Donna Druchunas's Blog

It's only right that I end the year with the two themes that have obsessed me for the past 12 (24, 3+) months: Travel and Knitting!

The Travel bug bites again. I picked up A Year in the World by Frances Mayes today because I read this in the first pages:

That archipelago was the first place I ever longed for. During the rainy winter months of my childhood, sometimes mercurial sensations of the island came to me in a rush -- humid, salty air catches in my hair, the saw palmettos clatter in the torrid breezes of August, and my hand sweats in our cook Willie Bell's hand as we walk toward a low bridge, where she will lower a crab trap baited with "high" meat into black water. I ached not to be in Miss Golf's first-grade classroom, where the floors smelled of pine oil and sawdust and the little letters followed the big letters in colored chalk around the room. I wanted the firm feel of Willie Bell's hand, the horror of rotting raw meat in the crab trap, sunrises on the beach, and the long walk back to the house on the crushed oyster shell path.

At six, that sensation was a tied, a rhythm, a hurt, a joy. This powerful first sensation of a place I have come to know well because I've kept it all my life, just as I've kept square thumbnails and insomnia...

..."It" being anything that pulls us hard enough so that we take the passport from the drawer, pack the minimum, and head out the door with an instinct as sur as that of an ancient huntress with quiver and bow. The urge to travel feels magnetic.

In chapter 1, I found even more that I love. I am afraid I will highlight every page of the book.

And now Knitting. Registration for UK Knit Camp 2010 begins tomorrow at 8PM GMT!!! Here's what I'm teaching:

Amish Oval Rug
Rugs provide a stress-free way to learn to knit. Even if you only know how to cast on and do the knit stitch, you can create stylish and functional rugs for your home. Since rugs are simple shapes, there are no armholes or necklines to shape, no buttonholes to remember, and no constant measuring to ensure proper fit. You can use your precious knitting to slow down and let your hands memorize the motions. Knitted rugs also provide a perfect palette for exploring creativity, experimenting with new types of yarns, and creating pieces of knitted art. If you’re looking for a challenge, you can create truly beautiful works-of-art while learning new skills.

In this class, we will learn to make an oval knitted rug inspired by Early American braided rugs. Made from old rags, these early rugs represent frugality and parsimony, but their flamboyant colours speak of a love for beauty. This rug, made entirely of garter stitch strips, gives you the chance to bring the classic braided look into your own home. MORE HERE

Arctic lace: Lace knitting 1-2-3
For years I tried to learn how to knit lace, and was frustrated as I failed each time. I finally gave up because I wanted to have fun knitting and enjoy my hobby. I was able to knit cables, fair isle, intarsia, and even entrelac with no problems, but lace stymied me over and over again. I thought I would never be able to knit lace, until I stumbled onto Dorothy Reade's simple techniques, used by the Native Alaskan knitters in the Oomingak Co-operative.

Working from charts, understanding decreases, and knitting with worsted-weight yarn and larger needles gave me the confidence and practice I needed to ease into lace knitting. If I learned how to knit lace after years of frustration and failure, I know other knitters can, too!

In this workshop we will discuss the tools and yarns used to knit lace, learn how to follow lace charts, and make one swatch in worsted-weight yarn and one in sport-weight yarn. Students will then be ready to knit a lace-weight swatch on their own, and move on to making a simple project such as a lace scarf or hat.MORE HERE

Big Needle Lace
Love lace but not into knitting with thread-like yarn on tiny needles? Then this class is for you! We will explore different lace knitting stitches, all using fat yarns and needles size 13 and above. I first tried this technique to knit a Victorian lace border pattern that was designed to be made with crochet cotton and sewn onto a dainty handkerchief. At a luncheon during a knitting conference, a friend challenged me to make a project using that stitch in one afternoon. I bought some Rowan Big Wool and size 19 needles, and made a capelet before dinner.

In this workshop, we will work swatches and then cast on and begin knitting a big lace neck warmer, using the lace pattern stitch of your choice.MORE HERE

Explore Japanese Knitting 1
Japanese knitting books are hot right now. Although the patterns are written entirely in Japanese, they are not impossible for English-speaking audiences to read. Very light on text and very heavy on charts and schematics, with a cheat sheet of translations, any adventurous knitter can enter the world of Japanese knitting. Handout will include a Japanese pattern, chart and text translation key, and several charted stitch patterns.

Participants need to know basic knitting skills, and be familiar with reading English-language patterns, charts and garment schematics. For the intermediate to advanced knitter.

