Pooja knits intricate patterns seen in Indian Textiles using yarns and knitting needles. Lying somewhere between contemporary knitting practices and Interior design, these circles, concentric compositions create a complex world recording different movements of body, conversations and experiences. Her fascination with knitting dates back to 2013, when she first learnt to knit from her sister.  Initially she only learnt two basic stitches, knit and purl; however, every time she visited her sister's home, she learnt new stitches, building Pooja's vocabulary. Additionally, she gifted a few knitted scarfs as a farewell souvenir for her close friends upon their departure, suggesting that knitting was therefore,  a means to communicate her sentiments, build relationships and form stronger bonds. When she began her PhD, she explored the history of knitting in the UK and Portsmouth –a practice that revealed an organic transition from making for self/family to building surfaces that can allow an interaction/conversation with others. Drawing from a variety of cultural and societal influences, she uses different yarns, colour and pattern palettes. Pooja's sensitivity towards making was put to test in a period defined by distance, during the unforeseen event of covid-19 pandemic, when material contact became akin to social intimacy. Familial bonding was activated by acts such as knitting, weaving, embroidery transforming the craft quality associated with it into a performative art. It became an instrument of intensive self-improvement and well-being as it allowed direct contact with needles and threads (The Literary Review, 2020). Hence, she uses knitting as a practice not only performed within home to build familial bonding, but also as a practice that enables a migrant like her, to position herself in the world and make herself a home.

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