The Grand Tour

With a mere 45 days left until opening day, my family and I spent last Sunday taking the Yankee Stadium tour. Of course, no trip to 161st St. and River Ave. is complete without a peek at the progress on the new stadium. Despite my feelings about their building a smaller stadium to house a team that consistently sells out games (and some other issues with the inside of the stadium), I do have to admit that it looks pretty sweet from the outside. They’re making an effort to make the new entrance look like the original one did pre-renovations, and I like the old-timey feel that it has. I also appreciate that they haven’t sold the naming rights, and that it will continue to be known as Yankee Stadium. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I will be very interested to see the inside of the finished product.

After wandering around in the cold for a while, it was time to gather for the tour. It starts at the stadium’s Press Gate, all the better to bring you straight up to the Press Box:

You get to sit in the same chairs that the press corps do, and there’s a nice, up-close view of the broadcast booths. I wasn’t quick enough on the draw to get a photo of the press box concession stand, but the prices there are much lower than they are in the rest of the ballpark.

After getting a good feel for the press box, we went back inside and down to the bottom of the Stadium for one of the two main high points of the tour:

We even got to see the Yankees’ locker room, which had gotten a coat of fresh paint. No photos were allowed inside there, unfortunately, though. We did get to see Johnny Damon’s shower shoes, and some of Hideki Matsui’s stuff that had been left behind from last season, and we learned some locker room fun facts, like how Derek Jeter is the only Yankee with two lockers (one for him and one for his fan mail. The Yankees get something along the lines of 75-100 pounds of mail a week, and up to 2/3 of that is for Jeter). We also found out that Thurman Munson’s locker will be moved to a museum that’s being set up across the street from the new stadium.

Next up was what was probably my favorite part of the tour. They brought us outside and let us sit in the Yankee dugout.

I’ve never been that close to the field before, or even at field level. The dugout has heated benches, which must be nice during those frigid April and October games, and air conditioning vents are built into the dugout steps for the warmer months. The netting under the dugout rail is a rather new addition. It was put in around 2001 to protect the players and coaches (bench coach Don Zimmer was hit by a foul ball). There’s no shortage of rules posted in the dugout. Despite the wintry weather, I was nearly overcome with the urge to get Scott Proctor warming up, but I restrained myself, which was just as well, because he’s been reunited with Joe Torre on the Dodgers.

Our tour ended with a trip through Monument Park, which I’ve never seen so empty. Finally, we were presented with a little memento of our trip through Yankee Stadium.

I couldn’t resist photographing it with my latest traveling project, a stockinette sock in Opal Rainforest Veronika die wilde.

And to close, a picture of me with my favorite Yankee.  It was a fitting end to a very informative and entertaining tour.

Winter Weather

We finally got some. Sort of.

Sunday afternoon and evening saw some pretty heavy flurries. It wasn’t anything too substantial, even though it was pretty fast and furious at times, but it was enough for a little dusting to stick in the street tree wells.

Tuesday was a different story.  For a brief period in the afternoon, we got enough snow to start covering the grass in the park a bit.

It wasn’t to last, though.  I’m glad that I took pictures on Tuesday afternoon, because it was all gone the following morning.

Of course, as it’s mid-February, that one day that truly warms a girl’s heart, that’s a shining beacon amidst all the snow and rain and darkness and drear of winter has come and gone this Thursday. A day that fills us with fond memories of the past and hope for the future. Really, it’s one of the more dreamy days of the year.

I’m talking, of course, of the day that pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. However cold and blustery it may be outside, it’s comforting to know that scenes like this:

are just a few short weeks away. Opening day is March 31st.

My garter stitch project looks much as it did last week, only bigger. I’m very close to being completely finished, but I still have to work on making the bind-off look more like the cast-on edge. I’m using a decrease bind-off (scroll down), which is much closer to a cable cast on than anything I’ve tried, but isn’t perfect. I think a good blocking would help it, but then there’s little that can’t be helped by a good blocking. I’ve been looking ahead a bit, and trying to decide what to cast on next.  I’ve been thinking that some Jaggerspun Zephyr DK weight might make a very nice short-sleeved Wicked, but that I should finish the Racer Pullover before starting anything else that’s a larger-scale project.  Some simple socks are probably going to fit the bill, since they’ll be small enough to cart around in my purse, and easy enough to pick up and put down without having to worry about a lot of counting.

Back to basics

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, so sometimes it’s comforting to just take things back to the most elemental level. I’ve decided to give up yarn purchases for Lent again, but this year, I took a bit of a different tack for my Mardi Fil. For starters, I actually had it on Sunday, at The Yarn Connection’s Super Bowl sale.

Last year, I got some Socks that Rock yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, but this year, I decided to stock up on good, basic, plain wool. I got two skeins of Cascade Eco Wool to make a Hemlock Ring Blanket or some variation of it, like the Egeblad doily in blanket size. At 40% off, I also decided to increase my Cascade 220 stash. It’s a good worsted weight yarn to have on hand in case some inspiration should strike.

Inspiration like how comforting it can be to knit up some nice garter stitch fabric. It’s knitting at its most basic: no pattern, no counting, almost no looking. Just cast on and go.

It’s so relaxing to knit, especially after all the lace and cables I’ve worked on (and been working on) lately. I admit that I’m ignoring some very, very good advice to finish up projects before I start new ones, but this bit of knitting is just what the doctor ordered. I will try to give up startitis, though. I got this in under the wire on Tuesday, but it’s the last thing that I’ll cast on before finishing something else until Easter.

So it was a Super Bowl Sunday of basics. For me, it was solid wool yarn, and for the Giants, it was solid defense as they held the Patriots to just 14 points and won a game that seemed un-winnable on paper.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with some flash as well. Although butterfly-themed sock yarn will never come close to being as exciting as the Great Escape and that catch were, it’s definitely more in my league.

Loose ends

I’ve had to start leaving my Racer Pullover at home lately. It’s gotten too big and heavy to comfortably carry around in my purse. I’ve decided to take my other Reunion Sock out of hibernation and get it finished up. I’m enjoying working with the Sea Wool again, which is good, since I’ve picked up a couple more skeins of it here and there. It comes in such lovely colors.

There’s only one minor problem with my plan: the Drooping Elm Leaf pattern is a 10-row repeat, and I’ve been having a difficult time memorizing it. I’m still relying on the chart, so it’s not optimal for knitting in a dim setting, or when I’m distracted by something else.

It’s been a roller-coaster of a week down in the research mines, but fortunately it ended on a happy note. Sometimes things just work out much better than you expect them to, and I’m very grateful that this was one of those times.

Another thing that I’m grateful for is that it’s now less than 2 weeks until pitchers and catchers report. So before you know it, we’ll be treated to more scenes like this one:

Joba Chamberlain earning his first major league win, against the Mariners, on September 5, 2007. He won in relief of Phil Hughes (who only gave up 2 runs before settling down), and it was a great thrill to get to see both of the young guns in the same game. I already have some tickets to games this upcoming season, and I’m looking forward to watching our young pitchers grow up.