A Madiba portrait blanket of epic proportions
An incredible knitted portrait blanket of Madiba, made by Boksburg resident Lazetha Lötter, has been added to the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day collection.
According to Carolyn Steyn, founder of the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day project, she was asked to meet Lötter in August, last year.
The meeting was set up by Steyn’s personal assistant, Jaco, who is Lötter’s son.
“She [Lazetha] arrived at my home with the most spectacular gift for this Mandela project – a portrait blanket of the late great father of our nation, Nelson Mandela,” Steyn said.
“To say that I was absolutely overwhelmed by the spectacular piece of art work that she had created with her own two hands, realising the time invested in this absolute labour of love which took hundreds of hours to make, is an understatement.”
Steyn said the project started out as a challenge from Zelda la Grange (Nelson Mandela’s assistant) for her to make 67 blankets by Mandela Day back in 2014.
“Realising that I would not be able to achieve this on my own, I created a Facebook group called 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day and asked complete strangers for help,” she explained.
“To date, we have beaten three Guinness World Records for the largest crochet blanket in the world (twice), as well as the largest knitted blanket.
“We are represented in approximately 20 countries around the world and we have created a very large 67 blankets family bringing together people from all walks of life, all religions, races, socio-economic backgrounds, women, children and men, as well as prisoners.
“In the last two years we have distributed approximately 25 000 blankets (made with our own two hands) to communities living in dire need in South Africa alone.
“The project has given rise to so much creativity, including our own 67 blankets anthem, poetry and many blankets that are true works of art.
“The idea of a Madiba portrait blanket has now been introduced into prisons in South Africa, where prisoners (some serving life sentences) have embraced the project and are in the process of making special Mandela portrait blankets in commemoration of our beloved Madiba.
“Monies raised from the sale of this blanket will also go towards the purchase of wool for the many people who have the ‘will’ but not the ‘wool’.
“Together we are binding many people together with bright, colourful thread, knitting broken lives and our nation together.”
According to Lötter, her work of art reflects the level of giving and ‘goodwool’ that has been displayed over the past two and a half years by the 67 blankets family, who are also proudly referred to as KnitWits for Madiba.
“I was actually challenged by Jaco to make a Madiba portrait blanket. As a challenge to myself I gladly accepted, never looking back one time,” she said.
“He worked out the design with all the colours of wool to match. A tricky task in itself.
“Making this blanket was my way of giving back, so I started to make the tiny granny squares, each measuring only 5cm x 5cm, 1169 to be exact, with a couple extra just in case. There were 26 colours to crochet.
“Wherever I found myself I had my crochet bag, crochet hook and wool, ready to start the next square. The process of crocheting all the squares took me only three weeks.
“I then had to lay out the squares to match the original art work and that was done over a weekend, with the help of my family,
“Then the task came to sew them all together, and that took time, as all the squares were put onto straws to match a specific line on the blanket, in the specific order, and that took five weeks.
“So just under two months of work went into this masterpiece, as my husband calls it.
“But I loved every minute of this challenge and I am currently busy making two more Madiba portrait blankets for 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day, this time on a much smaller scale than the one I made first.
“I am a proud KnitWit for Madiba.”
