Twinkle lights and tinsel will start popping up in our neighbourhoods and main streets in the coming days. Small towns will be redirecting their public celebrations to make them more safe, and families will be re-imagining their holiday celebrations. And everyone is thinking the same thing: How can we be together while staying apart?

Knitters and crocheters figured out early on how to stay connected while being apart. We’ve created Zoom knit nights, virtual classes, podcasts, and vlogs. We can brush up on any technique with a quick scroll through YouTube. Project support is now a quick and easy video conference. And kits for everything from a baby blanket to a chunky hat with a pom pom are a keystroke away.

If this seems a bit remote, it is! But it can also be incredibly intimate. At a recent Riverside Yarns Zoom Knit Night, we ended up talking about mystery novels. We could have been mistaken for a book club whose members just happened to knit, which is serendipitous to say the least. But we connected with one another, and that’s the point.

With a little imagination we can still, for the most part, connect with family and friends this holiday season. Many of our customers have already sent packages of hand-made woollens to family near and far, and some have told us how they’ll arrange a FaceTime opening party. The connection is in the finished project. It’s in the thought behind the pattern. It’s in the choice of yarn.

 The connection is in the stitches.