Open Season

Someone asked me, Where were you and what were you doing when you heard John McCain had picked Sarah Palin as his soul running mate? Hrumph. Creepy question. I think it's just a bit inappropriate to compare the Second Woman to Be Nominated by a Major Party for Veep (assuming all goes as planned this evening) with the World Trade Center disaster.

But if you must know, I was with DH at the U.S. Open, watching Olympic giant-killer Jie Zheng gamely battling 2nd-seed Jelena Jankovic, who is extremely flexible and plays like composite is clay (they racked up 11 deuce points in one game), also munching a ham and arugula crêpe and coveting the giant tennis ball a couple rows down.

Although perhaps the most notable match of the day featured a rising star, 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki, pictured above, defeating 14th-seed Victoria Azarenka. (Notice the serve speedometer – the women hit hard.)



At the end of the match, Wozniacki seemed very happy to participate in a U.S. Open tradition – the winner autographs a few tennis balls and hits them into the stands. Alas, I didn't get one. Autograph hounds also tote around those giant tennis balls and line up courtside. I get a kick out of seeing people holding them out hopefully, as this bunch waiting for Roger Federer (in the red polo shirt, click to embiggen). Federer had unexpected trouble with his opponent, Thiago Alves, who played the match of his life.



In between matches we gawped at old Shea Stadium on the left, currently in its last season, and new Citi Field on the right (and a subway yard in the middle distance). I never liked Shea and feel no nostalgia for it; I can't wait to see the inside of the new stadium, said to combine the charm and beauty of Ebbets Field with all the conveniences of a modern ballpark.



And of course I had to take a picture of the Unisphere at dusk. I'm basically happy with this photo, except it doesn't capture the scale of the thing (140 feet or 42 m tall).



Over the rest of Labor Day weekend, I finished my second and last pair of socks for Summer of Socks, Nanner Socks by Wendy Johnson, worked top-down in sportweight handspun by Melissa. They remind me of Bananas Foster, the famed NOLA dessert (thank goodness Hurricane Gustav did less damage than initially forecast). The Nanners stitch pattern, reminiscent of Spirogyra, has a strong bias. If the sock leg were long enough, the pattern would spiral around it completely. Which makes me wonder what effect S-spun singles would have. Hm....



Summer of Socks certainly started with a bang this year and I've enjoyed it thoroughly, even if I've been ::cough:: less productive than I would have liked. Many, many thanks go to Jessica and her terrific crew for the most amazing knit-along ever! I loved the addition of the Ravelry group, the CafePress store, and the Google group. The only suggestion I'd make – to adjust the season to run from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend – is horribly U.S.-centric, alas.

Astonishing to relate, I'm in no -alongs at the moment except for the perpetual ones – it's open season and, well, you know what they say about idle hands. I've been trying to decide if this is funny. I'm intrigued by that wandering eyepatch myself. What do you think?