A love of baseball combined with a passion for knitting was the theme on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
About 500 people with an interest in baseball and the needle arts showed up at the stadium to take part in the annual Stitch N' Pitch event.
They watched the Dodgers-vs.-Colorado Rockies game while knitting, crocheting or stitching their favorite garments.
"Basically, it was a bunch of knitters getting together to have a good time at the ball park," said Pam Wheat, a knitter. "We all just love to sit together and talk, and you get a couple of beers in us and a Dodger dog, it's all fun."
Wheat knitted half of a hat during the game, she said.
The national event was more than just about knitters in a stadium.
The National Needle Arts Assn., in conjunction with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hosted the event for the first time in Los Angeles as a means of promoting the needle arts, said Stephanie Steinhaus, owner of Unwind, a yarn and knitting merchandise store in Burbank.
About 15 other Major League baseball teams also participated in the event, said Libby Butler-Gluck, a spokesperson for the National Needle Arts Assn.
Steinhaus decided to put a philanthropic twist to the event. She asked her customers to help knit blankets for a teen shelter in the Los Angeles area.
Customers received snacks and a bag full of knitting materials.
Burbank resident Joanne McMahon managed to knit a square for a blanket during the game.
"Most of the gals were working on squares for the teen runaway shelters," McMahon said. "It was really fun."
It was the first time that Julie Mann took part in the Stitch N' Pitch event.
"I'm looking forward to doing it again," Mann said about the event.
Mann also completed a square for the blanket but was looking forward to knitting hats, scarves, afghans and socks.
"There are a lot of knitting stores that have cropped up because of the renewed interest in knitting," Mann said. "It's going on throughout the country. People are picking up on the knitting craze."
