Spruce Coffee on Upper State Street was quiet on a cold Monday night in January, as one might expect — that is, until 7 p.m., when a group of people rolled in and filled the couches and chairs at the front of the shop. They brought knitting needles and yarn, drawing tablets, art supplies, and a healthy amount of camaraderie. It was time for another Craft Night at Spruce, and for Melanie Dworak, one of the organizers, it was the continuation of a long tradition.
Craft Night started five years ago with Dworak and her friends — “the idea of a recurring craft circle” that would “force you to make space for art in a way that can be kind of hard to do otherwise,” she said. It could even create “accountability,” she said, “because if you show up to Craft Night one week after the next, and you don’t have your project with you,” people there would ask about it: “How is it going? Did you finish it? Can I see it?”
The first craft night, among that small group of friends, happened spontaneously. “I just had lot to do, and some friends wanted to keep company,” Dworak said. But they liked it so much that they met the next week, and the week after that, until before long it was a regular occurrence. They met up in Spruce’s previous iteration as Gather (under a different owner) twice a month and made it a public event. It became a space “that encourages people to do,” even if they couldn’t “do it well” just yet. Gather didn’t have as much seating, Dworak recalled, “so it was almost entirely floor craft.” When the coffee shop changed hands and became Spruce, Craft Night was one of the events that carried over, and they migrated to seats.
“It’s just as much there to serve as community for people as it is for crafting,” Dworak said. But crafting — knitting, crocheting, mending — remains the focus, even as the activities have broadened. Dworak reported some people making music on a laptop, leaving headphones half on so they could carry on conversation. Once a professional baker brought in fondant and “we all made fondant toppers” for a cake, Dworak said. One person whittled wood, dropping the shavings into a bucket at their feet.
Some people learn new skills at Craft Night. “I learned the difference between sewing and crochet,” said Grayson Jeffries, a founding member of Craft Night, with self-deprecating humor. “I used to think they were all one medium, just string art, you know? It’s as if I thought all woodwind instruments were like the flute.”
Some people bring in objects that need repair, and solicit advice from the collective experience of the group. Others stay with what they know. “Social skills, maybe,” Jeffries joked again. “But I have one craft” — collaging — “and I stick with it.” Not everyone who shows up is even there to craft; some people are there “just studying for a test,” Dworak said. Others are “just here for the company.”
Craft Night now happens every first Monday of the month at Spruce Coffee, a scaling down from its Gather scheduling. “There’s been some light turnover” of participants, Jeffries said, but always a “good solid core,” and Dworak noticed that they “get more drop-ins.” Larger nights can see up to 30 people participating, Dworak said, from the regulars to people just discovering the event. Dworak often has a cache of donated crafting materials — paints, pastels, embroidery equipment, glue guns, stickers, coloring books — to allow newcomers to try it out.
Some nights, like this Monday, are quieter, with about 10 people.
“This one is right after the holidays,” Dworak said, and “I have a feeling a lot of folks are not back yet.” It didn’t faze her. “I think the calmer nights are where more friendships form, just because it allows more opportunity for closer interaction.”
Dvorak’s description proved accurate, as the participants sat close to one another, and the air filled with conversation, from cultivating taste in music (“don’t get too pretentious”) to sourdough baking, to favorite movies seen in 2025 (“I watched nine Cary Grant movies”), to the difficulties of dyeing fabric (“I had a friend where everything he did turned out purple”), to local politics, and yes, the intricacies of knitting and crocheting. Most had come to craft, others to study. All were there for the company.
Sitting on the floor in the middle of the group was MT, who has been coming to Craft Night since it started at Spruce. “Usually I bring knitting. I learned last year,” she said, a fact that drew cries of surprise from the people around her (“you’re really good!”). “I actually learned because I saw a lot of people knitting here, and I got jealous,” MT continued. She had been trying to find or start a craft group for months but “just couldn’t find a good space for it. And then Spruce opened, and it immediately happened.” And on this night, she was branching into comics, having acquired the drawing tablet to do it.
“Getting to leave the house is cool,” she said, and “I like everyone here.”
“We like to say that we’re crafting friendships, too,” Dworak said. And “one wedding” has come out of it.
