Meet the Indy Drunken Knitwits, the Indianapolis women who drink beer while knitting

It's a Sunday morning in Tiffany Barron's Indianapolis home. The smell of bacon and French toast wafts through the air. Laughter erupts from the living room as Barron busies herself with mixing together vodka and tomato juice for bloody marys. And over Barron's shoulder, a sign hangs on the wall.

The best wines are the ones we drink with friends. 

But an even better mantra for Barron? The wines she drinks with friends while knitting.

That's the idea behind the Indy Drunken Knitwits, a group of Indianapolis women who meet once a week to, put simply, drink and knit. They travel to bars and festivals or, like today, gather at Barron's house to eat brunch and work on their latest knitting projects.

"This isn't your typical knitting group," says Tiffani Rusadi, who joined the crafting crew a few months ago.

She walks through Barron's front door this morning toting her knitting needles and a 5-liter box of Franzia wine.

You can catch the Knitwits at HopCat or Union Jack, two of the group's choice bars. They also frequent Books & Brews in Broad Ripple, where they're repeat champs at trivia nights.

They've visited a paint-your-own pottery studio, where they made special ceramic bowls to corral their yarn in. There was a road trip to a fiber festival in Wooster, Ohio. Then there's the annual holiday party, with a white elephant exchange — but cheesy gag gifts are substituted for the prettiest bundles of yarn they can find at Michael's. The Knitwits once even took their own spin on a pub crawl, alternating between yarn shops and bar stops. 

The woman behind it all, from weekly event planning to the pun-filled names, is Angela Kitson, who has been part of the group since it first started.

"It's a very inclusive and chatty group. There are no filters here, and we don't shame people," said Kitson, who began crocheting when she was 8 years old after learningfrom her aunt. "We probably do more talking than knitting and working on projects, but that's OK."

How the group started

The original founder of the group, Jamie Williams, loved knitting. And not only did she want to find a group of fellow needleworkers, she wanted to stomp the stereotype that knitting was a pastime only for older adults. While everyone is encouraged to attend the Indy Drunken Knitwits' gatherings, no matter age, gender or skill level, the group targets women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

These "tipsy stitchwits," as they sometimes jokingly call themselves, do more than sip cocktails and make scarves and socks, though. On "Frankenknitting Thursdays," members knit individual 12-inch by 12-inch squares of different colors and patterns and then weave them together into a giant, monster-like blanket.

"Not going to lie, it's kind of ugly," Kitson jokes.

Regardless, it's for a good cause, and the Indy Drunken Knitwits will donate these blankets to a women's shelter in Indianapolis. The gang also hosts "brunch and learn events," where more experienced knitters teach others a new skill or technique.

More than a knitting club

Diane Wesner, dubbed the "brioche queen" of the group — she's top-notch at creating the brioche stitch, a special knitting pattern that features tucked stitches — has been a drunken knitwit for around a year.

Before joining the group, Wesner often knitted with Mia, her Jack Russell terrier. While Mia was quite helpful, sitting on her lap whenever she worked on project, Wesner wanted some more, well, human companions to craft with.

"My favorite thing about this group is that we always push each other and encourage one another," Wesner says. "I'm always trying new things that I would've never done without this group."

Mandy McSherry began knitting in high school but put her yarn and needles to rest while attending Butler University. Since graduation, though, she's been on the lookout for ways to meet new people, which is how she found the Knitwits.

"I wanted to branch out, and for someone who is usually very shy, it's always been hard for me to go out and meet strangers," McSherry says. "But this is just the perfect place for me."

And for Barron, well, there's nothing else she'd rather be doing this Sunday morning than sip bloody marys and spend time with her fellow knitters.

Barron moved from Texas to Indianapolis with her daughter a couple years ago, only knowing two people in the city. She was looking for ways to meet new people, which is how she stumbled upon the Knitwits.

"I found this group and said, 'Knitting and drinking?' Those are two things that I do very well," Barron jokes. "Everybody here has input. Everybody is really kind. This is just a space where women can build each other up. And we do it while knitting and drinking."

To learn more about the Indy Drunken Knitwits and how you can join, you can visit the group's page on Meetup.com.

Contact Pulliam Fellow Emily Sabens at esabens@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysabens.