Notion - 1 May 2026
Illustration by Emilia IsabellaShe packed her yarn. She left everything else.
When the invasion began, Valerie Boiko left her Ukrainian hometown with almost nothing. Almost. The yarn and the crochet hook came with her. What happened next was not a plan. It was survival finding its shape. She began making lamps. Crocheted forms that don't hold light. They translate it.
She worked through air raids and power cuts. She made, because making and coping had become the same thing. Her lamps now glow in homes across Europe. Each one carries where it came from.
"Making and coping. For some of us, there was never a difference."
The Maker : a portrait in words
Good things are better shared. Especially with people who own too much yarn.