Visakhapatnam Has The Guinness World Record For Having The Greatest Collection Of Crochet Caps

A group of women are waiting impatiently next to their masterpieces as beanies in various colours and owl and bear-shaped crochet caps sit on the floor of a hall at Akayyapalem in Visakhapatnam. There are broad smiles and celebrations after a few hours of counting. The ladies are part of the Mahila Manovikas group, which earlier this week broke the Guinness World record for the greatest collection of crocheted hats and caps. To set this Record, 4,686 caps were crocheted by almost 200 people from different cities in India and other nations.

Madhavi Suribhatla, the founder of Mahila Manovikas expressed her happiness for achieving the record and also mentioned that it was the hard work and efforts performed by women for months. Participants from many walks of life, ranging in age from eight to seventy, were present. Madhavi has been crocheting since 2014 and is a skilled, prolific knitter and crocheter. She previously took part in three records for the greatest collection of crocheted ornaments, sculptures, and scarves.

When the pandemic first appeared in 2020, Madhavi began teaching a group of 30 individuals the fundamentals of crochet in her first online course. Soon, requests for advanced techniques began to come in, so she made the decision to join a group alongside Mahila Manovikas and other crocheters from around the world. She has instructed crochet enthusiasts throughout India as well as in the US, Dubai, Sweden, Singapore, and Australia, and she is now teaching her 22nd online class.

Instead of making something attractive merely for the Record, the goal of achieving a Record for crocheted caps was to make something useful that could be donated to the less fortunate. For these crocheters, the idea of "giving back" has always been important. The majority of them will donate their creations to old people's homes and orphanages.

Participants in the event travelled from places including Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Mumbai, and Chennai to Visakhapatnam to support one another and share a passion.

According to Madhavi, social connection through belonging to a group or even participating in online communities could be a blessing for many people who spend a lot of time alone. Her next goal is to break the record for the biggest collection of ponchos, which she intends to give to the Araku and Paderu indigenous populations.