Explore Japanese Knitting 2
In this workshop we will learn how to read Japanese charts, and we will swatch several interesting Japanese stitches using techniques that can add an extra level of finesse to any project. We will also study how Japanese charts combine several simple elements together to create the elaborate pattern stitches for which Japanese designers are famous. This class is a follow on from the morning class and while attending the morning class is not mandatory, it is highly recommended.
MORE HERE

Knitting Lace borders
Do you love lace borders? Then learn how to knit them in several different ways. In this class we'll go over the details of sewn-on borders, knitted on borders, and borders that are picked up along the edge of a piece. We'll also discuss how borders can be used on sweaters, shawls, and home decor items.

In this class we will learn how to work sewn on borders, knitted on borders, and borders that are picked up and knit out from the edge of a piece. MORE HERE

Two birds with one stone? Scratch that travel itch and knit!

Little by little, big projects get done. But sometimes it seems like nothing is happening because my to do lists never get shorter. Every time something gets crossed off, something else gets added. Actually, because I keep my to do list on my computer in a little text editor, nothing ever gets crossed off. Old items just get deleted, as new items get added. So it's difficult to get a sense of accomplishment. However, I know I get a lot of work done. Off the top of my head, here's what I did in 2009:

Wrote 2 and 1/2 books, more or less
Planned the projects for my Lithuanian book
Wrote a half dozen or more articles
Knitted several lace shawls and other projects
Spent 8 weeks in Europe, and taught workshops in 2 countries
Attended the Jewish Lithuania program in Vilnius
Taught at 4 or 5 large knitting events in the US
Taught 4 or 5 workshops at my local yarn shop
Canned spaghetti sauce and salsa
Spun one skein of wool
Blogged, tweeted, and facebooked
Watched 10,000 hours of TV
Did research and farted around on the internet for untold hours
Worked out several times a week and lost 35+ pounds
Worked at my day job, also getting a lot done

Well, that's it off the top of my head. There were many other small things I did, and probably a few other big projects that I worked on. But that's enough. It was a productive, happy, and healthy year. Here's toward another in 2010.

I'm a few days late for the December 26 #best09 post: "Insight or aha! moment" but here it is.



I know, I know, it's not politically correct to hate the US. And I guess I don't really hate this country but I am tired of it - after almost 50 years - and I'm very disappointed in it, and I don't feel like I belong here right now. So I'm leaving for a bit. In all honesty, it may not be the entire US I am sick of, just suburbia, just the "middle", just the mundane parts. If I could live in a city, especially on the West Coast, I might feel differently. But I might not. And I've been in several places around Europe over the past few years and the whole place continues to call out to me and draw me - for many reasons. I feel like my heart is in Europe. And I intend to follow it there.

It's terrible when you feel trapped in a place or a life that is not nurturing you. What's wrong with Colorado? Nothing specific. But for most of the time I've lived here, I've felt like the cliche square peg in a round hole. Being here has been good for me in many ways. It has been less expensive to live here than it was in California; I found a good work-at-home job, and I was able to indulge myself in my own writing and creativity. In essence, Colorado got me out of the rat race. But even with all of my creative accomplishments, I still feel like I am stagnating here. I don't feel intellectually stimulated. I am, to put it bluntly, bored.

Being bored is a sign of privilege, I know. People who live in many other parts of the world have neither the time nor the luxury to be bored. And many others, who may suffer from boredom for many different reasons, have no possible way to escape their fate. Although I am not monetarily rich by American standards, I know I am among the luckiest, most fortunate people in the world.

My epiphany is that I am not trapped here. I am not stuck in Colorado or in the US, and I am not going to stay here. All of my regular readers know of my plan to start spending at least half of each year in Europe, and that I'll be based out of Cumbria, England, where I'll be living in a fairy tale writer's retreat with (relatively) inexpensive access to cities around the continent.

I hope I'm not boring you by talking about this so much! I certainly haven't built up a huge readership over my years of baring my soul on this blog, but I appreciate all of my loyal readers. Thank you all so much for following me through my ups and downs, ins and outs, confusion and clarity. I hope we will have even more fun in the coming years, as I expand my boundaries and explore new territory.

Originally posted on de-conversion.com.

Mom was folding laundry on the bed. I was pairing up socks, rolling each pair into a tight, little ball, and folding one cuff over on the outside to make a neat package.

“Don’t be disappointed,” she said, “but you won’t be getting much for Christmas this year.”

