A Bit of Cheer in the Off-Season :: Crackerjack, Completed

It’s been a little more than three months since my beloved Detroit Tigers flamed out in the postseason. I was pretty sad, of course, (and all the more so when the Tigers chose not to sign Torii Hunter for one more season), but there’s no crying in baseball. Now a new season is on the horizon and hope springs eternal. Precisely one month from today, the pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

In the meantime, I have something cheerful and warm to wear:

Crackerjack!

It’s about time I finally showed you my completed Crackerjack!

As you may recall, this was a conceptual knitting project. Using a worksheet I created, I determined how many stitches to cast on, and then I knit two rounds per game. Blue for home wins, white for home losses, grey for road wins, and orange for road losses.

single loop

The finished product was a long infinity loop, the perfect size for wearing loose or wrapping double.

doubled up

I knit mine in Stonehedge Fiber Mills Shepherd’s Wool Worsted (a Michigan yarn) (yes, I know I point that out every time I mention this yarn – it makes me happy!), on size 6 needles. Due to diligent swatching and calculating, it came out exactly the size I’d wanted (will wonders never cease?). It is 6 inches wide (12″ circumference, since it’s actually a tube) and 49 inches long.

It is soft, cozy, warm, and cheerful. I’m so happy with it!

winning!

Even though the Tigers didn’t make it to the World Series, they and a fantastic, winning season, and I am so thrilled to have my own wearable document of it. And now I have something to wear not only in the off-season, but to one of their early season games, when it’s bound to still be chilly.

future’s so bright, gotta wear my shades

While the rest of the sports world is getting hype for the Super Bowl, I’m busy making plans for a different sort of Crackerjack for the 2015 MLB season. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR OF THE TIGER. Or at least the year I get another new Tigers-themed knit done.

12 thoughts on “A Bit of Cheer in the Off-Season :: Crackerjack, Completed”

I love this!!! I’m a Minnesota Twins fan, so I’d have to pick my favorite colors for losses!

Sharp AND clever! Love Maria’s comment about needing to use her favorite colors for the losses – ha! Part of the pleasure in making this must have been not knowing how it would come out – a bit like knitting with Noro, and watching the colors change. I am very tempted to do one with SF Giants colors, and it would make such a wonderful gift for my favorite super-fan… thanks for the chart.

It looks great! Hopefully your team will make it all the way next year!

I saw your finished project and thought that this was a great idea! I don’t knit, but I can see something like this done in single crochet! Looks great!

I finished my Crackerjack too! I am curious to know what you are thinking of for this season. I am contemplating doing strips that I will sew together into a stadium blanket. Probably one strip per season…probably nine seasons. Quite the long term project, but I loved documenting this past season with knitting. And, hopefully, the Astros are on a long term upswing and I can see the color shift across the blanket.

I love baseball too! Fortunately, I am an SF Giants fan, so life is good (on evenly-numbered years)! I cannot believe they made it to post-season, much less won the WS. They played so unevenly. I am glad we don’t have Panda any more. He’s going to gain 50 lbs. and Boston is going to be merciless. Unfortunately, we let the engaging and talented Michael Morse go to the Marlins. Anyway, I love your Crackerjack cowl and I plan to embark on knitting one at the beginning of baseball season. Yours looks fabulous, as does your hair.

What a great idea! I might have to steal that for this season with the Cardinals. You hit a home run with that at bat!

I loved this idea when I saw it last spring, and yours turned out beautifully. You know, if they’d made it to the series your Crackerjack wouldn’t have been the perfect length anymore. Small price to pay, I know…..

This turned out great and looks great on you. I’m thinking of doing one this year; I’m a Rangers fan so it would be a lot of red white and blue, which isn’t all that interesting; I really like the orange and blue in yours. (However, I refuse to become a Tigers fan for the colors.) (heh).