Ionia O'Gilvie still loves to crochet
Published:Saturday | November 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
OCHO RIOS, St Ann:
FIVE DAYS a week she sits by the side of the road and crochets, all the while minding her own business. She has been crocheting for more than 30 years and as other sources of income dry up, she relies on sales of her crochet pieces to bring in a few dollars.
Shortly after leaving school in 1977, while living in Clarendon, Ionia O'Gilvie got a live-in job in Kingston as a babysitter. Then one day, a chance visit to a store created on her what has turned out to be a lifelong impression.
"Mi used to work $20 a week," O'Gilvie recalled as she sat on a stool on a supermarket piazza along Main Street, Ocho Rios, where she can be found five days a week. That $20 a week was around 1980-81, she said.
"Mi memba one week mi get mi pay an mi go inna Woolworth an' mi buy a needle, a thread, an a book mark Learn to Crochet an mi go home an wen mi done clean house - mi used to look after a baby - wen mi done clean house an look after di baby, mi use to siddung wid di book an jus gwaan practise an teach miself how fi crochet."
Once she had learned the craft, O'Gilvie never left it for a moment until she started earning money from sales of the doilies and other pieces she made from designs in the book. And she made sure to spend the little money she made wisely.
"Wen mi sell an' get di money, mi used to buy likkle crockery, likkle plate. If yuh si inna mi breakfront now! Everything mi have een deh, mi buy it out a crochet - pot, spoon, everything. As mi get a crochet money suh, mi run go buy plate or pot or spoon. Anything!"
As time went by, O'Gilvie started trying her hand at crocheting other items, mainly blouses. But she also does skirts, cellphone bags, head wraps, and just about anything anybody wants to order.
Not a quitter
O'Gilvie supplements her small income from the crochet business by selling a few clothing items. Still, she struggles as business continues to be sluggish.
In reality, doilies are not as popular as they used to be, and crochet blouses have not really caught on. Being in a resort town used to help as tourists used to support her.
"One time, tourists use to walk a lot. Mi used to do good business, but now, di tourist dem hardly a walk; nutten naw sell. Every tourist lock up inna di hotel. People jus naw walk an buy," she lamented.
But not being a quitter, she has soldiered on and is using her imagination to good effect. Take her a blouse and she will make a crochet replica with whatever changes are needed.
She has sought other avenues to market her items and has friends selling for her at the Ocho Rios Craft Market.
Having moved to St Ann years ago, O'Gilvie now resides in Exchange. After 30 years, she still has the passion for a craft that many Jamaicans of yesteryear used to enjoy.
"Mi love it because fi one ting, this now wi help yu fi mine yuh own business an' don't watch other people business, an' yuh can earn a likkle money from it same time," O'Gilvie said.