Down-Knitting Master Evdokiya Fedorovna Burlutskaya

Baba Dusya is not only a great master of her craft but also a tidy, hospitable host. Evdokiya Fedorovna's home met our group with a cosy atmosphere; everything is clean and tidy, and something tasty is cooking on the stove. Baba Dusya receives us as her own and immediately offers to feed us and give us tea, but we are so keen to hear her story that we start the interview straight away. Evdokiya Fedorovna does not mind; she is a woman of action.

"I don't like lying around on the sofa, I've been used to that since childhood," says Baba Dusya, "sometimes I sleep for an hour, and I don't want more, I do things around the house and knit, of course."

Evdokiya Fedorovna Burlutskaya was born in the village of Krasnogorskoye in 1942. Dusya's father was an ordinary worker (after the Great Patriotic War he became chairman of the collective farm), and her mother worked at a bakery. Evdokiya was the youngest child in the family, but active and versatile. From an early age her mother taught the children household chores; besides, already at school Baba Dusya took part in all the campaigns and "workdays" of the local Komsomol organisation, later becoming its chair. Discipline in the family was strict but based on mutual understanding; the parents never shouted and never once raised a hand.

"I was young, I had a lot of energy," recalls Baba Dusya, "discipline was strict, my mother instilled a love of work from an early age. I'm grateful to her for that: when I married at 18, I could do everything – tidy the house, wash the laundry and bake bread. There was no such technology back then, we did everything ourselves."

Evdokiya Fedorovna was taught the tricks of down knitting by her mother (who, by the way, was awarded the honorary title "Master with Golden Hands". At 7, her father gave her a sewing machine, which stands in her house to this day. By the way, it was on this machine that Baba Dusya sewed clothes for all five of her brothers and sisters; she always liked sewing and knitting. Her mother taught her the subtleties of hand knitting and the laborious process of combing down. Evdokiya Fedorovna shows us her comb and explains:

"I always knit by hand, with soul. Combing is a long process; my comb may be thin, but it combs the down out well."

In 1960, Evdokiya Fedorovna married Nikolay Ivanovich, a young man from the village of Ostrovnoye. The young family settled in Orenburg, where, by the way, Evdokiya Fedorovna gave birth to her first daughter. However, hard times made their own adjustments, and 4 years later the family had to return to Ostrovnoye (her sister's husband was then chairman of the collective farm there). There Baba Dusya graduated from a cooperative technical school, kept house and continued doing what she loved – knitting down shawls, warm shawls, gossamer shawls... Nikolay Ivanovich worked at the "Kommunar" plant (more than 20 years in total).

Eventually the family settled in the settlement of Saraktash, where Evdokiya Fedorovna lives to this day.

"You've come just in time, it's an anniversary year!" jokes Baba Dusya.

It was there that her favourite occupation became a profession: Evdokiya Fedorovna got a job at the local down production unit, first as a quality inspector, but the director quickly noticed her abilities, and soon Baba Dusya was already working as a foreman. At all times Evdokiya Fedorovna put her soul into her items.

"You have to live on something too," she says, "but to knit without soul means to offend those who will end up with the shawl."

There was a lot of work at that time, Baba Dusya told us. Seven departments serving seven settlements respectively.

"Sometimes the workers came," she recalls, "sometimes, in bad weather, we got on horses ourselves and delivered. Later they gave us a small car."

So, until 1990, Evdokiya Fedorovna worked as a foreman at the down production unit, until perestroika dealt the factory a fatal blow.

"Not all at once, but gradually everything collapsed," she recalls, "department after department, everyone was laid off, then production closed too."

However, even these difficulties could not break such a life-loving and hard-working person. Baba Dusya continued doing what she loved and got a job as a canteen attendant at the Saraktash Central District Hospital (until 2005, even though she officially retired in 1997). The staff of the department valued Evdokiya Fedorovna greatly and became very attached to her. On 16 December 2016, Baba Dusya received an official invitation to the hospital's 80th anniversary.

Evdokiya Fedorovna still does down knitting today and, as she says herself, still gets enormous pleasure from the process. Baba Dusya willingly shows us her handmade masterpieces; at a single touch you can feel that soul has been put into the work and that the shawls were made with love and care for their future owners.

Today 75-year-old Evdokiya Fedorovna has two children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. All of them inherited Baba Dusya's love of work and strong will; the children and grandchildren without exception received higher education and work successfully in their fields. She herself has been awarded the titles "Labour Veteran" and "Shock Worker of Socialist Labour".

"I'm content," says Evdokiya Fedorovna, showing us family photo albums, "I've accomplished everything I planned. I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they are happy – isn't that the main thing in life?"

For her part, Baba Dusya advises us to have strong families, to respect and love each other, and always to understand and support one another.

After the interview, Evdokiya Fedorovna again shows her hospitality and, laughing, says she will not let us go hungry. After talking a little more at the table and trying the generous treats (Baba Dusya, by the way, not only knits amazingly high-quality down items but also cooks very well), we had to say goodbye to this wonderful and extraordinary woman and go and prepare this article. An article about a real person – I am not afraid of the word – a hero of our time and an example of hard work, a positive outlook on life and of how to overcome any difficulties and remain kind to people even in the hardest of times. Thank you, Baba Dusya, for being who you are and for your down masterpieces made with love; we wish you good health and many years of life!