When she was 22 years old, Poughkeepsie resident Daphne O’Connor learned to crochet. Now 51, she hasn’t stopped since.
On July 31, O’Connor unfurled the world’s largest crocheted blanket, which she believes will secure her place in the Guinness World Records. Her design, which features 30 world flags and stretches 78 by 30 feet, was displayed for the afternoon on a grassy lawn near Newburgh’s City Hall on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
O’Connor, who hails from Newburgh but currently resides at Poughkeepsie’s Tubman Terrace, crocheted furiously to finish the blanket in two years – nine less than it took the existing record-holder, whose blanket spanned 78 by 27 feet.
In addition to the countless hours of work, the money spent on supplies was significant. At $2.17 for a skein of yarn, the 1,000 skeins required cost more than $2,000, paid almost entirely out of O’Connor’s own pocket.
Why spend the time and expense? O’Connor made in her goal to set a world record at age, when her brother read to her from the Guinness book.
“I decided I wanted to be in it, too,” she said. O’Connor wrote to the Guinness World Record office and obtained information on exactly how large her blanket needed to be, as well as requirements for measuring and documenting her work. Signed reports from two witnesses with standing in the community, media coverage and video footage are required to document the event.
Her friends taught O’Connor to crochet when she was 22. Crocheting differs from knitting in that it employs only one hook, instead of two knitting needles. While knitting keeps an entire row of loops active at one time, there is only one active loop in crochet. A slip-knot creates the first loop, and using the crochet hook, the next loop is pulled through the first one. The process is repeated until it creates a chain, which is then turned to create the next row, or looped with a slip-stitch and worked in rounds.
O’Connor crochets rectangles and joins them together. Her record-setting blanket is actually comprised of 30 comforter-sized squares with a flag motif – each took her a minimum of 10 days to complete. Aesthetically speaking, Israel’s blue and white flag is her favorite: “That flag is beautiful,” she said. She crocheted block letters to spell out passages from the bible, and interwove scripture with the flags.
In addition to her love of the work, O’Connor was inspired by her religious faith. “God loves all of us, regardless of what country, what religion we are,” she said, explaining the flag-and-scripture design.
O’Connor said she never tires of crocheting. “Every flag I came to, I got more excited about it,” she said. Crochet is also an activity she can enjoy on her downtime at work – she provides home care for the elderly.
Past projects have included an American flag crocheted for Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a similar flag she sent to the White House.
Next up, O’Connor would like to partner with someone who can help her sell her work. “I can do everything except for selling,” she said.
As for those with ambitions of breaking her record: They’re welcome to it.
“They can have it. God bless them,” she laughed. “This was a lot of work.”