MUNCIE, Ind. - Every Sunday at 3 p.m., a small group forms at the corner of The Cup, a coffee shop in The Village, and begins to pull out their craft supplies. They are here for the Stick N’ Bitch meetings.
Stephanie Keller is cross-stitching a bookmark of the Shire from “The Lord of the Rings.” She has been part of the Munice branch of Stitch N' Bitch for 10 years. She is one of the many regulars of the event. The barista at The Cup prepares her order beforehand. As someone who works from home, Keller says it is the best part of her week because it allows her to socialize with others.
“I've gotten several people back into cross-stitch because I was originally the only cross-stitcher in the group. And it's just, every Sunday we get together and we have a lot of fun,” Keller said.
The Stitch N' Bitch has its roots in World War II, and while the world was tied up in knots, women back home formed knitting clubs to do what the name suggests. The gathering is not only for people who do needlework, though.
“Some people bring their sketchbooks and stuff. Riley here likes to bring a lot of alternative stuff, like gluing googly eyes on things,” Keller said.
As the day goes on, more people join the circle, and what once started as three people quickly becomes multiple crafters that take up the room. Crafters whom Corvid Landsaw befriended.
“For the longest time, I convinced myself that I was incapable of making friends, and the people who were friends with me, I was like, ‘Yeah, they don't want to be my friend. They don't actually like me.’ I was like, ‘No, they do like me, and I'm capable of having people like me,’” Landsaw said.
After going to the gatherings for three weeks, the art and the community helped Landsaw get rid of this 13-year-long mental struggle.
“There are people in my corner, and it's capable of, and I'm totally capable of having more than like three people in my corner. I can have whole communities, and that's really nice,” Landsaw said.
It is a community formed one stitch at a time.
Contact Daniel Huber with comments at daniel.huber@bsu.edu.
