Ambivert knitter

Most of my close friends would say that I'm an extrovert.
And all of my colleagues would say I'm an introvert.
Both are right, and wrong. I'm an ambivert.
An ambivert can fall into a few different categories, some people are just both at the same time, but for me, I'm more situational. I'm either one or the other.
When I'm around close friends, I find it very easy talking to strangers. I almost seek out strangers to talk to when in that situation, because in that situation, I love talking.
But, in other situations, I hate talking to new people, it makes me nervous, and definitely of people I don't know. I hate social events that require me to talk to people, and avoid them by all means necessary. I'm not going to go into some of the crazy stories I've come up with to get out of these things.

Recently my husband and I moved to a new area, just outside of London on the border of London, and it's the first time I've lived in a different area of London in 10 years.
I started listening to Knit 1, Geek 2, a knitting podcast which combines both my loves.. all things geek related, and knitting. In the very first podcast, Maggie explains the importance of joining a knitting group, especially when you're new to an area.
That was the push I needed, and I was excited. Excited, excited.. terrified.
I was fine, up until the day of the meet up. The moment I got off the bus, I froze.  What if they were all a lot older than me? What if they looked at me knitting and said I was doing it all wrong? What if they thought I was a total noob. What if there was only one or two people there and they were long time friends and I ended up sat in silence?
I circled the area for a while, texted my husband, who helped me think up some 'escape plan' sentences, and I forced myself to walk into the pub.
Someone instantly started waving me over, and I went and sat with a group of strangers.
I introduced myself, albeit rather quietly, and started knitting.
At this point, I'd like to seriously thank those around me. They started talking to me straight away, and after a little while, I came out of my shell, and hit the middle of the spectrum - I wasn't freaking out, and was starting to get comfortable.

The next meet up is this Saturday, and I cannot wait.