Itani Samantha Mulaudzi is a woman with great passions. She works as a full-time, qualified military nurse, but apart from this noble profession, she also loves crocheting. She has created a second job to supplement her income from what initially started out as a curiosity.
"My crocheting started when I gave birth to my daughter," she said. "Gogo Linda was selling the cutest little crocheted dresses and I fell head over heels in love with them. I bought a few of them and asked her to teach me to crochet too. And yes, she gladly agreed."
The learning process, she said, had been bittersweet and not easy at all, since she had never done crocheting before. "Well, every stitch I got right felt like a dream was gradually coming true for me. It was really a wonderful moment," she said. "The people close to me couldn't believe how quickly I was making progress, project after project. They were bowled over by my willingness to continue learning and creating amazing pieces from wool."
Itani's first complete project was a cute little dress that she made specifically for her daughter. She describes the dress as "something quite unique in design".
"I recently made her another beautiful little dress and, comparing the two, I can proudly say I have progressed quite a lot," she said. "I am very proud of myself because when I started out it was just an idea to make simple dresses for my daughter, but now I have turned that into a business."
Itani was born and raised in Mangwele at Ha-Khakhu but now lives at Muledane in Thohoyandou. She has obtained her diploma in nursing from the South African Military Health Service Nursing College.
She confesses that her daughter has become her biggest inspiration to create even more colourful items. "I have really fallen in love with crocheting and my daughter keeps inspiring me to try new designs even when there aren't [any] on order," she said. "My clients mostly order for baby girls from birth up to six years, but I can easily crochet anything else for any age."
She calls her crocheting venture Sam's Crochets, and hopes to register it soon. Apart from baby dresses and cardigans, she also does crocheted bags, bikini sets, ladies' tops and trays. "My aim is to grow Sam's Crochets and open a crochet baby boutique," she said. "I also look forward to creating some employment for two or three people to assist."
She has a message for the young people out there. "It is one of the greatest quotes I've read from Bradley Whitfield: 'Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honour your Creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen yourself, right now. Right down here on Earth.'"