By Jessica Hazel.

The Women’s Institute (W.I) was first established in 1897 and now has over 205,000 members in the UK alone. The W.I carries a somewhat frumpy reputation and most people imagine a gaggle of old ladies, who meet each week in the village hall to discuss jam making techniques and various health complaints. This is indeed the case, except for a pocket of women from East London who go by the name of the Shoreditch Sisters, who have been tipped as the most glamourous W.I group in the country. I tagged along one Tuesday evening for the first meeting of 2010.

A newly renovated basement in the Tea building on Shoreditch High Street, was the venue for the monthly Shoreditch Sisters meetings. I stepped inside with a few ‘new girl’ nerves and took my seat at a long table where about about 30 other quirky-looking young ladies with balls of wool and knitting needles sat at the ready. It was about two seconds before a fellow ‘new girl’, sensed that I too was alone and came to sit next to me. I had soon made my first friend and found everyone else in the group to be equally welcoming.

Once the committee had opened, it soon became clear that about 70 per cent of attendees were also newbies, hardly a surprise as word had spread like wildfire that the Sisterhood is the gang to run with, especially if you’re creative, friendly, slightly on the eccentric side and have a desire for a sense of community in the big-bad city of London.

As you might have gathered, our meeting was all about knitting and members of the London cult knitting collective ‘Stitch and Bitch’, who  were on hand to instruct everyone on how to knit an 8”x 8” square that will form a patchwork blanket, which will be donated to charity. Once we had all cast on our stitches we’re served cups of tea as we sat back to knit and listen to talks by a representative from ‘Makepiece’, a cutting edge and ethical knitwear company, who have their own flock in the Pennines.

More chatting and mingling ensued until the clock struck 10pm and it was time to turn in. But just before we left we’re given a preview of forthcoming events for 2010, which included a Mad Hatter’s tea party, life drawing class, astrology session and a mass picnic in the Summer. With this in mind,  my new W.I friend and I made a run for the nearest cash point to draw out our £30 membership fee and sign-up right there and then. Subscriptions to the W.I are capped at 50 members and there were already 35 names on the list, not a risk we were willing to take after our revelations.

On the bus ride home, I was contemplating the delights of hand made crafts and feminism, when my phone rang… it was the chairman of the W.I, who informed me I’d left my wallet at the venue and they’d wait for me to come back to pick it up. Looks as though my scattiness is in safe hands with the W.I.




Tags: , , , , , , ,