Mother India’s Crochet Queens knit world’s largest crochet blanket, sets new Guinness record

San Leandro, California: The efforts of an all-women crocheting group comprising nearly 2,500 members — known as 'Mother India's Crochet Queens,' or MICQ — finally bore fruit Jan. 31 when they set a new Guinness World Record of knitting the largest crochet blanket in the world, measuring a whopping 11,148 square meters.

It took six months for the Indian American and other Indian diaspora crochet enthusiasts, aged eight to 93, from India as well as 12 other countries, to create hundreds of blankets each measuring 40 x 40 inches in granny square patterns, which were then joined to make one gigantic blanket – about the size of a one and a half football pitch.

Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Pravin Patel traveled to Chennai to verify the incredible new record.

The endeavor was the brainchild of Chennai-based crochet lover Subashri Natarajan, who spearheaded the 'Mother India's Crochet Queens' campaign on Facebook and other social media platforms to mobilize support for the mammoth feat.

Rubamurali, from Glendale, Calif., who was the overseas coordinator of the MICQ campaign, is among 30 North American members who have knit their way into the Guinness Records.

"I am proud to be a part of this great mission and thankful to my sister- in- law Subashri Natrajan who is the founder of this mission," Rubamurali told India-West. "We never anticipated such an unimaginable record which is more than three times the previous record."

An ecstatic Rubamurali said while the overseas contribution was 1,350 square meters, the North American members knit 170 square meters of crochet blankets.

The project, which started in August 2015, aimed to smash the previous record set by a South African group in April 2015, who crocheted 67 blankets measuring 3,377 square meters.

Once the record was confirmed, the enormous crochet blanket was disassembled and the individual squares – 8,034 — were donated to various NGOs in Chennai, including the H.O.P. Church, Ekal Vidhyalaya, Naam Foundation and the Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission.

Rubamurali told India-West that MICQ plans to continue the mission of helping the weak and the underprivileged sections of the society.

"This year we are planning to make caps for cancer patients and also for orphanages and would like to donate locally in the name of MICQ. Any members who are interested to join our mission are always welcome," she noted.

(The story was first published in India West)