A near-blind Port Alfred pensioner and her friends need wool so they can keep making colourful blankets for the poor.
After more than eight decades dedicated to the therapeutic art of knitting, Rina van der Merwe, 87, is so good she could do it in her sleep.
With about one fifth of her vision left, not being able to see her needles is the least of her worries. “Trying to find wool and even scraps is the biggest problem,” she explained yesterday.
She has knitted ever since she can remember, and not a day passes without a relaxing few rows at her neat Settlers Park retirement village home.
“My mom taught me before I even started school. She did it to keep me off the streets,” she chuckled. “I have been doing it so long it is my tranquilliser.”
Legally blind after losing more than 80% of her vision in recent years, Van der Merwe – who calls her walker “the Cadillac” – feels her way through the stitches sorting her “booboos from the gemorses”.
“A booboo is when you twist a stitch and you can’t see it,” she says. “A gemors is just a big disaster.”
Luckily her friend Junette Smith, 74, is there to do quality control and untwist the “booboo” stitches before joining the bright new sections into the single-bed blankets that are handed out to Sunshine Coast Hospice patients.
Hospice volunteer Hillary Smith, who helps the 20 retirement village knitters get their handiwork to the needy, said more than 500 blankets had been knitted since the group started over a decade ago.
“All the blankets go to Hospice and most end up with patients in the townships.
“Their reaction when they get a blanket is one of great joy, and being part of this gives me great joy.”
Over the years the friends estimate they have gone through more than a million metres of wool knitting for the needy.
Ethne Barnard, 86, who started knitting seriously three years ago after a long tennis career, said not having enough wool was her biggest worry.
Smith said any length – from scraps to whole balls – would help. Donors can contact her on (046) 604-0452 and she will make a plan to collect.
Blanket project on short string
After more than eight decades dedicated to the therapeutic art of knitting, Rina van der Merwe, 87, is so good she could do it in her sleep.
With about one fifth of her vision left, not being able to see her needles is the least of her worries. “Trying to find wool and even scraps is the biggest problem,” she explained yesterday.
She has knitted ever since she can remember, and not a day passes without a relaxing few rows at her neat Settlers Park retirement village home.
“My mom taught me before I even started school. She did it to keep me off the streets,” she chuckled. “I have been doing it so long it is my tranquilliser.”
Legally blind after losing more than 80% of her vision in recent years, Van der Merwe – who calls her walker “the Cadillac” – feels her way through the stitches sorting her “booboos from the gemorses”.
“A booboo is when you twist a stitch and you can’t see it,” she says. “A gemors is just a big disaster.”
Luckily her friend Junette Smith, 74, is there to do quality control and untwist the “booboo” stitches before joining the bright new sections into the single-bed blankets that are handed out to Sunshine Coast Hospice patients.
Hospice volunteer Hillary Smith, who helps the 20 retirement village knitters get their handiwork to the needy, said more than 500 blankets had been knitted since the group started over a decade ago.
“All the blankets go to Hospice and most end up with patients in the townships.
“Their reaction when they get a blanket is one of great joy, and being part of this gives me great joy.”
Over the years the friends estimate they have gone through more than a million metres of wool knitting for the needy.
Ethne Barnard, 86, who started knitting seriously three years ago after a long tennis career, said not having enough wool was her biggest worry.
Smith said any length – from scraps to whole balls – would help. Donors can contact her on (046) 604-0452 and she will make a plan to collect.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos