Paola Hewitt donates 52 handcrafted blankets to elderly residents in memory of late mother

Paola Hewitt started a knitting and crochet project after her mother's death to fill a void in her life and having completed 52 blankets in six months she is donating them to elderly residents on the Rock in ERS and the hospital.

While her goal was to initially make a blanket for all residents within these units her ferocious drive and speed at which she made them resulted her sustaining an injury to her hand.
“I was employed by Mr Cohen at Amar Bakery in 2010 and after nine years and change of management, I decided to leave and spend more quality time with my mum, knowing those could be her last years of life,” she said.

While she was not there 24/7 with her mother she was there for numerous hours every day. When her mother passed away she was left with a “very big gap, and I didn’t know what to replace it with.”

Her project is a tribute to her mum Giovanna Boselli. Mum, who taught her the biggest lesson in life was ‘giving’.

She used to do a lot of knitting, for her own children and grandchildren as well as other newborns and babies. Her Italian blood she said brings out that side of her, where she bakes, cooks and makes clothes from scratch.

She is also a perfectionist and if she sees a flaw in her work she will start again to ensure her work is “100%”.

“Last year, I did baby things, blanket jumpers, matching hats and I gave them to the charity. And this year, my son started working in ERS, in the administrative side. I have never crocheted in my life. I've always been a knitting person, but knitting a blanket, it's going to take me ages. So I went into YouTube, I started checking what I can do up and about. And I thought, I'll ask my son if they want blankets for the elderly,” she said.

She said the ERS were delighted at the offer. That would make 150 blankets in ERS and 25 in the John Cochrane Ward in the hospital.

“I promised myself to do my best. So I started and I have done these 52 blankets in less than six months,” she said.

“I've got two grandchildren. I help as much as I can with my family and but because of doing so much and staying up so late, I injured my thumb and have had to stop.”

“I feel so heartbroken because for me, my wish was to go to the hospital to John Cochrane and give each person their own blankets. I wanted to do it for Christmas.”

She will now visit the hospital to present the patients with their new blanket and the remainder will be given to ERS to use a prizes when they have certain events such as bingo.