Covid-19 blanket

Staying connected during the Covid-19 'lockdown'

This blanket was made by members of Creative Fibre Tauranga, whose members range from people in their 30s to those in their early 90s, during the 2020 national lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As news of the virus spread, a number of members chose to stay home for their own safety, and others suggested that they hold smaller meetings of no more than eight. However, when the country went into a national lockdown, the club had to revise these plans.

The committee divided the members into small groups based on their suburbs, and kept in regular contact with them. They initiated a weekly newsletter and ensured that members without access to the internet received hard copies in order to keep members connected and stay up to date with each other’s news. As their president Cathy Hume commented: ‘The club is very important to our members not only to share their knowledge on spinning, felting, knitting, crochet and weaving, but we are a very social group with many living on their own’.

This woollen blanket, which comprises 39 knitted and crocheted squares of varying sizes, colours, and patterns, and a central panel of felted Covid 19 ‘viruses’, is the result of a club challenge.

The week the country entered lockdown, Cathy Hume, sent out a Covid-19 challenge to members to knit or crochet granny squares, and asked member Pauline Chapman, their ‘amazing felter’ to felt some viruses.

Following, the country’s return to Level 2 and the ability to gather again, the committee was presented with numerous squares of all colours and sizes. Eight members volunteered for the job of joining them together. They made eleven blankets – nine large and two smaller ones.

Of her participation in the project, club member Glynis Poad has commented:

'With the sudden lockdown I think everyone was stunned initially and didn’t know how life would be. Within a few days our club president suggested a challenge to make squares for a Covid 19 blanket. This project gave the early days of the lockdown a great sense of purpose and a feeling of connection with our club members who we didn’t see for weeks. Fortunately I had lots of handspun yarn in small quantities, perfect for making squares. I made one for every week of lockdown plus a couple of extras.'