Stitch and Bitch Recap

Last night my friends and I got together for our first ever Stitch and Bitch night. Only two of the five of us already knew how to knit (that would be Chrissy and Mary) but the rest of us were mostly game to try it out.

We started with drinks - wine for most of us, Pellegrino for those with nursing babies, grabbed our plates of snacks and settled in. But before we started clacking away, we chatted away. I don't know about you and your friends, but when we get together its a gabfest. We all have stories to share. We get together often, but not often enough where we are totally caught up on each other's lives. So it's fun to dish on what is happening, whether it is good or bad or ugly.


I read this article a few weeks ago, and it really resonated within me. I too, miss the village I never had. I yearn for that sort of closeness, that community, and wish that is how life could be. Why don't we have this? Why isn't this an option? Maybe it can be - we just need to turn our priorities around, add balance to our lives - there has to be a way. This night, our Stitch and Bitch, was a first step. I read in one of the books I checked out about knitting, that knitting was the only social outlet for many women in the "olden days". Knitting was rebellious (Madame Defarge), it was a source of income, it was even a way to identify your husband if he was lost at sea (Guernsey or Gansey sweaters). It was a sense of community. It heals. They say that knitting can help a person recovering from a traumatic event. It is also said that your project can hold your emotions, that when you look back on it later, you remember what it was you were thinking about at the time.

So with all of this in mind, I arranged my own little community of women to get together and get clicking.

I did check out some books from the library about knitting, just in case anyone wanted to flip through them. There were so many to choose from! There were vintage pattern books from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. There were modern books, books about knitting for babies, about knitting cute little stuffed animals, and then there were books that were vaguely naughty sounding. They weren't, but their titles were, and in the spirit of sisterhood and rebellion, those were the ones I brought home.

The Knitting Sutra is more of a memoir, about the meditative journey of knitting. I am actually reading it right now, it is pretty interesting! Dominknitrix has patterns for things like knitted hats with devil horns or sweaters with skulls on them - punk rock style knitting. Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation, of course I had to get that one! The book that started it all, it changes the stereotypes of what one can knit. And then my favorite, Not Tonight Darling, I'm Knitting. This book was full of facts - the ones I talked about above actually are from this book. I was fascinated by the history of knitting, by the benefits, by the little quirks of detail within the pages. It also breaks knitting down into the basics, with introductions to different types of yarn, etc. 

Overall, I didn't get too far. But I started, and that counts, right? I am not going to give up either. I am going to finish it! I would love to be able to make all sorts of things - hats, scarves, little animals. I mean seriously, this is adorable. Or these. Or this!It just might take awhile. And maybe more of these nights with my friends.

Are you a knitter? Any recommendations for us?