SWANs night out

Last fall, my neighbor and good friend, Denise, asked me to go with her to a stitching group. This group is composed of a dozen or so ladies who get together on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. The purpose of the meeting is to stitch, drink coffee (or other non-alcoholic drink) and talk. I'm not much of a joiner, but I decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did! I was welcomed into the group in a way I would never have anticipated. In most situations, my style is to keep my mouth shut and get the lay of the land before I start adding to conversations. These ladies made me feel so welcome that I was jumping in with both feet. What a wonderful experience.

To begin with, I thought it was just a bunch of friends, which they are. However, after a month or so an e-mail to the group referred to them as SWANs. What in the world??? So, of course, I had to ask. Turns out that they agreed that they needed to call themselves something and thus SWAN, which stands for Sophisticated Women Addicted to Needlework. All of the group members -- except me -- are counted cross stitchers. Oh, I think they have other needle crafts that they do from time to time, but their main craft is counted cross stitch. I used to make counted cross stitch projects, but I guess it just isn't the craft for me because the phase didn't last. I appreciate the workmanship that goes into the items, but I'll let others do the work and I'll admire from afar.

I was afraid that I might not fit in with the others because I'm not a cross stitcher, but Denise assured me that any needlework was fine. Sometimes I take knitting and other times I take a quilting project. And each time the group asks what I'm working on, how I'm going to finish it...in other words, showing interest for what I'm doing.

Each week that we meet, I come home fired up to work on my crafts -- not that I need firing up. It just feels good to be out with a bunch of women with whom I have nothing in common other than a love of crafting. Most of the group are public school teachers, some are retired, but we all have the same goal of relaxation through crafting. I can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday evening!

Til next time,
Amy