Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2009

As the days grow colder, it’s time to get some nice warm knitwear—and if you’re keeping up with the current trends, you’ll make it yourself. Stitch & Bitch groups, where like-minded knitters and crocheters create everything from scarves to jackets in a warm and casual atmosphere, are held in cities worldwide, including Tokyo (www.meetup.com/TokyoStitchandBitch). If you imagine this to be a group for grannies, you’d be wrong, too. Many of the participants are in their 20s, and men—yes, men—can also be seen from time to time. Meetings are held in English, and most members are foreigners who did knitting or crocheting before moving to Japan. All nationalities are welcome, as are beginners, making it a fantastic place to learn and exchange knowledge. There are several reasons why younger people are turning back to the needle and yarn. What with the global economic downturn, consumers don’t want to shell out for anything that they could make themselves. Others want to create unique items that can’t be bought for any price. Yet another factor is the books and websites that make knitting fashionable: check out the KNITkicks blog (http://knitkicks.wordpress.com) or books like Stefanie Japel’s Glam Knits and Tanya Alpert’s Haiku Knits. And with celebs such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Roberts now getting in on the act, we can expect the “hip knits” craze to continue for a while.

For more information, see www.knithappens.com