PENSIONER Mavis Moffitt cried when she watched TV and saw a starving child in Ethiopia sucking his thumb with one of her blankets wrapped round him.

Mavis, 75, of Chiltern Avenue, Burnley, has just completed her 752nd blanket for Oxfam and is determined to carry on until she reaches her 1,000th.

She crochets the blankets rather than knits because she finds it quicker to do and she can crochet all day long. Knitting causes her shoulder to lock and she can only do 30 minutes at a time.

Her husband Tom says the house is full of wool and he jokes his wife can crochet in her sleep.

She said: "I could tell it was my blanket from the way it had been crocheted -- all in one piece and not in squares -- and I shed a few tears just as I had done when I saw the pictures of the famine and I started making the blankets."

Mavis began making blankets for the geriatric ward at Burnley General Hospital in the 1980s and then was asked to make tops for Oxfam.

She said: "I saw on TV about Ethiopia in 1985 and that is really when I started doing for Oxfam.

"The blankets are all single size 48ins by 72ins and at first I would make them in squares but then I found it would take me longer to stitch them all together so I found another way.

"Everyone collects wool for me -- Oxfam, my neighbours, friends and relatives -- and I buy the odd ball myself when I need to.

"I was completing one a week but I have got a bit behind. I am hoping to get to the 1,000 though."

Mavis said crocheting, which she completes just using her right hand, has helped her arthritis by straightening out her fingers.

She has a son but no grandchildren and says she feels for children and so is glad to be able to help.

Her blankets have been sent all round the world, and many are now going to help people in Afghanistan

Apart from making blankets for the world's needy and being dubbed "The Burnley Blanket Lady", Mavis is a keen socialite and is known as "Mave the Rave" at the KSC 110 Club in Yorkshire Street.

A spokesman for Oxfam said: "It is wonderful. That anyone supports us is fantastic.

"She is doing her bit and may she knit for many more years to come."

Anyone with spare wool, preferably bright colours, can drop it in at the Oxfam shop.

Mavis added: "It makes me feel good, but I don't like too much fuss."