Saturday, 300 or so knitters from Sacramento totally overwhelmed the Amtrak Capitol Corridor Stitch 'n' Ride Train to Stitches West! (Here's my little group waiting for the train home, loaded down with our Stitches purchases.)
The ladies at Capitol Corridor had their fingers on the knitting pulse, and had requested extra train cars, but the powers-that-be just couldn't imagine that that many knitters actually exist in the WORLD, much less little ol' Sacramento. Then, of course, MORE knitters boarded at every station along the way: Davis, Martinez, and Richmond, etc. We filled the entire 5-car train, including the cafe car! As a result, nearly 100 people stood or sat in the aisles.
Although many folks were understandably upset by the lack of seating, the Capitol Corridor ladies did a great job of making sure everyone had a goodie bag or a raincheck for one -- and the plethora of wonderful raffle prizes would have brightened anyone's day. Good job!
Can you imagine a train jam-packed with knitters?? It was fabulous! People were walking through the train chatting with everyone and admiring works-in-progress and works-being-worn. What a friendly, cheerful, beautiful trainload! (Although we did really feel sorry for the non-knitters who were innocently swept up in the needle-toting hordes! You could tell who they were by their deer-in-the-headlight expressions -- and total lack of yarn, of course.) :)
With this level of ridership -- and the presence of a couple of new-believer Amtrak officials and their knitting wives who happened to be on board -- Capitol Corridor now has the clout to demand -- and receive -- a dedicated knitting train for next year. Yay! One small step for knitterkind . . .
After all the fun on the train, Stitches was kind of an afterthought. :) By Saturday, a lot of the Market merchandise was picked over, although you certainly couldn't tell by the stuffed shopping bags everyone lugged home! I managed to score a skein of lightweight Socks that Rock in the Bleeding Hearts colorway before lunch, but people who visited the booth after lunch reported that all the lightweight yarn was gone. There seemed to be lots of Sock Candy, and other yarns, though.
All-in-all, a fun day that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. Knitting on a train packed with friendly knitters is a great experience. I'm looking forward to next time!
The ladies at Capitol Corridor had their fingers on the knitting pulse, and had requested extra train cars, but the powers-that-be just couldn't imagine that that many knitters actually exist in the WORLD, much less little ol' Sacramento. Then, of course, MORE knitters boarded at every station along the way: Davis, Martinez, and Richmond, etc. We filled the entire 5-car train, including the cafe car! As a result, nearly 100 people stood or sat in the aisles.
Although many folks were understandably upset by the lack of seating, the Capitol Corridor ladies did a great job of making sure everyone had a goodie bag or a raincheck for one -- and the plethora of wonderful raffle prizes would have brightened anyone's day. Good job!
Can you imagine a train jam-packed with knitters?? It was fabulous! People were walking through the train chatting with everyone and admiring works-in-progress and works-being-worn. What a friendly, cheerful, beautiful trainload! (Although we did really feel sorry for the non-knitters who were innocently swept up in the needle-toting hordes! You could tell who they were by their deer-in-the-headlight expressions -- and total lack of yarn, of course.) :)
With this level of ridership -- and the presence of a couple of new-believer Amtrak officials and their knitting wives who happened to be on board -- Capitol Corridor now has the clout to demand -- and receive -- a dedicated knitting train for next year. Yay! One small step for knitterkind . . .
After all the fun on the train, Stitches was kind of an afterthought. :) By Saturday, a lot of the Market merchandise was picked over, although you certainly couldn't tell by the stuffed shopping bags everyone lugged home! I managed to score a skein of lightweight Socks that Rock in the Bleeding Hearts colorway before lunch, but people who visited the booth after lunch reported that all the lightweight yarn was gone. There seemed to be lots of Sock Candy, and other yarns, though.
All-in-all, a fun day that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. Knitting on a train packed with friendly knitters is a great experience. I'm looking forward to next time!
