of baseball and lace

I crossed another item off my list of 101 yesterday—I went to an O's game at the opposing team's ballpark, and lived to tell the tale. This turned out to be a pretty easy one to accomplish, now that DC has a team, a new, Metro-accessible stadium, and a few non-rabid fans who didn't seem all that riled by the Orioles invasion. O's fans made a nice showing last night, filling at least half the stadium and resulting in the highest attendance since the stadium opened (which, granted, was just earlier this year, but Camden Yards sold out every game for months after it opened; Nats' stadium hadn't managed a sell out since opening day, which is a pretty pitiful showing for a brand spanking new ballpark). We did have a close run-in with a rather ferocious thunderstorm—we were told to take cover, but that's the thing about open air stadiums: not so much "cover." But we all lived to see the 9-1 Orioles victory.

It was pretty fun being the "obnoxious" out of town fan. And despite the rage I feel for Sux and Yanks fans that invade MY ballpark I don't really feel too badly about it, for a number of reasons. 1. D.C. has no business even having a baseball team—the Expos should've been moved to an area without a team, not to city primarily populated by transplants (who is actually from Washington, D.C.?) with a team an hour north. Also, they used to be the EXPOS, for crying out loud. 2. I'm pretty sure most of those Nats fans were once Orioles fans, who got lazy when a new team came to town (and probably rightly frustrated with the O's performance for the last 10 years) and opted to support the closer team. D.C. was O's territory long before it was Nats territory. 3. We weren't really obnoxious; we cheered loudly for our team, but we weren't talking smack or booing when the Nats succeeded—although since they managed only 1 run, there wasn't much to boo about. 4. In addition, I’m not a confused tourist just in town for the day; I suffer the atrocious commute into D.C. every day, so I think I've earned the right to be there on the weekends too. And 5. The Orioles are actually good this year—still in 4th place because our division is so tough, but above .500—and I need to enjoy it while it lasts. They've won all 4 games I've been to this year!

Now, on to the knitting. Here she is, all fixed up, Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell:

Pattern: Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell, Interweave Knits, Summer 2007
Size: 32"
Yarn: Cascade Pima Silk, 3.5 skeins
Needles: size 8, trusty Knit Picks Options
Mods: Zero

Loved this pattern, so simple, super quick knit, almost impossible to mess it up . . . unless, you know, you seam the wrong shoulders together. But only an idiot would do that. The pattern includes short rows, but I found them quite easy this time around, and they left no holes.

The Pima Silk is beautiful, too, the silk has a slight shimmer and it gives the color some depth. The yarn was soft, and not splitty at all.

I can't vouch for the fit, as this is going to Mom for her birthday, but once she has it, I'll try to get her to pose for some pictures.