Better Living Through Stitching Together...WWKIP Day!

I'm all for big holidays - Christmas, Thanksgiving, The Fourth of July...but I also love small celebrations, such as the Solstice Purging Ceremony I hosted a couple of weeks ago.

And I also love World Wide Knit in Public Day, which promotes 'better living through stitching together.'

Painted by local artist Shelley Grund at Aromas during 2013 WWKIP day!

For years that stretch back beyond number, women have gathered together in small groups to, in some form, 'promote better living through stitching together.' I felt a touch of this connection to women past and present a few years back, when I spent an afternoon swifting yarn  over coffee at the kitchen table with a friend while kids played outside. As a busy working single mom in a very modern tech-driven world, it is rare for me to feel I'm doing something that my grandmothers before me might also have done.

When this happens, it touches on something deep inside of me, something our society doesn't always recognize in these fast-paced modern times. It's simple, but so necessary.

Connection.

Community.

Creativity.

And one more...Celebration.

WWKIP Day represents, for my friends and I, the celebration of our craft, our community, our creativity, and our deep and wonderful connections as women.

This year, we celebrated WWKIP Day once again at the lovely Aromas Village Coffee, a locally owned shop with a great selection of coffees, treats, accessories for ladies,  and even creations by local artists!

 

All over the world, there are places like this, but this is our local coffee shop and cafe, and we love it!

 

I can't think of a better place to hold our WWKIP Day gatherings, or just our random knit-in-public gatherings. So on a Friday afternoon in June, we gathered again to celebrate a craft that connects us, a craft that transcends age, race, and even gender. (Though I am focusing on women in this writing, yes, guys do knit and knit well! My son learned at 7 and my favorite yarn shop in Charlotte is owned by a gentleman knitter!)

The table was set, welcoming those who came (thank you Virginia for such a lovely display!)

My son settled in for a cozy afternoon with a little tech time...

 It was one of those days when just walking across a parking lot can leave you glistening, but Aromas was nice and cool inside, the perfect place to work on a fall sweater project!

Other hands were busy with infant hats and handmade dish towels...

 

Virgina with some of the many infant hats she makes and donates to hospital.

It was a great afternoon of not only being with friends and knitting, but also engaging others in the magic of our craft. It's a joke among knitters that if you want to make new friends, knit in public! I have met many people and even helped facilitate the love of knitting into children just by answering questions and sharing tips while knitting in a public place! Which is one of the primary reasons we chose to celebrate WWKIP Day! 

Organizations like the Finnish-based Martha Organization celebrate home economics and the value craft and tradition can add to our daily lives, and are so valuable to promoting the idea that being creative is not about getting rich by selling what you make, but rather about enriching your home and your life! In the past, I focused on creativity solely as a way to make a living...but through knitting, I've learned to focus on creativity to make a LIFE. And I'm so much happier.

And I fully agree with the founders of WWKIP Day...knitting does promote better living through stitching together! 

A special thanks to Aromas Village Coffee for letting us gather to knit in public there not only on WWKIP Day, but all through the year!