"Harlem" Stitch 'N Bitch

So, I finally ventured out to the Harlem SnB because, for the first time since I've been on the Harlem yahoo group, it looked like a meeting would actually take place. It did -- and it was me and the woman who organized it, Dede, and you know, in many ways it was the best of the SnBs so far. Dede is really nice and open and fun and easy to talk to. Her husband, Dave, is also nice, and his band, Cassidy, played while we knitted. At first, I thought I was the only one there (cause I didn't see anyone knitting), and so I ordered tea and sat by myself at a larger table, but it turned out that the people who helped me find my "ruby chai" out of the teas in the box were the ones I was looking for.

La Negrita isn't officially in Harlem. And Dede doesn't officially live in Harlem. I was actually the most Harlem thing about the Harlem SnB -- which of course I wouldn't have expected. Oh, I liked it there. A bar, a coffee/tea shop, it was both. It had a living room type space with couches, though we didn't sit there (I was afraid I wouldn't be spotted if other knitters arrived). Dave played music while we got to know each other.

He played "Life on Mars!"

Then a friend of theirs, Rob, and his friend Achmed came, but they seemed disappointed that we weren't "bitching" as we were "stitching," since they were expecting that. Like why weren't we bitching about globalization? I proposed that they come next time and propose topics for us to bitch about.

Achmed wanted to learn how to knit, so I taught him. I had an extra ball of yarn, Fonty Velourine in goldenrod, just in case I was bored working on the ridged ribbon scarf, and a pair of size 6 needles, so he learned to cast on and knit a few rows! Even though I'm still a beginner, I really like teaching other people to knit. So, we have 3 members now. Perhaps Rob will come back and learn how?

This was the most intimate and relaxed of all of my SnB experiences. I almost didn't go cause I was feeling "knitted out" from the sweater experience and then knitting at the laundromat this afternoon (where I met 2 women I hadn't seen there before, one who crochets and one who knits). When I get back from Portland in three weeks (!!), I'll want to go back (to SnB, that is, though I'll probably have to go to the laundromat as well). I can imagine that once school starts, I'm probably not going to want to go downtown on Tuesday nights, so this will be really nice.

Except for posting the finished soy silk scarf, which I'm going to bind off tonight, this might be my last post in a while since I really need to stop knitting and writing about knitting and start thinking about packing and planning our vacation!

Oh, and if you're reading this Dede, I hope you have a great time in Rochester!