A Chestermere local decided to pay tribute to Canada by crocheting a 132 lbs Canadian Flag in celebration of Canada Day.
“It wasn’t an instant thing I decided to do, I thought about it for a long time,” said radio show host, and Director of Ucmas Chestermere Minu Bhabia.
“I wanted to do something after getting my citizenship to pay tribute to the country,” Bhabia added.
Bhabia said she doesn’t have extended family in the area, and after her son was born she began to feel mixed emotions regarding not seeing her family which lead her to begin planning a craft for Canada Day.
“The flag is the first thing that comes to mind, so the idea emerged like that,” Bhabia said.
“Every Canadian feel’s proud to be a part of this country. I wanted to pay tribute in my own way. For me, I’m a creative person, I preferred this way,” she said.
Bhabia began planning what it would take to build with 20 x 40 ft Canadian flag over two years ago, while the crocheting process took over a year to complete.
“There wasn’t a schedule, I worked on it when my son slept at night for three to four hours, or during the day for two to three hours,” she said.
Bhabia added, “Sometimes I would work on it for eight hours. I didn’t want to feel any pressure doing it, I wanted to enjoy the project and have fun. I enjoyed the whole process.”
However, Bhabia did come across some challenges with working on the project. Such as, finding the perfect shade of red, which she had to contact various fabric companies to find.
Planning how to crochet a recognizable maple leaf, which she ended up having to create a graph for, or how to attach gigantic pieces of the Canadian flag together.
By the end of the project Bhabia was forced to empty a spare bedroom in her house so she could continue to work on the Canadian flag, which was too large to work on anywhere else in the house.
Although the project challenged Bhabia, it was worth it every day.
“When you see one thing you completed you’re happy, I was happy everyday seeing the process getting completed,” she said.
Bhabia added she couldn’t have completed the massive Canadian flag without the support her family gave her, and the community gave her.
“My family was there with me always. If I’m spending this much time with the flag I need support from my family,” she said.
“My son would sit with his sister playing and watch me,” Bhabia added, “They are very much attached to this project.
“I’m getting an overwhelming response from the community, there are many people asking where I’m going to put it for public viewing,” Bhabia said.
“I want to put in somewhere that can motivate other people and make them feel proud. I want it to be in a place where it can be remembered for a long time.
“I made it for every Canadian,” Bhabia said.
