Knitter. Migrant. Mover, IT Analyst.

We meet at a cafe in Dickson. The day is cooler than it has been so we sit outside, avoiding the music and chatter of the cafe. I recognise Daniela as she sits down. I have seen her before at one of the face to face meet ups. She knits. The WIP she whips out of a bag is neat and even. The Heirloom pattern, a T-shirt designed for cotton in bold stripes or a subtle dash pattern, is knitted in 50% bamboo and 50% wool. It has a soft, slightly fluffy look to it. The back is nearly up to the armpits. She tells me she is very slow, and although this top was intended for this summer, her daughter, the recipient, is going to have to wait for next year.

Daniela taught herself how to knit, around the age of 10, by following instructions in a book. No one in her family does domestic crafts. As a child in Chile she did not know that there was any other kind of knitting apart from Continental. Daniela also taught herself how to sew. She explains to me that as a short person, who likes things to fit, she has to resort to making her own clothes. Sewing replaced knitting as she found knitting took too long to finish anything. She likes that she can make a dress or a top in one afternoon with her sewing machine.
Daniela’s family left Chile, then under a dictatorship, to the first country that would take them. They landed in Sydney where they stayed until democracy was restored and her family accepted the offers of tax-free items made to returning migrants. Going back to her country of birth was Danela’s mother’s dying wish; she wanted to be surrounded by her family during her last few months.
The stay in Chile was not a happy one. Neither Daniela nor her younger sister liked the country. It was particularly difficult for Daniela as when they left Australia she had already completed her first year at Sydney University and no Chilean university was prepared to accept her prior learning. She was told she would have to do the last year of high school again. This was not an option. Despite the incentives, her father could not find full-time work. He had completed further study in Australia but this did not count in the new Chile. Tax free cars were the incentive but there was not much structure around that and the family struggled.
After her mother died, her father, sister and Daniela returned to Australia. He returned to his job in Sydney and she to university. Daniela is very clear, ‘No regrets.’
When Daniela was pregnant with her daughter she took up knitting again, finishing a cardigan for her baby. This was the first thing she had made that was not a scarf and is now treasured and kept in a household with few sentimental things. The cardigan is kept in a box and taken out to be admired occasionally. Daniela admits to not hoarding anything much, partly down to the number of moves she had made over the years, and partly because she does not feel the need to hold onto things. The other treasurers she had until recently were her school awards. They only got chucked when she moved to Canberra two years ago, as she followed her daughter who had a place at Canberra University. This was an opportunity to move from a flat in Sydney to somewhere with a garden in Canberra, and so her daughter would not have to pay rent while studying. She reflects that she only got rid of the school awards once she had her Masters degree. Maybe she no longer needed them?
We talked about how it is great to do something with your hands; knitting or crochet, stitching or even colouring. Something that can be taken with you so there is less time scrolling. Knitting gives us something else to consider, focus on and create.
The move to Canberra gave Daniela the opportunity to do new things. She joined the Canberra Knitters and Crocheters group, and the Pedal Power social rides group. She admitted to loving scrolling to see the work that everyone in the group produces. Being new to Canberra the group offered her advice about patterns, where to get the best yarn, how to solve knotty problems and the opportunity to meet up with people face to face if there was time and it fitted into her schedule. The Australia wide knitting internet groups she belongs to do not offer the same information as they are not local.

Daniela is an IT person who works remotely, from home. The work she is most proud of has combined her knowledge of IT with her experience in knitting and sewing. She had 6 balls of an alpaca, wool mix in teal and 4 in grey. She found them in the Hunter Valley (NSW) and waited for the right garment to present itself. The cardigan, a dusty blue with dark grey cats on the front panels, is her own design. She designed the chart for the cats using Excel, adding the distortion to the stitches by making the cells an oblong shape. The cardigan has added full bust adjustment using short rows in the front panels so it fits perfectly to her body. Although she did research for full bust adjustment in knitting she could not find anything so she made it up, and it works. There is no visible change in the tension or flow of the work to indicate added rows.
Daniela’s work is skillful, accurate and even; lovely to look at. I ponder, out loud, why crafts are not held in as high esteem as arts are. Why is it that a jumper, or printed fabric pattern, or stitched piece of fabric is not seen as art? And why are crafts not valued? Daniela offers a practical suggestion: crafts are things that are used and art has no purpose apart from to be art.
Daniela fingers the cardigan she is making for her daughter. Has she passed on this skill? Her daughter does knit but her mother still likes to make things for her. Her daughter learnt how to knit at after school care.
We part company with Daniela telling me she is back to work next week. For me, even though it is only the first full week of January, it feels like the end of the month with everyone returning to usual routines. The coolness of the air and the stressed trees starting to turn to reds adds to this.
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