Throwing up the Bat Signal

*** This is a long and rambling post. If you're a skimmer and uninterested in my ramblings, skip to the end for the good stuff.**


I am fortunate enough to live in a major metropolitan area that is overrun with knitters. Even more fortunate to know and love some of these girls/woman/crazy people. They have become my community. And I love it.

I moved to Boston about four and a half years ago. I had graduated from a M.S. program at UGA and moved to New England for a job with a small environmental non-profit. Originally from the northeast this move was not too scary for me. I was happy to be leaving the south and anxious to get back "home". Unfortunately this move was my forth in three years and the third that brought me to a place where I didn't really know anyone. For real. This sucked. I didn't have any friends for a very very long time. I knew people and I had all of my best friends from my youth a phone call away but there was not anyone here for me. The kinds of people that you can open up to and be real. It was hard. I was depressed. My boyfriend (now my ex-boyfriend and husband) was still in Georgia and I had no friends. I did love my job - so not all was lost. I also loved loved loved living in Boston, a childhood dream of mine fulfilled.

To curb my loneliness I decided to take classes at a local adult education program. The first class I took was pottery. Lots of fun but a pretty solitary experience. I decided to take kickboxing (sport of the future). Didn't quite fit in with the "pony-tail black pants I spent more on my underwear than you ever dreamt was possible" crowd in the class. This brought me to the knitting class.

By this point in time Rob had moved up to Boston and we were living in our new condo, engaged and living the good life. Rob may be my husband, the love of my life and the person that I would want to head off to a desert island with, but he is unable to fill the part of me that craves a loving welcoming community. Something that I still did not have even after living in this fair city for a year and a half.

My knitting class was great. The participants were interesting, the teacher was phenomenal and I really truly enjoyed the craft. I took a second class and after that attended my instructor's weekly meetings at her home. The group was lively but not one I clicked with on a deeper level. About this time our wedding plans got ramped up and we were on the go a lot. Attending the knitting group fell to the back seat.

This was about the time I discovered the online knitting community. Being unable to make it to my knitting group I was a new knitter without a resource to answer my knitting questions. Google brought me to a few web logs. I slowly became enchanted with the people, the community, the inspiration, and the form of communication. I choose to start my blog as a way to work on my writing, to feel more connected to a community, and to learn html. I have accomplished all of this and more.

In the end, I have met and gained an incredible in person, real deal, group of friends. I see these girls quite often, love to be with them and seek their comfort and companionship as a matter of choice and necessity. I often do not blog about our get togethers. Mostly because they are just a normal part of my everyday existence. There are a lot of things about this existence that do not find their way here. Not for any reason really, just lack of time and some sense that it is not extradoridinary. But it is extraordinary. As Rob and I contemplate our next life moves, where we are going and what our goals are, these people make it more complicated. In the best possible way.

I can now say, after four and a half years in Boston, that I have a community. A group that I love and one that I would hate to loose. Pretty freaking cool.

All of this to say -

The other day I called for a meeting with some of these girls. Just needed to see them, having not been around most of them much the last month or so I was iching for my girls. I sent out an email to see who was around and up for a get-together. As I was composing an email I thought, "Hmm, this is a lot like Commissioner Gordon putting up the bat signal for Batman."



I thought it would be fun to put together a "Knitters Signal". For crime fighting and general clean hearted fun. You can use this to call on your posse. So. Fun.