“How do you know?” I asked. It was, after all, still summer. School hadn’t even started yet. Santa couldn’t have already decided if I’d been naughty or nice.

“We don’t have as much money since Daddy left. So I won’t be able to buy a lot of presents for you.”

I looked down at the pile of laundry and dug out a match to the sock in my hand. What could that possibly mean? Had my parents been buying my Christmas presents all along?

“You already know this,” my mother said, “but please don’t tell your sister that Santa Claus isn’t real.”

Even though I was only nine, I knew I couldn’t tell my mother that I had believed in Santa right up until that moment. I didn’t want to make her sad.

--

I've finally figured out how to do online classes, with the help of Stefanie Japel's online class, "How to Teach an Online Class" LOL. I'll be starting classes in February, and I'd like to know what courses you'd be interested in taking. Here is a list of what I'm thinking about:

For Knitters
- Arctic Lace: Lace Knitting 1-2-3
- Arctic Lace: Design Your Own Lace Stitches
- Lithuanian Knitting: Sock Heels and Toes
- Ethnic Knitting: Design Your Own Sweater
- Explore Japanese Knitting

For Designers and Authors
- Blog Book Tours 101
- Marketing for Designers and Authors
- The Knitting/Crochet Book Proposal
- New Directions in e-Publishing

For Teachers and Shop Owners
- Ethnic Knitting Workshops You Can Teach
- The Courage to Teach
- Teaching Japanese Knitting

What do you think? That's a lot - probably almost a year's worth of classes. I am not sure if I'll teach one or two classes a month, and if there are any months where I'm teaching out of town, I may not be able to offer online classes at the same time. But it's all going to be a fun experiment. I hope you'll join me for this new adventure!

This was posted on Facebook by my publisher, Martingale & Company, but I wanted to share it with all of you here as well. Enjoy!

Have you ever wondered about the process of creating the beautiful photos you see in your favorite Martingale quilting and knitting books? We went "behind the scenes" at a recent photo shoot for Donna Druchunas' newest book on lace knitting due out in May 2010. It takes a team of people to tackle a full day photo shoot. Our photographer, art director, the book's designer and multiple models all work together to make the photos for this book beautiful!


We were lucky enough to shoot on location at this beautiful home in Woodinville, Washington, only a few miles from our offices.


With three different models and over a dozen different garments to shoot in one day, there were lots of wardrobe changes.


The model gets a few tips from our photographer, Brent, on showing off the details of this beautiful Victorian style jacket.


Brent sets up the lights for an indoor shot. The lights in most people's homes tend to cast a yellowish glow, so a photographer uses tungsten lights or studio strobes which better replicate natural lighting.


Shelly takes a look through the viewfinder to make sure she is happy with the shot, while Stan, Martingale's art director, helps move props out of the background.


There wasn't enough room to photograph the model wearing this hand spun stole on the staircase, so we had to move out onto the porch.


Brent goes to new heights to take a perfect picture.


It is the models job to make you believe it is a warm fall afternoon, even if it is a chilly, drizzly October day.

When I was young - a child, in my teens, and in my twenties - I was afraid of everything. I was paralyzed emotionally and I couldn't tell anyone about it so I couldn't ask for help. I'm not sure I knew I needed help or that I could be any different. I had this card in my box of favorite things.

"The things I never said - are waiting somewhere, like the things I wanted to do - and never did."

I bought it for a boy I loved, a boy I wanted to kiss and hold hands with. But I never found the courage to send it. The card might still be there in my box, but I may have lost it along the way sometime. I loved the bitter sweet feeling that I got from my secret life, holding everything inside. I felt secure knowing that I could protect myself. But I was also incredibly sad that I was unable to share my inner self.

Perhaps that's one reason I fell in love with Jesus. He was safe to talk to. I knew he would never laugh at me or betray me by revealing my secrets to anyone else. But in the end, I needed someone real to talk to. Someone I could see and feel and touch. Someone I could actually kiss and hold hands with. Someone who could also tell me their hidden secrets. And I needed other people, too. People I could have a cup of coffee with, and share just a bit of our lives with one another.

I am not isolated any more. I don't hide in my secret life. It's still there, but I share most of it with very few people and lots of smaller bits with a lot of people. I even share a few small nuggets here, on the internet. And I'm glad.

I still think about my younger self with her fears and insecurities. And I know she still lurks in some deep corner of my heart, trembling. I wrote a letter to her once. I told her not to be afraid. Life is wonderful and full of adventure and love and beauty that we need to embrace to live fully. I'm glad she is experiencing these things with me, now.

