Hello, my name is Nataliia. I am 42 years old and have a higher education. Now I live in Kyiv with my daughter of 6 years. I am a very creative craftswoman and enjoy doing needlework. I willingly knit with knitting needles, crochet and on a knitting machine, embroider with an artistic satin stitch, cross stitch and beads. I also love to draw.
24.02 I woke up to a call from my sister. She said that Russia is bombing our airports. This is how my first experience of war began. I hope that it will be the last one. I don’t want to go through this again…
I didn’t go anywhere — I stayed in Kyiv. Instead, my entire family moved in with me. All this time we live together in a small apartment. We have pets with us: my sister’s British cat and our kitty (we took her a little more than six months ago, still tiny, from the street).
Since 24.02, only the attitude to some things has changed. In addition, this situation showed who is who. Not a very pleasant experience… but I’m not so easy to break. After all, all my life I strive for the best and constantly set myself new goals and plans, and confidently move towards their implementation. I am not hysterical by nature, so for recreation and pleasure I knit, embroider or draw. I have also a permanent job, in addition to hobbies. So, there is simply no time for tears and unnecessary hassle.
I want to note that I, like every craftswoman of the project, and, in principle, all Ukrainian women am unique and have my own history. However, at this time, I’m not ready to tell it. Because experiences and certain thoughts simply overwhelm me. It’s hard to talk about the personal, so I’d like to focus on knitting. Thank you for understanding this.
I became interested in knitting at the age of 11. It was then that I started attending needlework clubs. There I also learned to embroider. I usually knit for pleasure. But while on maternity leave, I sometimes began to take orders for the manufacture of individual products. Such items are exclusive, because they are only available in one copy.
When knitting, I think only about the good and kind, because I believe that the product contains the energy of the craftswoman. So, I put aside all problems and dive into the world of loops, plan the color scheme, interesting trimming, and so on. After all, with things I have to pass on good and kind energy to people. I also dream of PEACE. It seems to me that all citizens of Ukraine are also hoping for this. It is PEACE that is now in my thoughts and hopes. I believe that we will win!