Warm and Fuzzy: Knitter Marks Her Territory at Klekolo Coffee

A colorful knitted wool cummerbund appeared overnight last week on the tree that shades customers outside Klekolo World Coffee. 

Known as yarn storming or yarn bombing, this fiber artwork on Court Street is the handiwork of Klekolo's Middletown CT Stitch and Bitch group founder Vickey Allen of Durham, who spent the last three and a half months knitting the lime green, fuchsia, bright blue, white and eggplant decoration.

Stitch and bitch groups give fellow knitters [crocheters, needle-stitchers and tatters] a place to congregate periodically with whatever is on their needles and talk — or "bitch" about what's on their minds.

It elevates stitching, which in the 21st century is more of a solitary hobby, to a group activity that hearkens back to earlier times when girls learned needlework and quilting from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers as a normal part of female society.

The piece, which reads ...

STITCH AND BITCH  
Mon 7-9 KLEKOLO 
facebook.com 
middletown ct snb 

… in white letters is an especially clever advertisement for this weekly knitting group that meets at the eclectic gourmet coffee shop that inspires uncanny devotion in its fans. Allen says the club's genesis was a natural this past January after she discovered a drought of knitting groups in the area.

"When I started searching for a stitch and bitch in Middletown, I discovered that the one that was held at It's Only Natural Restaurant years ago had dissolved. I used to go to New Haven for a stitch and bitch there, but since I started working in Glastonbury, it was too long of a drive," Allen says. 

She chose Klekolo for practical reasons. "I couldn't guarantee to be at a location until 7, and most coffee shops in Middletown close at 8. I didn't really want to hold it at a restaurant because there's a formality of eating a meal that isn't conducive to sitting around and knitting for a few hours. I also didn't want to hold it at a bar because that's age prohibitive and, for those who don't drink, a potential turnoff," Allen says.

Turns out, Klekolo has become an ideal location for the group, Allen says. "Sitting there every Monday for three and a half months, I've become a member of the Klekolo 'family,' made up of customers and staff alike. Our group is very small — we have three regulars, including me, with random drop-ins every so often — but we have an amazing time just enjoying our craft and each other's company once a week."

It's a challenging piece for a knitter, something Allen had to design by creating a pattern for it on paper beforehand.

Klekolo World Coffee owner Yvette Elliott was excited when Allen approached her to start the SnB and loved the idea of the yarn bomb. "I decided that a yarn bomb was a fun way to grab people's attention while advertising the group. I started working on it, using scrap yarn from my stash, at the first SnB in January. Because I only worked on it for two hours a week (at the SnB), it took me the full three and a half months to finish it!"

Like any knitter who's "frogged" [so named for the pulling apart; think "rip-pit"] a portion of a scarf — or an entire sweater — Allen admits it's not perfect. But that's perfectly fine with her.

"It's my first attempt at a yarn bomb, so as a knitter, I'm very aware of the flaws in the piece. However, it does its job. The yarn bomb has garnered many compliments, and I hope that a few more people will join because of it," Allen says. 

Looks like this unconventional billboard is working — already Allen has been commissioned to make a hat by someone who saw the yarn bomb, "so the 'flyer' is a money-maker, too!"

Middletown Stitch and Bitch meets Mondays from 7-9 p.m. at Klekolo World Coffee, 181 Court St., Middletown.

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