UAE women knitting the record-breaking blanket.
Dubai - A total of nearly 1,450 women and some school students took part in the attempt.
Published: Mon 1 Feb 2016, 6:26 PM
Updated: Wed 3 Feb 2016, 10:15 AM
Months of patience and perseverance put into their passion have helped nearly five dozen Indian women and five children from the UAE knit their way into the Guinness World Records.
They, along with their teammates from India and various other countries, have collectively made the world's largest crochet blanket.
The attempt by hundreds of Indian women from across the world called "Mother India's Crochet Queens (MICQ)" led by Chennai-based Subashri Natarajan, on Sunday broke the existing record set in South Africa last year.
Facts about crochet blanket record
Existing record--3,377sqm set in Pretoria, South Africa
New record--11,148sqm, set in Chennai, India
Total number of participants-1,450 women and school students
UAE participants-57 women and five children
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While their initial attempt was to make a 5,000sqm-crochet blanket to break the South African record of 3,377sqm blanket, the Indian women set a new record by presenting a crochet blanket measuring a whopping 11,148sqm at an official Guinness event held in Chennai.
The mammoth blanket, created by joining single pieces of 40x40 inches blankets in granny square patterns, was displayed to the Guinness adjudicator Pravin Patel from London to verify its merit.
A total of nearly 1,450 women and some school students took part in the attempt. From the UAE, 62 participants, including five children and two women in their 70s, took part. They had initially committed 100 blankets, but finally made 211 blankets.
The UAE participants, whose journey of crocheting was reported by Khaleej Times in December, are overjoyed at the accomplishment.
Three of them, including their UAE coordinator, had flown down to Chennai to witness the official ceremony held at a college ground.
"It was a great moment for all of us," Dubai resident Priya Sivakumar told Khaleej Times from Chennai.
"We were so emotional. Some of us broke into tears of joy when the official announcement of the new record was made," a jubilant Priya said.
The UAE coordinator, Vinothini Ramesh Babu, collected a memento on behalf of the team here.
"We had got many responses after the story of our attempt was published. We got a chance to talk about it on the radio and many more participants joined us," she said.
The participation in the event helped revive a long-forgotten craft, said Priya. "Some of us like Vinothini have inspired the young generation to have interest in this craft. Her children were among the participants here."
"It was also a learning experience for us. It was not just about making the blankets. It was also about great teamwork, coordination, data collection, transportation etc," said Priya.
The women were happy that they had achieved the record for a greater cause., said Vinothini. "The whole blanket was divided into pieces of smaller blankets for use by adults and kids and were donated to orphanages and old age homes," she said.
The crochet queens have decided to make it an annual event and donate the blankets to the needy in India, she added.
sajila@khaleejtimes.com
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