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Yesterday was the Sticks n Stitch event with the Nashville Predators. My friend Cassie bought me a ticket for my birthday, and it was lots of fun. As a special event, they offered a drawing for a ride on the zamboni for anyone that donated 3 hand-knit hats. Here are my hats, with my somewhat reluctant models.

Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Red Heart Collage, one pink and one blue/gray
Modifications: The first two hats were knit to pattern, but on the third I forgot to do the increases and to go up a needle size. Oops. I’m sure it’ll fit someone though.

So I turned in my hats, filled out my entry form, and found a seat in the back with Cassie. I was far enough away that I couldn’t really hear what was being announced, but I heard my name. I asked what I had won, and I found out that I’d won a ride on the zamboni! I had to sign a waiver, I guess just in case I fell off. I was a little nervous, because of all the people that would be there. Then I realized that most people would be doing the whole bathroom/snacks thing, and the rest probably wouldn’t be paying attention anyway. With 10 minutes left in the 2nd period, I headed down to take my seat.

The zamboni is really tall, to the point that I wasn’t sure I could get on it without a step. The first step was about waist level (well, my waist level), and I could only hold on to one side. I figured it out though, and climbed on up.

Sorry for the blurry or weird colors. The lighting was really off down there. I was riding the black zamboni, and it looks like this when it’s in the storage shed.

There were lots of “danger” and “do not touch” signs. I buckled my seatbelt, didn’t touch anything, and was ready to go!

We drove to the tunnel, and had to wait while a fancy car drove around. Then it was time to go!

We drove around on the ice for awhile, and I waved at people. It was a bit disorienting, but I found the knitting section waving at me. It actually took longer than I thought it would. Here we are getting ready to go down the last strip.

After we got off the ice, Scooter (the driver) started hitting the breaks to make it bounce like one of those lowriders. It was pretty fun.

The zamboni picks up lots of “snow” as it scrapes the ice. Once it gets back to the parking area, they just dump it all out.

Once I got finished I took a photo of the back…

…and then I got a picture with Scooter.

I didn’t get to knit on the zamboni (I didn’t think I could wave, knit, and not fall off), but I was wearing a handknit sweater and socks. That should count, right? It was a great game, even though we ended up losing and I didn’t get any knitting done (it was dark, I was using navy blue, and I wanted to watch the game). I hope to have more knitting events in the future!

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