Don’t even think about applying any old-granny, cat-lady stereotypes here. And not just because it’s a bad idea to be snide in a pub filled with beer-swilling patrons wielding sharp instruments.
No, Pints and Needles isn’t your average tea-and-yarn gathering. The monthly convergence at Bremerton’s Der Blokken Brewery garners knitting, crocheting and needlepoint enthusiasts and others who settle in for a night of cocktails and crochet, nightcaps and needle points and brews until it’s time to bind off.
All are welcome at Pints and Needles, Der Blokken owner Reina Powers said.
“You can do cross stitch,” she said. “There was one girl, she did a ‘Slayer’ album.
“It’s more than just beer People are also making artisan projects.”
When she formed the monthly crafty gathering one year ago, Pints and Needles became the perfect marriage of two of Powers’ passions: her pub and her needles.
“I like to knit. I’m always knitting,” she said. “I never have fewer than three projects on needles at a time.”
The event takes place on the first Monday of the month and attracts a variety of crafters who now know each other by name, regardless if they knew each other a year ago. They share enough laughs to have each other in stitches.
On April 6, Jeni Larson worked on some fingerless gloves. She was accompanied by her coworker Lesley Doyle, who crafted a scarf for her mom. Sonja Hammes sat nearby, steadily completing an afghan for her brother.
At the bar, Jaci Harris and her mom, Gerri Koziel, crocheted baby sun hats and a vest, respectively.
Powers was hard at work on another signature Der Blokken beanie.
“This is the start of a hat, and since it’s about to be summer I decided not to do a wool hat,” Powers said. “So this is a cotton, linen blend. Instead of doing the pint glasses, I’m thinking of doing a wheat pattern.”
Patrons of Der Blokken’s Bremerton brewery therefore have a unique opportunity — to purchase a beanie knitted at the pub by its owner.
“I make them up as I go. They have beer and steins on them,” she said. “They go really fast. The last one I made, it was awesome. It was one of my favorites. It was only out there for a week.”
Powers said she initially formed Pints and Needles for two reasons.
“The personal reason is that I have a young son, and he can’t come in here,” Powers said with a motherly laugh. “I just needed a night to get out of the house and do something I enjoyed. I thought, ‘Well, I own a pub, I should do this.’ There has to be other people that want to get out and knit as well.”
Which brings Powers to the second reason: community.
“Part of what is important about having a pub is the community aspect,” she said. “It’s a place for people to go and meet other people and discuss and share their lives.”
