'It's really special': Community members knit, paint and drink beer at local brewery

Steel String Brewery is not your average bar, employee Isabella House said.

“It's weirdly cozy for a place where you would think people come to get drunk,” she said. 

The brewery is a social hub for Carrboro creatives to hang out and work on arts projects nearly every day of the week. 

In the taproom’s corner stands a red-curtained stage and microphone, awaiting local performers during Monday’s Open Mic Night. Potted plants and stringed lights decorate the brick walls of the quaint venue. On Wednesdays, colorful signs mark several picnic-style tables for Stitch N’ Bitch, an evening of crafting that House spearheaded.

The brewery began hosting the free event about two years ago following the COVID-19 pandemic’s boom of what she described as “grandma activities,” like knitting, sewing, baking and gardening.

“My grandmother had given me a bunch of knitting supplies and I had learned how to knit over COVID, and it was just something that stuck,” House said. 

Following a period of isolation, she said Stitch N’ Bitch is a way for people to get creative together with either one of Steel String’s beers in hand, or non-alcoholic options like kombucha, soda or seltzer water. She said it started as a monthly event before flourishing into a weekly one, and people immediately started to fall in love with it.

“To just drink and chat and hang in a place you wouldn't really think about doing that,” she said. “And also, I had customers already who were knitting here, even without me introducing the event itself. So it was kind of just natural for it to happen here.”

Now that it is a regular event, Emmy Andréasson, the brewery’s taproom and events manager, said that people bring sewing machines, looms, Legos or any creative project they have been working on at home. For a more casual evening of craft making, Steel String also provides supplies like fabric, thread, markers, colored pencils and coloring books. House said that the event is extremely communal, and she encourages sitting with people you may not know and exchange ideas — a show-and-tell, for example.

Andréasson said that several people even end up collaborating on professional projects after meeting at the brewery. 

“We have a lot of people that have met at our Open Mic Night, for example, and are now making music together,” she said. 

She said that Steel String is more of a community space than a brewery, where most of its weekly events do not center around drinking. For its regulars, she said the taphouse becomes part of their weekly routine, and she said the staff know the names of just about everyone who comes in the door.

Caroline Mueller has attended Stitch N’ Bitch since its start, and she said it can be an opportunity to work alongside fellow creatives. In addition to working on her own projects, she said she likes to introduce people to crafts they may not have tried before, like weaving on an inkle loom or altering clothes.

“I've walked them through the process of alterations and helped them pin things the way they needed to be pinned to get the shapes they were trying to achieve with the garment,” she said.

She said you might not know what you’re missing creatively until you see somebody else doing it, which makes the event inspiring. Especially in a digital world, she said that it is nice to have a physical space to work with other creatives and feed off each other’s energy.

“That's something that doesn't happen as much anymore, which can be really frustrating," she said. "But this is one of the places that does, and I think it's really special." 

Meredith Whitley, who worked at Steel String for her last year at UNC before graduating in May, said it is the kind of place that when you walk in the door, everyone wants to get to know you better. At Steel String, patrons — local artists and musicians included — and bartenders have a creative bond, she said, the name of the tap house even inspired by the steel-string acoustic guitar. For Whitley, the brewery is a community waterhole for creatives.  

“That's sort of a humorous tagline but also very true,” she said. 

Whitley also plays guitar, and she said she would often perform at the Monday night open-mics that she worked at. The staff, she said, were encouraged to be creative alongside the community, like performing music sets, comedy skits or even organizing events like House did with Stitch N’ Bitch. 

“People will just walk around and be like ‘You were amazing. It was so great that you got up there, absolutely we hope that you come every Monday. You know, we all sit at this table over there. You’re welcome to come sit with us,'" she said. "It's just that sort of vibe." 

Besides Stitch N’ Bitch and Open Mic Night, Steel String also hosts Tuesday Night Trivia and Thursday Music Bingo, two other ways the brewery and community members come together for relaxed fun.  

Whitley said the community is the heart of Steel String, that they are what keep the place alive, and it is always a happy place to be. She said if you’re having a bad day, life gets better when you step in the door — waiting inside, there are friends ready to sit with you, chat and create art together.

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