I've long known that knitting is more fun when you do it together. That's why I invited a bunch of friends to come knit with me in a café in NYC, back in 1999. I called it Stitch 'n Bitch, a name that¹s been around since the 1940's, because I thought it conveyed the kind of cheeky fun I was hoping to have. I never thought back then that our little group could inspire a nationwide and then international phenomenon, but it seems to have done just that, and I couldn't be more pleased. And nowhere is it more exciting to me to see the existence of lively Stitch 'n Bitch groups than in Holland because that's the very country from which my love of all things stitchy stems! Raised by a Dutch mother, I spend lots of time as a child in Holland visiting relatives, especially crafty aunts and great aunts. And during our family get-togethers, along with the koffee and the koek, there was always needlework going on. Surrounded by female relatives who would chat while they knit, crocheted, cross stitched, embroidered, or tatted, I was taught the ways of the stitch at an early age.

When I published my first book, Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, in 2003, I visited Holland and travelled to some yarn stores. Nobody knits in Holland anymore, they all told me, as their yarn and needles were all put on sale. Today things are different, and I'm thrilled. By way of the US, it seems, knitting has come back to Holland, which, for me, is where it all
began anyway. I was so excited to come to the Stitch 'n Bitch Day in Holland last year, and meet all the fantastic knitters, young and old. I can't wait to come back again this year!

Debbie Stoller