TWO Umbilo residents have crocheted cat blankets which they donated to an animal charity this month.
Debbie Nortje and her daughter, Nicola Bauristhene, have always been keen knitters and crocheters.
Debbie said she decided to start crocheting blankets to support cats this winter, as she had nothing to do during lockdown.
Debbie, who describes herself as an avid knitter from a young age, said when Nicola was in school she wanted to learn how to knit.
“She would sit and feed the wool along for me as I was knitting, and decided she wanted to knit her pet rat a blanket. As she is a leftie, it was a bit difficult for me to teach her and she had to get help from her teacher who was also left-handed. She knitted the blanket and put it in the rat’s cage, and the next day was devastated to find the rat had pulled the blanket apart and piled it up to make a nest!” she laughed.
This, however, didn’t put Nicola off, and Debbie has since also taught her to crochet.
“Years ago I looked after the Frame account and was given the bit of wool left at the end of the looms. I had boxes of wool and decided to crochet blankets, which I then gave to the SPCA for its cats,” she said.
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Debbie said with the lockdown in April, she decided to resurrect that project in memory of Midnight, her 21-year-old cat which was put down earlier this year.
“I already had six blankets stored away, so I decided to start again. Nicola has been working so wasn’t able to do as much, but she has helped me to crochet 50 blankets so far,” said Debbie.
She said after she finished that batch this month, she donated them to Nine Lives Cat Sanctuary, a sanctuary in the Waterfall area which is run by a local advocate who rescues animals in need.
“This man has the animals sterilised and tries to rehome them, but the others stay at the sanctuary. I was so impressed by the way the place is run, that I decided to donate all 50 blankets to him for the cats at the sanctuary,” she said, adding that she had started another batch and was looking forward to a worthy cause to donate the next lot of blankets to.
“We are looking for any donations of wool, and I have spoken to Umbilo Drapers in Queensmead Mall to ask if we can have any leftovers. If anyone can donate wool, they are able to drop it off at Umbilo Drapers, for my attention,” said Debbie.
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