Pandemic knitting circle keeps retirees looped in

BOSTON — “As you can see, we just have a good time here,” said Karen Berridge. “Every Tuesday it’s been like this.”

Every Tuesday since May, Berridge and about a dozen other women meet on Norwood’s Town Common and indulge in the craft that binds them together: knitting.

The group had been taking knitting classes at the town’s civic center. Then came COVID-19.

“We had to close down,” Berridge said. “And we couldn’t let it go,” she laughed. “Because we knit.”

With bans on indoor gatherings, the group initially started meeting at Father MacAleer Field.

“That got to be a little complicated,” Berridge said.

Two members suggested the common, and that’s where the group has been dropping anchor ever since.

“We knit until we’re tired or the smell of Lewis’s [restaurant] gets to us and we have to go get something to eat,” Berridge said.

As for why they do it, Berridge said, "Because we’re all friends and there’s no place where you can share this kind of thing that we do. And we all do it differently. And we all have different things we want to do with it and things we want to learn.”

Kat Joyce has been with the group for about seven years. She says having the ability to knit saved her mind during the lockdown.

“I was so happy to hear the word that we were able to come out of the house with social distancing and masks and crochet in the fresh air,” Joyce said. “It’s just awesome. It’s a beautiful park here.”

Joyce is working on a crochet witch doll. Like most things she creates, it will be given away.

Jackie Giusti’s current project is also set for donation. It’s a multi-colored afghan made of scraps of leftover yarn. She joined the knitting group after retiring and losing her husband.

“My grandmother taught me how to knit and crochet when I was probably five or six years old,” Giusti said. “So I’ve been doing it all my life. And joining this has been terrific.”

Jackie’s daughter Joanne Keohane joins her on Tuesdays. She’s working on a blue scarf.

“It gives me a place to go on Tuesday morning just to relax for a couple of hours when all this is going on,” said Keohane.

Of course, the pandemic is still going on and the group knows eventually it will be too cold to gather on the common. The town’s senior center has availability on Mondays, but not everyone can make it. So they’re still looking for a place to carry on what is not just a fun time, but a vital one.

“The socializing... all the psychiatrists say this is really important, really important,” Berridge said. “So that we don’t get depressed.”

Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts

>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here

RESOURCES:

- Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here

- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW

- Download our free apps for your phone and smart TV