chicks with sticks

About a year ago, my knitting addiction had taken full hold and at the time, I didn't really know anyone else who "got" the knitting thing. I was jealous of reading about everyone else's hip knitting clubs and all the fun they seemed to have. I decided I wanted to join a knitting club. I Googled and e-mailed and scoured the internet and pestered knitting store owners to excess. And I couldn't find a knitting club in my city. It became clear that if I wanted join a knitting club, I was going to have to create one, myself. I started by e-mailing a few people I kind of knew who knit or crocheted and asked if they would be interested in getting together to knit...and they said yes. I called some coffee shops and bars in the city and asked permission to come and knit...and they said yes. I posted some messages in some online forums and there seemed to be some more interest. I immediately started the Yahoo group, and now anyone could find us. That's when things started getting good. Chicks with Sticks was born. Now, after a year, we have 150 chicks and dudes on our Yahoo group. Not everyone comes to the weekly meetings, but there's an ever-changing, ever-evolving group of about 30 who come to knit on a semi-regular basis.

I could not be more excited (well, amazed really) about the way this knitting club has grown over the past year, and I feel so fortunate to be a part of this eclectic group of people. I don't know if there's any other way I could have met such interesting, talented, funny, intelligent, quirky, sincere, and unique knitters and friends. It seems strange to get so sentimental about something that is usually just plain nonsense (and I mean that in a good way!) but this knitting club has truly been a gift.