the same place as last year. I brought out my yarn to begin a sweater and fell into a lovely groove of knitting, and chatting with the gal next to me, while munching on my peanut butter sandwich and drinking my Dr. Pepper in between stitches.

Just liked last year The Mariner's sucked and we lost 5 to 0 when I left at the middle of the 8th at 10pm. I made my way to the bus to find that they had rerouted the bus and the bus driver I was talking to didn't know to where. I only needed to catch that bus to get me to the main bus to take me home so I decided to walk from 1st and Occidental to 4th and Union (20 blocks?). I was slightly nervous to what kind of people I might meet along the way and really would have liked to have taken a picture tour of the walk, because I ended up seeing lots of intresting artwork (like the fish below) and people along the way, but thinking that having a camera in hand, snapping, would bring attention to myself, I put my camera away.

The walk ended up being a really nice one. I had over looked, in my mind's eye, that 1st Avenue would take me through Pioneer Square and the bar scene and there were all kinds of people out my age just having a good time and walking along my route because they too had just gotten out of the game. So I just walked with the crowds and took in the great smells and sights. I reached my bus stop in about 20 minutes and with plenty of time to sit, and pull out my knitting project again. I got to my car in South Everett with no problem, and got home at 12:20am. The ambience wasn't quite like it was last year, but I think I will probably go again next year. I love the opportunity to sit with other people who have the same interests I do. It feels like the opportunity doesn't come up often so when it does I jump on it with a strangling hold.