Hi, I’m Natalia
Well, this probably should have been written a long time ago.
Quite a few new people have found their way here lately, and at some point I realised that while there is plenty to look at on this site, there isn’t actually much about the person behind it.
So… hi. I’m Natalia.
And I’m not even going to try to squeeze myself into a neat little paragraph here. That would require deciding what counts as important first, and I already know I’d change my mind halfway through.
This is just a proper hello. We can get to the rest as we go.
So, about my name...
I guess we’ll have to start right at the beginning. With my name. Because apparently even that comes with complications.
Technically, my name is written Natalija. Or, if we’re being completely accurate, Natālija. That’s the Latvian spelling of my name, in the language of my beloved Latvia, where I was born and spent most of my life. I live in Finland now, which I’ve grown very fond of too, and where my name sounds just as melodic as it does in Latvia.
Then I heard what English speakers can do to Natalija. That was enough. I decided I really didn’t want to hear that on a regular basis, dropped the j for English and suddenly life became much easier.
I still love Natālija most, though. There’s something about the way it sounds in Latvian — softer, more musical and just… right.
So if you see Natalia in one place and Natalija in another, don’t worry. Both are me.
And in real life? I’m usually just Nat. Short, simple and completely j-free.
I blame my dad for this one 😉
My dad is 83 and still gets excited about photography. He buys lenses, tries new things and can happily talk about cameras for much longer than anyone actually asked him to.
Apparently, that particular gene made it to me too.
I’m not quite at his level of camera obsession, but I definitely inherited the urge to take pictures. My old Fujifilm X-T1 is still very much alive, there’s a small case of lenses that somehow keeps getting less small, and I can spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get one photo exactly the way I saw it in my head.
Every photo you see on KeenWhale is mine. And I’m actually glad knitting never pulled me away from photography — quite the opposite. It keeps giving me new things to figure out, especially when I’m trying to make something look in a photo the way I see it in real life.
I don’t know about everyone else, but a beautifully photographed pair of socks makes me ridiculously happy.
There is almost always a book in my ears
I read a lot. Well… “read” may not be technically accurate most of the time, because these days I mostly listen.
There is almost always an audiobook with me — while I’m walking, cooking, doing something around the house, knitting, or simply existing with headphones on.
Evenings are especially dangerous. Once we’ve watched an episode of whatever series we’re watching at the moment and the family heads off to bed, my time starts: a book in my ears and knitting in my hands.
And yes, guilty as charged — I can quite happily stay like that from around nine in the evening until two in the morning.
And thank all the gods for audiobooks. Otherwise, I honestly have no idea how I’d knit and read at the same time.
I love how naturally books fit into the rest of my life this way. I don’t have to choose between reading and doing something else. The story just comes with me.
Sometimes that means I get completely swallowed by a book and suddenly realise it’s two in the morning. Again.
And about the whale...
The whale itself means more to me than just a tattoo. I chose it carefully, and it means something very personal to me.
So when KeenWhale came along a few years later, the whale was already there. It felt completely natural to take it with me into this little corner of the internet too.
The “keen” part is a little harder to explain. I don’t remember sitting down and defining it very precisely, but I know what I wanted it to feel like. Curious, observant, interested in things, the kind of mind that notices something and wants to look a little closer.
And “keen” somehow felt right for that.
That’s probably the best explanation I can give you now.
Well, I think that’s enough for a proper hello.
There’s obviously much more I could tell you, but I rather like the idea of leaving some of it for later.
So if you’ve made it all the way down here — hi again. I’m Natalia, I’m very glad you’re here, and I suppose we’ll get to the rest as we go.
2 Comments
Ann
Hi Natalia,
I am very happy I found you. Your knitted scrappy baglets are adorable and I am about to try one with some of my scraps. Your pattern is very thorough and I’m looking forward to trying it out!
Thank you from Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Ann
Natalija
Hi Ann! Thank you so much for such a lovely message ☺️ I’m really glad you found me, and I hope you enjoy knitting your Scrappy Baglet with your scraps. Have fun with it, and greetings to Prince Edward Island from Finland 🤗