We're just knitting the night away

IT’S 8PM ON a winter’s evening in Edinburgh’s City Café. The Cosmopolitans are starting to flow and lounge beats are sloping out of the speakers. But, amid the chatter and chinking glasses, there is another noise drifting into the mix: the click-clack of knitting needles.

"Twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have admitted you knitted," says Alison Toni, as she proceeds to knit one, purl one in the urban chic surroundings of one of the capital’s coolest watering holes. "Now, it’s about expressing individuality, getting together with friends and having fun."

And Toni is doing just that. Tonight she is part of an eight-strong gang of twentysomething students and thirtysomething professionals who have met up for the latest craze to hit Scotland - the Stitch’n’Bitch.

Stitch’n’Bitch is a global phenomenon which has its origins in Manhattan in 1999, where Debbie Stoller, feminist author, fell in love with knitting. Stoller, who has a PhD from Yale in the psychology of women, found herself pilloried by friends who were astonished at her newfound homely pursuit. She decided that knitting suffered a stigma because it was associated with women and resolved to "take back the knit" by forming a weekly Stitch’n’Bitch in her Manhattan neighbourhood.

Five years on, Stitch’n’Bitch has a worldwide following, with groups established as far afield as Chicago, Sydney and Jerusalem, and now in Scotland too.

Sitting in the City Café tonight there is no doubt knitting is back. Forget blue-rinsed grannies knitting brown balaclavas in front of the TV because they have nothing more interesting to do. Think hip young things having a cool night on the town while knitting a string bikini they plan to wear on a beach in Bali.

"It’s fantastic," says Nuala Fahey, who is working on her Christmas presents tonight. Fahey, 32, is an IT worker who learned to knit at school in Dublin, but let her skills lapse. "Knitting wasn’t cool back then and when I went to university and discovered drinking, it soon fell by the wayside."

She discovered the Edinburgh Stitch’n’Bitch group while surfing the internet, and jumped at the chance to meet others who love knitting too. "There’s a limit to the number of times my boyfriend, who doesn’t really understand knitting, can go ‘Wow!’ at the things I am working on, and so it’s great to be with people who share my interests."

Fahey and her friends are certainly in good company when it comes to knitting. Kirsty Hume, the Scots supermodel, can be spotted clacking away behind the scenes on the catwalk; Catherine Zeta-Jones is knitting ponchos with personalised labels as Christmas presents; earlier this year Rolling Stone Keith Richard’s daughters Theodora and Alexandra attended a knitting party hosted by IMG Models at Knit New York; and Russell Crowe put something of a dint in his hardman image when he was reported as finding knitting sexy.

In fact, in the hands of Stoller and her worldwide chums, knitting is the new sex. Stoller’s Stitch’n’Bitch Guide To Knitting stormed the New York bestsellers list with its patterns for items such as the provocatively named Ribbed-For-Her-Pleasure Scarf. Tap "knitting" into the internet and you will quickly land on instructions for how to hand-knit yourself a G-string crafted from red licorice laces. And last Saturday, "knit chicks" as they call themselves gathered at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, London, for a "knitter’s only" screening of Bridget Jones’ Diary: The Edge of Reason. The lights were left on and the clicking went on throughout the film.

"You can forget Darcy’s Christmas jumpers, knitting is no longer about stuff like that," warns Helen Ralph, 36, a member of a Stitch’n’Bitch group in Aberdeen. "Colin Firth’s infamous reindeer sweater in the first Bridget Jones film is forbidden territory. We’re all a bit psycho about our knitting, we like to make new and interesting things and create patterns that reflect our individuality. We really go for it.

"Some people stare like we’re just knitting to show off," continues Ralph. "Most, however, are genuinely interested in what we are doing. Knitting is creative, funky and fun, there’s nothing stuffy or mysterious about it."

The pursuit of knitting in public - or KIP, for those in the know - is certainly on the rise in Scotland, although the informal nature of the Stitch’n’Bitch makes it impossible to tell how many women are joining in.

But the high street is reporting rocketing sales of wool. John Lewis department store in Edinburgh is offering free knitting classes at the store on Thursday nights. The shop is stocking funkier yarns such as Rowan’s R2, which targets young, creative knitters with its "paper" wools, which resemble the material disposable hospital gowns are made from or "rag", which has soft, frayed edges and a tie-dye look.

"Knitting has been pretty cool now for some time, but it’s never been quite this cool before," says Pauline Thomson of John Lewis in Edinburgh.

The thirst for the handknit look is also being fuelled by the endorsement of some of our best-loved style icons. Bella Freud’s limited-edition knits, featuring quirky slogans including "Ginsberg is God" or "Godard is God", have proved a big hit with the likes of Kate Moss and Madonna.

It seems that men too are edging in on the act: the Aberdeen branch of Stitch’n’Bitch reports two males are participating in their internet chatroom, although they have yet to go to a meeting.

"We can’t be far off," says Pauline Wall, 31, the UK’s Stitch’n’Bitch spokesknitter, when asked if we are at the beginning of a full-blown knitting revolution.

"Knitting used to be a bit of a taboo, something women had to do as part of their housework. Today, knitting in public is an expression of freedom and creativity for women. It’s something fun and exciting and a way of designing and manufacturing a look that is truly your own."

Wall believes the Stitch’n’Bitch is filling the hand-me-down skills void which has been left by the scattering of the extended family in the modern day. "Without knitting grandmothers to teach them the secrets of the trade, many knit chicks have to rely on friends to show them how to stitch," she continues. "And so the Stitch’n’Bitch groups have grown. They are a forum for exchanging ideas and skills, as well as a great opportunity for a good gossip and a drink."

According to Wall, knitting is so well established as an acceptable pastime that it is mature enough to get ironic. As a nod to former knitting faux pas, some knit chicks are setting to work on knitted toilet roll covers, tea cosies and space invader jumpers. "I’m even knitting my own Christmas cards," she admits.

Back in Edinburgh, as the drinks slide down, conversation has switched to where to procure the best yarns. "There’s some great stuff on e-bay," says Toni. "You can find some cheap, interesting wool and a great selection of beautiful, wooden needles. It’s perfect for a good dose of knit chick window-shopping."

"Some of us get quite addicted to buying wool and we have to hide it from our partners," confirms Ralph. "We call it our ‘stash’ and most of us hide it under the bed. I’ve totally run out of space in my hiding place and every time I try and stuff something under the left side of the bed, something else pops out from under the right side. It’s only a matter of time before I’m found out, but hoarding wool is a matter of pride - she who dies with the most wool wins."

• Visit www.stitchnbitch.org for more details