I took the special Amtrak Stitch ‘n Ride train from Sacramento to Santa Clara on Saturday morning, February 28, 2009. I actually live in Oakland but used to commute to the City from Davis for 5 ½ years before moving back to the Bay Area. But I love the Stitch ‘n Ride event so much that my husband drove me all the way to Sacramento Saturday morning to get on the train at the point at which it began its route at 7:50 a.m. that morning. At the Sacramento train station, I quickly picked up my bright purple Stitch ‘n Ride goodie bag made especially for this event, and then met up with my former Amtrak commuters’ knitting group. We were fortunate to get a table on board (a prized and necessary commodity for the three-hour journey to Stitches West, especially when you intend to knit or crochet for the entire ride). This year’s Stitch ‘n Ride had its largest group ever: a total of 476 passengers – all knitters (with a few crocheters)! Amtrak provided a 10-car train (including two café lounge cars) for the ride to Santa Clara. This was the largest train set ever to travel the Capitol Corridors route in its approximately 17-year history! Those passengers who provided a knitted or crocheted chemo cap for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society were given tickets to participate in the on-board drawing for a number of special knitting prizes. I am pleased to say a number of the passengers contributed caps, with some even contributing several. When the train arrived at the Santa Clara stop, Amtrak provided reserved shuttle buses for our quick trip over to the Convention Center for the Stitches West event, where we spent the day shopping for yarn, talking to vendors, looking for patterns and buttons, viewing a fashion show, and having lunch. I think the best part of the day was looking at all the lovely knitted fashions several of the Amtrak passengers and the Stitches West participants wore to the event. As a matter of fact, I wore a crocheted vest I made myself and was stopped a number of times to be given compliments, including one lady who said she had made the same pattern. I would recommend that you plan to take the Stitch ‘n Ride to Stitches West next year to see for yourself just how much fun it is to hang out with so many enthusiastic knitters all in one place.
Bryana Schroder
Knot Just Knitting Member
1 comment:
This sounds like the O-N-L-Y way to go!! I will plan to go next year. I had no idea that AMTRAK had the Stitch N Ride special. Thanks so much for the report. I simply love the AMTRAK ride from Emeryville to San Jose. AMTRAK makes it so easy and there are shuttle buses to downtown S.J. and back to AMTRAK every 15 minutes.
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