Stitch and Bitch London
Encyclopedia
Stitch London is a knitting
group in London, England, who meet weekly in various venues across central London to knit in public. It is also a virtual knitting group whose members join via newsletter, Facebook
, Ravelry
, and Twitter
. Its members number in their thousands and it has a global membership despite being based in London.
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, The Science Museum and The Hunterian Museum at London's Royal College of Surgeons.
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 thousands of knitters to date.
Stitch London also organises charity knits, graffiti yarnstorming events, and workshops. They have worked with many of London's museums, most notably the Natural History Museum
, the Science Museum
and the Hunterian Museum.
book by Debbie Stoller
.
In February 2007, Stitch and Bitch London presented the London Lion Scarf, a 550 ft scarf knitted by over 150 knitters from 15 different countries, around the necks of the Trafalgar Square
Lions in central London. They raised over £2,500 for cancer research.
In March 2007, the team expanded to five: 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 9 June 2007, the group organised the London Knit Crawl for World Wide 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.
Stitchettes since 2007 have been Laura 'Purl Princess' Parkinson, Joelle 'Knitting Ninja' Finck, Laura 'Lady Knitsalot' deLaat, Candice 'Go Go Garter Girl' Lamb, Annisa 'Doctor Stitchlove' Chand and Jenny 'Startitis' Steere. Several ex-Stitchettes have gone on to pursue other creative interests, notably Laura Parkinson as 'Purl About Town' for GMC Publications' Knitting magazine.
In November 2009, Lauren O'Farrell took on Stitch London as a full-time business.
The role of Stitch Sages was introduced in late 2009. This offers members the chance to become knitting teachers and pass on their skills on a voluntary basis.
The group has raised thousands of pounds for charities including Cancer Research UK
, Médecins Sans Frontières
, Age Concern
, Macmillan Cancer Support
, Prostate UK and Breast Cancer Care
.
Keeping up with social media an online forum on social networking site Ravelry
, a page on Facebook
and account on Twitter
are all active.
Meetings in January 2009 and January 2010 saw around 200 knitters meet at the Royal Festival Hall
. The group had over 8,500 members as of January 2011 and continues to grow.
Stitch and Bitch London became Stitch London in April 2010.
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
group in London, England, who meet weekly in various venues across central London to knit in public. It is also a virtual knitting group whose members join via newsletter, Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, Ravelry
Ravelry
Ravelry is a free social networking website, beta-launched in May 2007. It functions as an organizational tool for a variety of fiber arts including knitting, crocheting, spinning, and weaving. Members share projects, ideas, and their collection of yarn, fiber, and tools via various components...
, and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Its members number in their thousands and it has a global membership despite being based in London.
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, The Science Museum and The Hunterian Museum at London's Royal College of Surgeons.
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 thousands of knitters to date.
Stitch London also organises charity knits, graffiti yarnstorming events, and workshops. They have worked with many of London's museums, most notably the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, the Science Museum
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
and the Hunterian Museum.
History
The group was founded in January 2005 in a south London pub. Founders Lauren O’Farrell, Laura Parkinson and Georgia Reid decided to enter the world of public knitting. The group was inspired by the Stitch 'n BitchStitch 'n Bitch
Stitch 'n Bitch is a phrase that has been used to refer to social knitting groups since at least World War II. 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...
book by Debbie Stoller
Debbie Stoller
Debbie Stoller is a New York Times best-selling American author, publisher and feminist pundit whose work includes magazines as well as books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York City, New York....
.
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
Lions in central London. They raised over £2,500 for cancer research.
In March 2007, the team expanded to five: 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 9 June 2007, the group organised the London Knit Crawl for World Wide Knit in Public Day
World Wide Knit in Public Day
World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes and takes place on the second Saturday of June each year. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each others company....
. Knitters knit in public on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
, in the Turbine Hall
Turbine Hall
The turbine hall, generating hall or turbine building is a building that is a part of any steam cycle or hydroelectric power plant which houses a number of components vital to the generation of electricity from the steam that comes from the boiler, or from the water coming from the reservoir...
at the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
, at Jubilee Gardens
Jubilee Gardens
Jubilee Gardens is a public park on the South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth. Created in 1977 to mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the site was formerly used for the Dome of Discovery and the adjacent Skylon Tower during the Festival of Britain in 1951...
, at the London Eye
London Eye
The London Eye is a tall giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England.It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually...
, and in Trafalgar Square.
Stitchettes since 2007 have been Laura 'Purl Princess' Parkinson, Joelle 'Knitting Ninja' Finck, Laura 'Lady Knitsalot' deLaat, Candice 'Go Go Garter Girl' Lamb, Annisa 'Doctor Stitchlove' Chand and Jenny 'Startitis' Steere. Several ex-Stitchettes have gone on to pursue other creative interests, notably Laura Parkinson as 'Purl About Town' for GMC Publications' Knitting magazine.
In November 2009, Lauren O'Farrell took on Stitch London as a full-time business.
The role of Stitch Sages was introduced in late 2009. This offers members the chance to become knitting teachers and pass on their skills on a voluntary basis.
The group has raised thousands of pounds for charities including Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
, Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
, Age Concern
Age Concern
Age Concern was the banner title used by a number of charitable organisations specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom....
, Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer....
, Prostate UK and Breast Cancer Care
Breast Cancer Care
Breast Cancer Care is a charity in the UK that provides information, practical assistance and emotional support to anyone affected by breast cancer. The organization was founded in 1972 by Betty Westgate who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1968...
.
Keeping up with social media an online forum on social networking site Ravelry
Ravelry
Ravelry is a free social networking website, beta-launched in May 2007. It functions as an organizational tool for a variety of fiber arts including knitting, crocheting, spinning, and weaving. Members share projects, ideas, and their collection of yarn, fiber, and tools via various components...
, a page on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and account on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
are all active.
Meetings in January 2009 and January 2010 saw around 200 knitters meet at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
. The group had over 8,500 members as of January 2011 and continues to grow.
Stitch and Bitch London became Stitch London in April 2010.