Blankets from Africa

Stretching across Southern Africa is a vast semi-desert known as the Karoo, a mythical land of stark beauty, where life is slow and serene; where people and nature appreciate and embrace each other. Summers are hot and dry with Karoo winters bitterly cold. Rainfall is minimal but intense – all inhabitants in this climate need to understand protection and sharing. Ancient tribes roamed the plains of the Karoo, surviving on only what they could harvest from their hallowed surroundings, leaving enough for the land and others to share. In this tradition, women of Southern Africa have drawn on the fine natural wool shorn from the Karoo’s largest inhabitant, the humble sheep, to knit blankets with which to keep young children warm. The sheep will continue to roam the Karoo plains and the women will continue to knit – together producing something truly African to protect their young from the chill of a Karoo winter and ensuring the survival of generations of both.