The UAE is known for all things large, tall and crazy! Now, there’s another addition. The knitting committee in the region undertook a mammoth task of knitting the world’s largest blanket. The initiative was an effort to help the under privileged kids across the world. The giant blanket was displayed at the Dubai Sports City on 13 September. It was then dismantled and sent to orphanages around the world.
What’s It?
In an effort to help privileged kids, the expatriate women in Dubai joined hands to complete a massive task. The world’s largest blanket was knitted right here in Dubai and was on display at Sports City. The ‘Knitathon’ project started last April aimed at making huge blankets that could be used by kids across the world.
The initiative slowly gained momentum and even before they realised, they were on their way to breaking a Guinness Record. The blanket measures 3,949 square metres , double the size of the one made last year. Apart from its astounding size, that covered the whole stadium, visitors were also wowed by the vibrant colours used to stitch up the blanket.
Over 500 people from 27 nationalities were involved in the mammoth task which took 18 months. And finally, the team managed to bag the world record for the largest knitted blanket in non-crochet category and the world’s largest display of knitted hearts.
The blanket had 5,200 tiny hearts stitched up to create a mega, record-breaking heart on the blanket. Once the procedures for the world record are done, the blanket will be dismantled and distributed to orphanages and refugee camps across the world, just in time for winter.
Women who formed the knitting committee- Jyothi Kapoor, Dr Nishi Singh, Anuradha Ananth, Mamta Saxena, Manju Ansari, Dipika Kalra and Avani Shah — said in a statement: “The Knitathon was started as project to keep children warm worldwide and attempt two Guinness records. It has since evolved into a journey of creativity, empowerment and the knitting together of people not only of different nationalities but of different genders and age groups.”
What’s It?
And this is not the first time UAE is putting its name on the Guinness World Record. The country boasts ten other world records and its definitely something to be proud about! Here are 10 UAE World Records You Should Know About.