The crochet boot, which is seeking Guinness recognition, can still be seen at the local football pitch until Wednesday
Monchique is looking to set a Guinness World Record after unveiling what it calls the “world’s biggest crochet boot” at the local football pitch.
The crochet boot is nearly big enough to fill the entire football pitch where it will remain for anyone to see until Wednesday (July 17).
Bringing the massive crochet boot to life required over 52,000 ‘rosetas’ – crochet squares with a flower design in the centre – which translates to around 3,120 kg of wool, 14,352,000 meters of thread, and “many, many hours of volunteer and solidarity work,” says local association Espiral de Vontades, the driving force of the project, on its Facebook page.
“The boot is finished, the measurements are done, and the goal is achieved. We now await the decision from Guinness,” the association adds.
The project dates back to 2018, when Espiral de Vontades aimed to make “the world’s largest crochet blanket” and exhibit it for a day at the top of the Fóia peak. At the time, the goal was to knit a grand total of 112,250 ‘rosetas’. However, with the restrictions and difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the association decided to reshape the project and set a more realistic goal.
Last weekend, members of the association and the local community joined forces to create the crochet boot by combining the over 52,000 ‘rosetas’ that were knitted since 2018.
“Words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to making this dream come true. Monchique is to be congratulated, Portugal is to be congratulated, and of course, Espiral de Vontades as well,” Luís Martins, head of the association, wrote on Facebook.
“It was only through the union of so many volunteers from all over the country working on the ‘rosetas’ that we were able to complete the project. This last week was fantastic, seeing so many people sewing the blankets so we could have everything ready on time,” Martins said.
“Thanks to the people of Monchique and our foreign community for all their effort and dedication in sewing the blanket. We have thus completed the largest boot in the world,” the Espiral de Vontades president said, adding: “Someone dreamed, and together we made it happen. What a beautiful display of solidarity.”
