Ravens Training Camp Gone Awry...

On Monday, Jack and I went with some friends to Ravens' Training Camp at McDaniels College. We left early to watch the morning practice and hopefully, if we were lucky, get a few autographs from the players.




Ravenstown is located on a beautiful campus and, aside from watching the team practice, they've set up an entire village full of amusements for kids...and it's free! There are inflatable moon bounces, jousting and many skill games where the kids can try their hand at football.


Even though I couldn't have a needle in my hand that day, I'm always thinking about my needlework all the time and see inspiration everywhere. Remember when I went to the zoo and saw the peacock??

Well, football isn't usually inspiring very much of my needlework. This year, football is a little more interesting in Baltimore since we have a bit of drama surrounding the Ravens. We have three potential quarterbacks all vying for the starting quarterback position on Opening Day and the coach hasn't yet made the decision who is going to start. Oh yeah, more drama, we also have a brand new coach...

There's lots of speculation among the fans and the press right now as to who will get the spot...our non-performing veteran Kyle Boller on the left, the less experienced (but more talented than Kyle) Troy Smith who played for us last season, or the rookie first-round draft pick Joe Flacco (aka Wonder Boy) on the right....

I was actually contemplating all of this and watching all three play when I caught sight of this...

OK, I appreciate cheerleaders but I'm not quite the cheerleader type.

It wasn't really the cheerleaders that got my attention but it was their pom poms.

I couldn't take my eyes off of them...they were metallic on one side of each mylar strip and matte on the other and they shimmered in the sunlight when shaken. They were really great and my mind couldn't stop thinking about pom poms and how happy they are...

I saw them everywhere...

So I'm thinking, maybe the quarterback with the most Pom Poms should win?

I cannot help it. Pom poms are on my brain, so look what I've found...

Alicia Paulson from Posie gets Cozy posted this wonderful pom pom garland...

and Molly Chicken posted a tutorial on how to make a fabric pom pom like this one...


and The Purl Bee has posted a tutorial on how to make these Pom Pom Peds...

and here's a review of Clover's Pom Pom making tools by Knitter's Review... If you're a knitter and don't know about Knitter's Review, you need to put yourself on the mailing list. Every week she sends a newsletter reviewing yarn, a product or a book. It's wonderful!

And since we're on the topic of pom poms, you might remember this post where I talked about volunteering and cheering at the Lake Placid Ironman? Well, here's the picture I promised of my friends and me in our wetsuits, bathing caps and pom poms. Not the prettiest sight, but we sure cheered up a lot of wet and weary athletes...

Cheery-o!