I've started a shawl using the ideas in Crazy Lace and the thoughts author Myra Wood sent me the other day. Here's the promised interview with Myra. I hope it makes you rush out and buy her book and to start knitting lace fearlessly. I don't recommend books so enthusiastically most of the time, because, well, I want you to buy my books. LOL. But this books is one I wish I'd written. Or, more precisely, it's one I wish I'd thought of. I hope you enjoy this little chat between two authors who love lace. Not surprisingly, perhaps, we agree on many things. I hope someday we get to work together on a yet un-imagined project!

---

Donna: I can't tell you how thrilled I am with your book! I love that you've taken what is usually considered a very tedious and detail-oriented type of knitting and come up with a way to use it creatively without stress. I've been addicted to knitting lace since I started doing my research for Arctic Lace, but I like projects that are mindless as well. I love the concept of Crazy Lace because it will allow me to combine both types of knitting into one project. And I'll be able to take my lace knitting projects to social gatherings and not worry about making mistakes. How did you first come up with the idea for knitting lace without rules?

Myra: Donna, that means so much to me coming from you. I'm such a fan of Arctic Lace! I'm a freeformer at heart, kind of an improvisational person in pretty much everything I do. As soon as I learn something new I immediately think, " What if I did it THIS way instead?" There's nothing as beautiful or as intriguing as knitted lace. I love the soft, yummy gossamer fabric and the process of creating holes just makes me smile. I enjoy pattern knitting and design quite a bit myself but there
are times when you want to be on auto-pilot or you just want to play... when you're with friends and family, after a long day while watching tv with a glass of wine in hand and knitting lace by charts is nearly impossible.

After nights on end re-knitting a Herbert Neibling pattern, I think it was Lyra, I decided to just wing it and see what would happen rather than rip it out to the beginning one more time. All kinds of things happened! I realized the actual logic and structure of the lace instead of just following by wrote. I left his chart early on and began playing with the patterns as they appeared. It was like stumbling into a whole new world.


Donna: I love that your book has no patterns, but some knitters will be expecting to find exact instructions for making the items shown in the photographs. What advice can you give to potential readers who might be intimidated by the lack of step-by-step patterns?

Myra: I know it seems intimidating or confusing at first. How can you possibly knit lace without patterns? I made sure to explain the entire process of knitting lace including understanding how lace patterning actually works from beginning to end. The book is set up so that if you read it from cover to cover you'll understand how to be creative and design your own lace or just wing it and Go Crazy! My main advice is to put away any preconceived ideas about what you're making while you knit. This is an adventure and it's more about loving the process than knowing what the final outcome will be.


Donna: Lace is normally considered a technique for advanced knitters. How much experience would you say a knitter needs under her belt before trying Crazy Lace?

Myra: The really crazy part is that anyone can knit Crazy Lace if they have basic knitting skills. It's really just knits, purls, yarn-overs and decreases. But it's also very challenging for an advanced lace knitter when they realize the freedom to use all of their skills creatively. Lace seems very complicated but it really isn't any harder than any other knitting technique.


Donna: One key section of your book is called Lace Logic. Can you explain a little bit about what this is and how you can move from logic to craziness?

Myra: Ahh, Lace Logic! One of my favorite subjects. Lace is beautifully logical and when you understand how patterns are created over rows and why you decrease in certain directions there are endless possibilities. By working with simple lace repeats for awhile it becomes clear how to modify them and then go off and play on your own. Once you learn the rules then you know how to break them.


Donna: Another section is called Charts Can be Fun. I know from my own teaching experience that many knitters are intimidated by charts. What can we as knitters do to make charts fun for us?

Myra: I love charts, plain and simple. Actually much easier than trying to follow written instructions while knitting and trying to keep track of your place in the pattern. Charts only look complicated until you read them line by line, symbol by symbol. In lace knitting there are very few symbols since we're dealing mainly with yarn-overs as increases and the direction of the decreases. Some charts may use slightly different symbols but they really make sense when you look at the direction the decrease slants. The main thing is not to try and memorize a chart. Just follow along like reading music and you'll find a comfortable rhythm that you'll fall into. The symbols become very familiar and it all becomes second nature.


Donna: What would you recommend for a first project for someone who wants to try the crazy lace techniques? What would you suggest for an experienced lace knitter who wants a challenge?

