Offaly woman knits over 2300 hats
An Offaly woman is being hailed as one of Ireland’s leading ‘Innocent Big Knit’ knitters, having produced over 2,300 hats for charity this year.
Daingean’s Mary Ann Mulhern (74) began knitting at the age of seven when she produced a sleeveless v-neck jumper for her brother’s Holy Communion.
“It’s a good pastime and it keeps my hands going,” she explained. “I can knit and look at television or I can knit and read,” Mary Ann revealed.
Until recently, Mary Ann worked in the St Vincent de Paul shop in Tullamore. She made €1,120 for the shop by selling clothes she knitted while working for St Vincent de Paul.
A spokesman for Innocent smoothies described Mary Ann as something of a “knitting machine” and said she would be one of the leading knitters in the country.
The Innocent Big Knit began six years ago when Innocent partnered with Age Action. The Big Knit invited members of the public to knit hats for their smoothie bottles. For each bottle sold, Innocent donates 30 cent to Age Action.
Over the past six years some 325,000 hats have been knitted for the Big Knit and proceeds of over €100,000 have gone to Age Action, which uses the money to help older people stay warm and well over the winter period.
The campaign has attracted attention from some well known names and even fashion designer John Rocha and Fr Ted star Pauline McGlynn have gotten involved.
Mary Ann said: “I began because a friend of mine told me about it. She knew I was a knitter and I used to knit for St Vincent de Paul.”
In her first year, Mary Ann knitted 500 hats for the Big Knit, last year the figure was 1,580 and this year, she said: “I have 2,300 at the moment but I’m still knitting.”
“I have some friends who donate wool to me for this cause and I buy two balls of wool out of my pension every week,” she explained. An average hat would take Mary Ann about 30 minutes to knit and each one is different. “It keeps me amused and it’s a little challenge,” she explained.
Mary Ann, who is a grandmother to three children, said her son sometimes brings her decorations for the hats. Although they all have 28 stitches and 14 rows, each of the 2,300 hats is different, Mary Ann explained.
Innocent Big Knit hats are being collected around the country before the deadline of December 12. In the meantime, Mary Ann said: “I’m still at it, I’ll be at it till next Monday or Tuesday.
From early February 2015, the little hats will appear on innocent smoothie bottles across the country.
Age Action’s Eamon Timmins said: “The Innocent Big Knit is a fantastic creative and engaging campaign that allows us to keep older people warmer in winter. The money from the Big Knit funds our Care & Repair programme, which helps over 23,000 older people every year.”