HALEY PARMELEE,

Koreatown, digital marketing specialist

Some people like to spend their evenings at the bar with friends. Others like to knit. Haley Parmelee, 29, likes to do both — at the same time.

Parmelee is a member of the Eastside Drunken Knitters, a club that does exactly what it says. “It’s silly because we’re a decent-sized group bringing our knitting projects to a bar and drinking together,” Parmelee says. “People always stop by our table and are just like, ‘What are you guys doing?’ ”

Parmelee usually goes to meetings on Sunday afternoons, but she also regularly hangs out with knitters during the week. They’ll go to sewing classes, get dinner together and cat-sit for one another.

“The meetup has become the epicenter of all of my L.A. friend connections,” she says. “It kind of feels like a spiderweb that keeps coming together in different places.”

Instagram: @haleyparmelee business off the ground while working another job on the side, meant there was little time for friends.

That’s when she turned to listings on Eventbrite. “I started looking through the site for local entrepreneur networking events,” Harrell says. “I was hungry for business but also looking to make connections.”

At the events, which ranged in size from a small business meeting to a small expo, nobody knew anyone else. Between pitch competitions and keynote speakers, Harrell struck up conversations with other business owners.

Now she will go to concerts or pop-ups with friends she met at networking events. Recently, she went to one’s engagement party.

“It’s nice that these friends are all doing similar things to me,” Harrell says. “There’s a really nice mutual understanding about our schedules and our passions.”

Instagram: @urina_harrell