Stitch and Bitch London

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Submit to the Knit"

Stitch and Bitch London is a London knitting group, who meet weekly in various venues across central London to knit in public.

The group is open to anyone who wants join. There are no restriction on who can join, and attendance is free.

Meetings happen all over London once a week. There is no set day. The group meets on weekday evenings, and venues vary from pubs and bars to cafes, and occasionally off-beat venues such as Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes.

They also send out a fortnightly newsletter, which include details of meeting venues, group news, knitting news, and the most bizarre and amusing knitting gems they can dig up on the web.

The group will also teach people to knit for free. Prospective knitters need to bring yarn and needles. The group has taught hundreds of knitters to date.

Stitch and Bitch London is an entirely non-profit group.

[edit] History

The group was founded in January 2005 in a South London pub. Laura Parkinson, Lauren O’Farrell and Georgia Reid decided to enter the world of public knitting. The group was inspired by the Stitch 'n Bitch book by Debbie Stoller.

The London Lion Scarf

In February 2007 Stitch and Bitch London presented the London Lion Scarf, a 550ft scarf knitted by over 150 knitters from 15 different countries, around the necks of the Trafalgar Square Lions in central London. They raised over £2500 for cancer research.

In March 2007 the team expanded to five, including Lauren "Deadly Knitshade" O'Farrell, Laura "Purl Princess" Parkinson, Joelle "Knitting Ninja" Finck, Laura "Lady Knitsalot" deLaat, and Candice "Go Go Garter Girl" Lamb.

In April 2007 the group won the UK's Largest Knitting Group prize, presented by the British Handknitting Association.

On the 9th of June 2007 the group organised the London Knit Crawl for Worldwide Knit in Public Day. Knitters knit in public on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern, at Jubilee Gardens, at the London Eye, and in Trafalgar Square.

In December 2007 Laura deLaat left the Stitchettes to pursue other creative interests.

In January 2008 Annisa "Doctor Stitchlove" Chand joined the Stitchettes.