Stitch n' Pitch

Do you know about the annual Stitch n' Pitch event sponsored across the country by The National Needlearts Association (TNNA)!?? I had not until this year.  Last Monday I noticed a reminder that tickets were still available through Purl's Yarn Emporium, which appeared in their monthly email newsletter. The event took place last Friday (June 6, my birthday and the 70th anniversary of D-Day) at the Asheville Tourists game against the Kannapolis Intimidators at McCormick Field in Asheville. Our Tourists, a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, are a farm team for the Colorado Rockies team. We won that night, 6-4. 

Basically, once a year, the TNNA helps sponsor and organize LYSs to gather local knitters at their local baseball field to support both craft and sport. This year we were able to get discounted tickets (only $5, instead of $8). They offered the first 100 stitchers that arrived with Stitch n' Pitch tickets (only available through LYSs, I think) gift bags full of yarnish goodness! 

There may have been more than 100 bags given out at our event. It was also $1.00 hot dog night, so I was in hog heaven. Pun intended. There were fireworks, too, but Mom and I left early during the 8th inning. We had great seats:

Knitting the colorful cowl during the game.

This was basically my birthday party from Mom. I love eating outdoors, sipping sweet tea, watching a live ball game, and it was even better surrounded by over a hundred fellow knitters! The stadium was packed. (Not just with knitters, but we were pretty loud and happy.) One of our own was even allowed to make one of the special pre-game first pitches. She pitched a big ball of yarn to the catcher! It didn't matter who I found myself next to, in lines, in our seats. I ended up striking up conversations about knitting with total strangers and we talked like old friends. 

We delved into our goodie bags and found so many treasures:

This generous bounty (yarn, coupons, coasters, LYS maps, patterns, bumper stickers, needles, cards, and more) was bagged by volunteers and provided by Purl's Yarn Emporium, Friends & Fiberworks, The Knitting Diva, Black Mountain Yarn Shop, Asheville NC Home Crafts, Earth Guild, and Echoview Fiber Mill.  

I know you're wanting to know about the yarn! The two little rolls of black and blue yarn in the upper right corner of the bigger picture of bag contents are Grundl Four Seasons' Flamenco Uni in #20 (the blue) and #17 (the black). 

I don't have very good close-ups of the others, but below is Universal Yarn's Bamboo Bloom in Zen Garden (mostly rayon from bamboo and wool). Mom and I had almost purchased some of this recently at Purl's for a specific project. So glad we didn't, but we still need one more skein... We traded at the game to get two of this color. They're different dye lots, but beggars can't be choosers. 

The rest of the close-ups are terribly blurry. 

This is Freza Yarns' Alp Royale in #909, which is a beautiful mix of mossy greens and browns in wool, cashmere, and a little Merino and Mulberry silk.

This bright orange is Freza Yarns' 100% bamboo Nirvana. (It may be discontinued because I couldn't find it on their site.)

These are Viking of Norway's Odin Superwash wool in #869.

We also got two of Mondial's Malizia in #850 (a mix of greys and silver). 

Now that I know this happens once a year around my birthday, I will be prepared next year. If we still have our giant Chevy Suburban (it has been acting its age lately), I'll be able to offer rides to members of my Smoky Mountain Knitting Guild. Lots of other knitters came to the event as groups in vans. We are blessed in western North Carolina with a good number of LYSs, but distances can be intimidating with current gas prices. Needless to say, I'll be cheerleading this event next year. 

Oh! But this wasn't my only birthday gift this year. My parents gave me a pretty cool, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. They took me to see Dolly Parton at her benefit concert in Knoxville, TN at the Thompson-Boling Arena on May 28th. Proceeds went to her Imagination Library and a medical fund that she started to benefit poor Appalachian areas. I say "once-in-a-lifetime" because access to tickets isn't always easy (she came to the local casino in Cherokee, NC, but tickets were swept up by a third-party vendor and re-sold at extortionist prices), and she's not young. I just love her. We all really enjoyed it. Thank you, Mom and Dad! 

P.S. If you have children younger than 5, check out Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and see if your area is served. The purpose of the charity is to give (free) books on a regular basis to pre-school children who may otherwise have no means of getting books into their homes. Statistics suggest that children who come from homes that have books become readers. Dolly began her charity give-aways in the poor areas of Appalachia, but now the charity serves areas all over the globe.