Stitch 'n Bitch is a phrase that has been used to refer to social knitting groups since at least World War II.[1] Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitters Handbook, Published in 2003, was the first in a series of best-selling instructional books on knitting and crochet all titled with the phrase Stitch 'n Bitch.
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Stitch 'n Bitch is a name used by knitting groups that meet on a weekly or monthly basis at locations throughout the world. This use of the term originates as early as the Second World War.[1][2] In 1999, Debbie Stoller started a Stitch 'n Bitch group in NYC's East Village, which was open to anyone who wanted to come to knit along or learn to knit. In 2000, she wrote about her groups in BUST magazine, of which she is the editor-in-chief. Brenda Janish read the article and started the Chicago Stitch 'n Bitch group. That article inspired Vickie Howell to start the Los Angeles Stitch 'n Bitch group and later the Austin Stitch 'n Bitch group.[3] Like Stoller's original group, today's Stitch 'n Bitch clubs are generally casual groups of knitters who meet in public spaces such as bars or cafes for socializing and sharing knitting advice. These groups are free or small fee required memberships and open to the public, and are listed in a directory of worldwide knitting groups that was started by Janish and today is maintained by Stoller: Official Home of Stitch 'n Bitch. As of 2010, the site lists over 700 such groups.
A 2003 book by Debbie Stoller, Stitch 'n Bitch : The Knitter's Handbook, sold almost 200,000 copies in the first six months of publication.[4] The book states that Debbie Stoller founded New York City's first Stitch 'N Bitch knitting group. In January 2004, Newsweek reported that Stoller's New York group had inspired spin-offs in Chicago and Los Angeles.[5] A second book in the series, Stitch 'n Bitch Nation includes many vignettes from groups located across America as well as international locations such as England and Japan. A third book in the series, Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, is a primer on crochet, and the fourth book in the series, Son of Stitch 'n Bitch is a book of mens' patterns A fifth book is scheduled for publication in Fall 2010.
From 2005 to 2008, Stitch 'n Bitch was the focus of a trademark dispute.
In June 2005, Sew Fast/Sew Easy filed a trademark application for Stitch & Bitch to designate a line of knitting and sewing supplies. As of 2007 this application is suspended.[6] In fall 2005, due to letters claiming trademark infringement from Sew Fast/Sew Easy's lawyers, knitting groups that had accounts with CafePress.com were forced to remove all items featuring the phrase "Stitch 'n Bitch". Local groups that communicated with each other through Yahoo! Groups were similarly forced to remove "Stitch 'n Bitch" from the name and description of their group.[7] Some groups were deleted, but most groups were able to change their name on Yahoo! to SNB.[8] CafePress and Yahoo! do not evaluate merits of infringement claims, they just protect their interest by removing disputed content.[7]
In May 2004, Stoller made four trademark applications regarding the term Stitch 'N Bitch:
In July 2005, these four trademark applications were denied[9] for being confusingly similar to that of Sew Fast/Sew Easy. In November 2005, Stoller filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Sew Fast/Sew Easy's trademark Stitch & Bitch Café.[10] In August 2006, Stoller's four trademark applications were reinstated.
In February 2006 a website was started at the internet address freetostitchfreetobitch.org, calling for a boycott on Sew Fast/Sew Easy.[11] The boycott was covered in the summer 2006 edition of Knit.1 magazine and the fall 2006 edition of Vogue Knitting.[7][8] In 2008, after an agreement was reached between Stoller and SFSE, the call for a boycott was ended.
In 2008, Sew Fast Sew Easy and Debbie Stoller reached a settlement in which Debbie Stoller retained the use of the mark in knitting while Sew Fast Sew Easy retains the use for sewing. Since then all four of Stoller's trademarks have now been registered.
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