Meet The Starlings, a collective of women crochet enthusiasts

Do you know what many women got ‘hooked’ to during the lockdown? Hooked to crochet. The craft found so many takers that it led to the formation of collectives and communities, some even pan-Indian. Among the lot was The Starlings, a small, vibrant group comprising women. Brainchild of Kochi-based Sanjana Shafik and Kollam-based Aysha S Kabeer, the community at present has 25 active members, some of whom are based outside Kerala and in West Asia.

It was Olam, a cultural festival annually held in Thiruvananthapuram, which set the stage for the formation of Starlings. “I met Aysha at one of the editions of Olam. We kept in touch and since we both knew a lot of women who crochet, we formed a WhatsApp group, Crochet Friends. There came a point when we thought of forming a community, especially to undertake orders. The concept was that if I get an order and I cannot complete it, I pass it on to another member in the group. We discussed it within Crochet Friends which then had 50-60 members. Out of them 35 showed interest and thus Starlings was formed,” says Sanjana, a marketing manager.