The craft of crochet has its own place in every Goan household. This can be seen by the fact that every bride brings her crochet items as a part of ‘dennem’ to her in-laws’ place.
The craft of crochet came to Goa with the arrival of the nuns and missionaries in the 15th century and from then onwards, the craft of making crochet items has been passed on from one generation to other.
Lourdes Mascarenhas
In a quiet Goan village called Colvale lives an extremely skilled woman – Lourdes Mascarenhas. This lovable person is an expert in the art of crochet.
She was first introduced to it in a convent school. Her dexterous hands, using just thread and a crochet hook, produce different beautiful crochet items like bags, hats, pincushions, tissue box covers, toilet roll holders, bedsheets, runners, and tablecloths. She sums up what she feels about this craft in three simple words, “ I enjoy crochet”.
Lourdes even does elegant embroidery work for things like cushion covers. The walls of her house are adorned with paintings done by her which shows her creativity. In her early days, she used to win top places at All India level crochet competitions.
Janet Menezes
Crochet work isn’t an easy task and requires lots of patience. Janet Menezes is a person who possesses this skill and patience. She creates beautiful crochet works in Colvale like doilies, runners, centrepieces, chair backs, and embroidered handkerchiefs with crochet borders. She sells some of her crochet works on OLX and also takes private orders.
The art of crochet was learned by her in school and years of practice increased her skills. Her creativity also allows her to dabble in other forms of art like candle stands, paper earrings, greeting cards and embroidered cushion covers. She shows her love for crochet in these words, “For me, crochet acts as a stress buster. It also works as a therapy.”
Pics Credit – Shivang Mishra I NT GOGOANOW.COM
