Over 228 crochet blankets were recently donated to various NGOs for the homeless, elderly and children by HSBC Malta.

Some of the colourful blankets bear Maltese motifs.Some of the colourful blankets bear Maltese motifs.

The woollen creations originally formed part of an attempt last year to create the world’s biggest crochet blanket for charity.

Members of the Malta Lace Club, the Malta Cross Stitch Club, the Malta Society of Arts and other individuals took part in the initiative.

“As part of the Guinness World Book of Records attempt, we were expected to do 50 such blankets, but crocheters from Malta and Gozo managed well over 200 of them,” said Carmen Ellul, one of the administrators of the project.

The feat was a communal effort and people helped in any way possible.

“Some produced the granny squares, others would buy the wool and others undid yarn from old, woollen garments,” she said.

Ms Ellul, who teaches crochet, knitting and Maltese lace at the Malta Society of Arts, would receive the granny squares and, together with others, would first try to put row after row of the squares together in order to create a design. Then the stitching process would start.

The resulting colourful and cosy blankets, some of which bear Maltese motifs, were distributed to Hospice Malta, St Jeanne Antide Foundation, the Correctional Services Division, Angel Tree Club, Aġenzija Sapport, Aġenzija Appoġġ, Good Shepherd community in Mosta and Dar Merħba Bik.

HSBC had exhibited these blankets at its Valletta head office last year following a public display in St George’s Square. They were also exhibited at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta. The project was endorsed by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.