Weaving a world record

Mahim resident Simmi D’Souza is a working professional and mother of two; despite all her duties, she still finds time for her love—crochet. Simmi is part of the Mother India Crochet Queens (MICQ) group, which is attempting to set a Guinness World Record by creating a massive crochet blanket spanning 5,000 square metres. 

So far, more than 1,000 people have already become members of this group and have agreed to contribute towards setting this record. Out of those 1,000 people, close to 140 are based out of Mumbai. The current record set in April 2015, by Charity 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day in South Africa, stands at 3,377 square metres, and MICQ intends to break this record by creating a blanket spanning 5,000 square metres. The idea is the brainchild of Subhashri Natarajan, a Chennai-based woman. Come January, the world record would be set.

Complete stress buster
However, it’s not all about setting records, according to Simmi. She chimes in, “I started crocheting when I was really young. It all started with my mom teaching me the art of crochet and there’s been no looking back ever since. I started reading books about crochet, searching online for new ways of trying this art and to know more about it. Crochet acts as a big stress buster for me especially after a long day at work and regular household chores. This ‘me time’ with crochet keeps me balanced as a whole.”
The attempt to set a world record has brought fans of crochet together. Simmi adds, “To set this record, Subhashri asked for help from crochet lovers via social media and once that happened, the momentum picked up. After joining the Facebook groups, area-wise teams were made with an area coordinator, who would coordinate with all the members to ensure that deadlines are met.”  

A mammoth effort
Simmi and crochet lovers from her neighbourhood have been meeting at Shivaji Park to merge the blankets made by other members in order to come up with a bigger blanket. Each blanket needs to measure 40 inches by 40 inches, and be made in a granny square pattern. Just like Simmi’s neighbourhood group, other groups in the city and even those from across the nation are replicating this. All of it will finally be sent to Chennai, where the final blanket will be formed.

What is most interesting to note is that after the record has been set, the entire blanket will be dismantled into 5,000 smaller blankets, which will be donated to several NGOs that need them.