Phelicia Lotoya Adams – reinventing crocheting with Flawless Wings Designs

By Lakhram Bhagirat

Crocheting is seen as something that interests the older folks. They would spend hours sitting in a chair and knit a number of things ranging from hats, cushion covers, tablemats and chairbacks.
Crocheting, in the Guyanese context, is especially popular around the Christmas Holiday Season where houses are turned upside down and the old is replaced by the new. The demand then increases for new tablemats, cushion covers and chairbacks.
The thing is, knitting is not something that one associates with young people. It is often seen as something older, particularly, women take up to occupy their time. So, 19-year-old Phelicia Lotoya Adams always felt that it is something she does not intend to take up.

However, now it is the very thing that she crafted a whole business from. She has and continues to reinvent crocheting to appeal to the masses.
Hailing from the East Bank Essequibo (EBE) village of Hydronie, Adams along with her brothers Rael and Daniel was raised by their single mother Odella Trim. Being from a single-parent home, meant that the young Adams and her brothers were left to look out for themselves since their mother was constantly working to put food on the table and cater for their every need.
“It was really challenging growing up because my mom worked 24/7 to provide a meal on a table so my siblings and I had to look out for ourselves growing up. My family and I shared some great memories, especially on Christmas Day. That’s the day our family would come together as one and make that day memorable. I was considered a Tom-boy growing up because I was the only girl among the boys so climbing trees, fishing and playing football were my hobbies,” she said.

After completing her education at the Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary School, Adams began pursuing a career in the field of modelling and never even gave knitting a thought even though her mother was constantly doing it.
“I was never a fan of knitting. Many times, my mom would try to teach me but I would always fail. Until in the year 2017 when I completed my secondary level examinations. I was home one day with my mom and she was doing a crochet chair back and I was just staring at the way she was doing it. I picked up the chair back when my mom went into the kitchen and I just looked at the pattern and just like that, I started knitting.
“I was amazed by myself as well as my mom. I then wanted to do more and more so I would’ve spent most of my time on YouTube looking from different patterns. Eventually, I developed a love and passion for crocheting. I remembered my mom telling me stories that when she was pregnant with me, she spent most of her time knitting. So, I would say that crocheting came naturally to me,” the young Adams said.

Realising that she has a knack for creating unique designs and a natural talent for knitting, Adams decided to utilise her newfound passion as an avenue for creating a career. The young woman almost instantaneously came up with the name ‘Flawless Wings Designs’ and since then, every design has been flawless.
“Flawless has always been my favourite word to use so it was the only word in my head at the time. Flawless Wings Designs are handmade crochet clothing in varieties of different and unique styles that will suit your best taste and will make you stand out wherever you go. Flawless Wings Designs does crochet tops, dresses, baby outfits, short pants, swimsuits and a whole lot of other items,” the budding businesswoman said.
For her, inspiration came from her mother and the fact that she grew up around knitting. Though never been formally trained, Adams continues to hone her craft through the lessons of her mother and continuous motivation. Not one day did her mother stop motivating her to do her best and to never give up on getting better.
In order for her to create a piece, Adams goes through a series of steps. She first has to get the right needles and yarn. She explains that she would first start every design with a slip knot followed by chains. At this point, she would choose the type of stitch she intends to work with – single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and treble crochet – followed by the number of rows. Adams advises that one should always end their work with a slip stitch, followed by two chains and hide the remaining piece of thread in your work.
Adams is now working on further establishing herself and creating a name in the local fashion world.
“We all have our gifted with talents and skills. Some of us may take a while to find them while others are right in front of them. But when you find yours don’t tell it to go astray. Use your gifts to make an impact and to create opportunities for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid of opportunities because they only come once in a lifetime,” she says.