过去，女人们喜欢三五成群，坐在一起打毛线，拉家常，说说笑笑。如今，打毛线在时尚女生圈流行起来，与以往的女人不同，她们对这一手艺有新的认识...

For many people, the word "knitting," tends to conjure up visions of elderly ladies chuckling together and sipping lemonade on a porch while rocking themselves in the shade.

From time to time, they pause to check their stitches for imperfections and discuss recipes. Several generations later, those days are long gone.

Nowadays, members of "Stitch n' Bitch" groups are keeping this old craft alive, but with a sassy new attitude.

"It's 'comfort food' for our hands, I think, and for our minds."

Dawn Dennis learned her crocheting skills from her grandmother, but growing up in the scorching heat of Las Vegas put a damper on her enthusiasm, since the idea of crocheting sweaters in the desert lacks an obvious appeal.

She came to China in hopes of doing event planning during the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and she managed to land a job planning events for McDonald's during the games.

During last year's much colder Beijing winter, Dennis initiated a Stitch 'n Bitch group with another friend while knitting Christmas presents over bottomless cups of coffee.

Globally, women can find Stitch 'n Bitch groups online, and modern women in the know might be familiar with cleverly named sites like "knithappens.com" or pattern books like "Happy Hooker Crochet Guide."

Similarly, the "Son of a Stitch n' Bitch," book offers cool knitting alternatives to help women avoid what they refer to as the "curse of the boyfriend sweater."

Since Stitch 'n Bitch is a great way to meet like-minded people, Dennis thought Beijing was ready as well.

In China's capital, the group has attracted all kinds of women but Dennis says in each other's eyes they are just knitters.

"The other thing is that especially in this expat community, this is something that is kind of a leveling thing. There are all income levels. There are students or there are English teachers or expat wives. This group is very eclectic culturally and economically."

Dr. Carol Rao joined Stitch 'n Bitch Beijing with Dennis when she moved here several months ago from Atlanta, Georgia.

"It's a bunch of professional women getting together and just discussing their daily lives, just an exchange of thoughts and ideas."

Rao says this was exactly what she needed because she moved here without knowing anyone, so finding the group made the transition to Beijing much easier.

In Beijing, Stitch n' Bitch is not only social but can be comforting as well.

"We're just here doing our little handicraft, and we'll sit and talk, and it brings us this taste of home or that camaraderie around a craft that might be hard to find as an expat in a foreign land, especially in China where it's not a common thing."

One of the challenges of keeping up this hobby is finding the right supplies. Dennis points out that in the United States, she can go to a large arts and crafts store and find whatever she needs. In China, she says that the hobby hasn't quite caught on yet and is also expensive here.

Dennis says knitting doesn't appear to be a big hobby in China. It's not necessarily a cheap hobby, and knitting is certainly more time consuming than heading out to purchase a sweater.

Furthermore, in China, getting tailor-made items is easier and more affordable in comparison to some western countries.

So perhaps to many Chinese people, it doesn't make as much sense to do knitting as a hobby.

All the members of the Beijing Stitch 'n Bitch joke about being "enablers" for the other women in the group because they would never dissuade a member from starting another project. While Dennis says they even refer to themselves as "Crafters Anonymous," Rao says knitting is special to her for yet another reason.

"I think that knitting is a lost art. This is something that our grandmothers used to do, and then there was a generation that didn't do it anymore. And I feel like this new generation has picked it back up. So when I'm knitting, I always get comments, 'Wow, that is so cool!' Everyone can go out and buy a baby present, but not everyone can make a baby sweater. It means a lot to the person who's receiving it that it was handmade, that somebody spent the time."

Dennis says that all kinds of crafters are welcome. For those who want to learn to knit or just come socialize and have a cup of coffee, she says the skill level isn't important. Just show up and the members will get you started.

Get some needles and some yarn and check out this sassy new Beijing trend. Are you ready to Stitch 'n Bitch?

For China Drive, I'm Andrea Hunt.