WHILE many of us can remember snuggling up to a soft, warm teddy before we drifted off to sleep at night, there are many impoverished families in the Highway area who are not able to financially grant their children this creature comfort.
Angela Drinkwater, who is sight impaired, uses her spare time to knit up dozens of the cutest teddies for toddlers in need.
Angela (63) was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare and degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment.
She went on to complete matric and studied medical technology in Durban.
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She used this qualification to take on a position at a laboratory at Addington Hospital, a post she held for nearly 20 years.
Due to her deteriorating eyesight, she was medically boarded.
With a move to Fish Hoek in the Western Cape, she completed two years of Bible college and, through her local church, was introduced to a project that involved creating care packs for unmarried mothers that contained the necessities for a newborn. A teddy bear was always added as something for the children to cuddle.
Even though she started knitting in high school, this is when her love for creating the fluffy friends started.
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During her time in the Mother City, Angela received a pattern for the teddy bears and she remembers writing down the number of rows and stitches.
“Now, because I can’t see what I wrote, I just count with my fingers and I count the stitches as I cast on, working off memory and feel. It’s the same pattern, so it doesn’t vary,” she said with a slight shrug.
“My family has always been into knitting. From my grandmother to my mom, now me. At the moment I can see very little. Its tunnel vision and the tunnel just becomes narrower and narrower. What is most frustrating is that because I have an active brain and mind, and worked for years in very responsible particular field of work, I am unable to do the crosswords I used to enjoy,” she said.
“My mother, Carolle Angelosante (84) now helps us do crosswords for the blind.”
She either purchases her own wool, or uses the bundles donated by the Rotary Club of Pinetown to knit the bodies of the teddy bears.
Her mother, Carolle, who lives at the Pinehaven Society in Pinetown, stitches them together.
“With knitting, you don’t have to see too well,” chuckled Angela. “I just enjoy it, it’s my pleasure.”
“I love it. From when I began knitting the teddies and the odd squares for the blankets, I wanted to do it for the community and for the children in need. We have been doing this for years and years,” she said.
When complete, the cutest little teddy bears are ready to be shipped off to their new homes.
Angela, who leaned in for a tight hug with her daughter, said, “I brought her up in the way that she would be able to cope and adapt to life and its changes. She is the most wonderful person and is adaptable to circumstances.”
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
