Where you there? I know several thousand of you were and it was a BLAST! The 5th Annual Seattle Mariners Stitch 'n Pitch night was held last Thursday, August 27th and it truly was the best ever! Nineteen vendors, Deborah Norville throwing out the First Pitch and more needles and yarn than you've ever seen before! Here's a little tour for you . . .
For those of us at Pacific Fabrics & Crafts, Stitch 'n Pitch started back in April. As the presenting sponsors, we signed our contract with the Mariners, approved the cute Project Bag that came free with knitter's section tickets, then contacted our suppliers to ask for cool stuff for those who bought tickets and Goodie Totes at our stores and invited Deborah Norville, host of Inside Edition and an avid knitter, to come and throw out the First Pitch on game night. Arrangements were made with Deborah (with the help of Premier Yarns, the company who makes her Serenity yarn collection), flights and hotels were booked and gorgeous yarns, books and other delightful yarnie things began pouring into our offices over the next few months. Our ever so efficient summer assistant packed up 600 Goodie Totes, 50 Lucky Row bags and tied bright tags to hundreds of pairs of Goodie Tote Challenge prize needles.
And finally, the BIG day came! We arived at Safeco Field about 2:30pm to set up our HUGE booth (above), stocked half of it with the dreamiest affordably priced luxury yarns we could find, filled the rest with baskets and shelves of uber fabulous sock yarns and hung tons of samples. The Mariners set up a special backdrop behind Deborah Norville's table and we were ready for Deborah and our stitching friends by 5:00pm when the gates opened.
At 6:30pm, I trotted down to the field with Sharon and Anna-Beth (left to rgiht above top), and Deborah Norville (above bottom) to get ready for the First Pitch. Deborah is a very genuinely nice person who was just a joy to work with. She attracted lots of attention, of course, and was surrounded by cameras most of the night. The Mariners presented her with a special jersey and due to lots of good advice (some of it from her son, who is a big Mets fan!), she threw the First Pitch very nicely right to the catcher on the mound. She was so nervous before she threw the ball and so excited that she threw it well!
Then it was back to the booth for an hour or so of book and yarn signing and more photographers. Deborah cheerfully chatted with her knitting fans (above), gave a little stitching advice here and there, toured the booth and commented on what gorgeous yarn we had brought. She says she always carries at least one knitting project with her for those times when she is waiting to do interviews, waiting behind the scenes or traveling from location to location. Sure enough, out of her tote bag came two projects that she brought to work on later in the game when she went to sit with her two youngest children who came to the game with her.
This is one of our favorite "outside of the stores" events of the year! We love meeting all of you, seeing which yarns you love, watching people knit and we especially love seeing what those who bought our Goodie Tote made with the contents. This year Skacel Yarns (home of those marvelous Addi Needles) provided a huge skein of fluffy No Kidding yarn and patterns to go in our Goodie Totes and that became our Challenge project. Those who made a project (or at least had it started) from the Challenge yarn came to our booth and collected a lovely prize of knitting needles donated by Clover Needlecraft. I got lots of pictures and lots of smiles from the projects and their creators (above). So fun!!!
The Seattle Mariners are incredible hosts who willingly attended to our needs and really got into the spirit of the event. From the knitting elevator host to the guys who delivered the Lucky Row bags to the stands, they were amazing! But, this story would not be complete without a big Seattle size thank you to our wonderful suppliers who sent us fabulous things to include in our Goodie Totes this year! I can say thank you here,and you can say thank you by looking for these brands when you shop. Sound like a deal? Thank you to Bernat Yarn, Cascade Yarns, Clover Needlecraft, Debbie Bliss Yarns, Patons Yarn, Premier Yarns (Deborah's Serenity supplier), Lion Brand Yarn, Leisure Arts Publishing (publisher of Deborah's book) and Skacel. Without their generosity, Stitch 'n Pitch might not happen and definitely wouldn't be the same!
Didn't make it this year? You'll have another chance next year and we'll let you know as soon as we have the date for 2010! ~ Annette
Great fun!
Wish there had been enough goodie bags for all of us who were left out.
Maybe next year.
Posted by: Robyn | October 10, 2009 at 10:15 PM