Stitch and Bitch - Neighborhood craft group as an Information Ground
A number of years ago, when I had small children, I stumbled on to a great opportunity to have access to other mothers. While walking in the neighborhood one day, my husband met a woman who had a child with the same name as our son, and that discovery led to a conversation. The woman suggested that I might be interested in a group of women that she belonged to. They called themselves "Stitch and Bitch" and met on monthly basis at one of their homes to "stitch" and talk. Being new to the neighborhood, I jumped at the chance to be part of this group.
These women (about 7 or 8 of them) were mainly middle aged and married like me, however, they all had very different backgrounds and ideas about everything. We met regularly, but after about 10 years, some of us moved out of the neighborhood. As that happened, our meetings became less and less frequent. Some of us would have to drive across town to attend meetings and, eventually, the distance became an almost impossible bridge to gap. I still consider these women my friends, but I miss the "information" sharing that went on in the group. With teenage boys, I could really use the advice that they would be able to provide, not to mention that my handcrafts got done much sooner.
We still meet about once a year but the camaraderie we shared during our monthly "meetings" has never been quite the same in the few hours we're together now. The main thing I liked about the group was that members loved to give advice on any and every subject: mother-in-laws (found out that mine was perfect), child rearing (found out mine were like theirs!), schools (found out which were the good ones), politics (found out there is no right thinking), religion (mostly avoided this one, but periodically it would come up), homemaking (found out so many things!) and, of course, husbands (most of the talk focused on relationships). One of the women in the group got divorced during the time we met regularly and never really attended again after that. Sometimes, I wonder if she ever found a group that could be more useful given her new situation.
Thinking about this experience and sharing the story makes me think that I just may go home tonight and plan a "Stitch and Bitch" for next month!
Cathy Gerhart, Librarian, University of Washington Libraries