Spreading their love for crochet
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It all began with a three-year-old child’s fascination with creations that her neighbour made. Picking up the skill by watching her carefully she ventured into it and encouraged by a loving uncle she continued to develop and hone her skills. Along came her daughter and they became a well-known twosome.
This is the story of Dalrine Wijesuriya and Yovanka Dassanayake and their love affair with crochet. Along the way they have been joined by Dalrine’s cousin Janine Vanigasooriya who shared their passion and also contributed to their first exhibition back in 2006.
“I cannot recall anything being difficult,” says Dalrine “as long as I have the design to follow especially for doilies and table cloths.”
Nowadays, crochet is popularly seen in baby items, art features for homes and hotels, wedding stationery and decor, clothing and jewellery, footwear, beach wear and much more. And the flexibility of doing it anywhere is the best! I even crochet when travelling in the car,” says Yovanka.
Dalrine and Yovanka: A shared passion
Adds Dalrine, “Seeing your items being appreciated by others is the best! Not many people have a liking for crochet as they sometimes view it as old fashioned! There are ways to still be current with the old art.”
After becoming a mum, Yovanka started ‘The Crochet Shop’, an online store back in 2011 and Dalrine, Janine and Dalrine’s sister Christine, also a crochet enthusiast have become busier than ever catering to a worldwide market as the page has almost 4000 followers from all parts of the globe. They have delivered orders to the US, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Australia and the UK.
“We will be having our own store in the future and it will provide opportunities for many women as a source of extra income. We aim to support families struggling, specially single mothers,” Yovanka says.
They will be having classes from end January onwards to teach crochet to any interested people.
| Christmas collection | |
| Their 2017 Christmas Collection will be on sale on December 6 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Girls’ Friendly Society, 58, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 3. Many Christmas gift items will be available and a lovely table cloth can be won from the souvenir draw. Part proceeds of this event will go to charity.
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