Myra: Sampler scarves are the best place to start; changing the pattern repeats every few rows so that you can feel comfortable with lace in general. For a more experienced lace knitter there are 2 different approaches with a multitude of possibilities, the totally random approach that I like to think of as Jazz Knitting or symmetrical patterning that you make up and chart as you knit along. It really depends on what you enjoy most and are most comfortable doing. Whatever you decide, it has to be fun so you'll love doing it.

Donna: Do you have a favorite lace knitting tip that you'd like to sharewith us?

Myra: If a piece is over 10 or 15 stitches cast-on I always do a provisional cast-on and block the piece on waste yarn before binding off. Makes for a very even, finished edge.


Donna: I primarily work in knitting, but I also love crochet. I see that you also have a book on Creative Crochet Lace. Can you tell us a little about this book?

Myra: I'm one of those tri-stitchual people. I love all kinds of needlecrafts including crochet, knitting, beading, embroidery, you name it. Creative Crochet Lace is also a freestyle approach that uses 5 different methods to create lovely lacy crochet fabric. Each style is based on a traditional crochet lace technique. I explain how to cut templates and use them for a perfect fit. The book is also filled with beautiful photography and includes a gallery of incredible work by some of the best freeform crocheters in the world.


Donna: Do you prefer crochet or knitting for your own projects?

Myra: I have to say that although I hear some controversy about knitting vs crochet and vice versa, I think it's all very silly! Both techniques are important to learn so that they can be used and combined to their fullest. I love mixing crocheted embellishments and edgings on knitted garments and encourage everyone to explore both. And while you're at it, throw some beads in too!


Donna: Where can we learn more about your work?

Myra: I teach at the XRX/Stitches events and at retreats around the country. Check out my website at www.myrawood.com to view galleries of my work or to see my schedule.


Donna: Thanks, Myra! I hope your work and your book gives many more knitters the freedom and courage to step out there and get their creative juices flowing without patterns and without fear!

O, TO be in England
Now that April 's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray's edge—
That 's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Remember when I mentioned Crazy Lace by Myra Wood the other day? I'm starting my first project tonight. I keep not knitting, and wanting to knit but not wanting to pay attention to what I'm doing. But I love lace and shawls and I don't really want to knit anything else. So what's a girl to do? That's exactly what I asked Myra.

Here's what she suggested to me:

Funny you should ask!!! That's pretty much how CL came to be. I'll get into it more with my other answers but just say for now that there's nothing I love to do more than lace knitting but after a long day with a glass of wine in hand and the tv on it used to be virtually impossible. CL happened BECAUSE I wanted to do mindless lace knitting as well as intentional patterning.

I'm just finishing up a triangular shawl that you'd love knitting. It's a basic pattern of YO after the first 2 stitches, before the last 2 stitches and on either side of the center st EOR. I'm using fingering weight (A definite plus for the mindless part!) and changing to a new shade of pink every few repeats. I make a large copy of a simple chart that fits the multiple and sit it on an adjustable easel and glance over now and then to remind myself where I'm at. I did multiples of 6 over 8 rows, changed it out to multiples of 9... keeping the increases separated so the multiple in the main area stays the same until I have enough stitches to include for another whole repeat. (Basic simple random eyelets in those areas mirrored on both sides) Anyone looking at it would think it's some complicated pattern but it's completely simple! and satisfies that (almost) mindless craving at the same time. At the point where you have a hundred or more stitches on either side of the center you're cruising on auto-pilot. I also do patterning on only one side, purling or knitting back on the wrong side to make it that much less thinking ;)

Many experienced lace knitters prefer the symmetry and patterns to the totally random approach. It's especially fun because at any time you can throw in a few rows of K2tog, yo when you're at a point where you really don't want to think about it and just enjoy the knitting and it looks like you meant it!

I'm going to start this tonight with yarn I bought
in Lithuania a few years ago and needles I got in Alaska.

Don't worry if it doesn't make much sense. You'll get a better sense of what Crazy Lace is about when I interview Myra on the blog later this week. Don't miss it!

This is rambly because it's lifted directly from my journal:

For the past couple of years, as you know, I’ve been doing research for and working on writing a book about Lithuanian knitting. I’ve really been struggling with it and procrastinating about it, and I’ve talked about these problems on this blog from time to time. I think I’m worrying too much.

I need to get back to “the book.” I made a to do list a few weeks ago, but I haven't crossed anything off the list yet. It’s time. Yesterday I got a great compliment from a friend who is reading Arctic Lace. She says she feels like she is traveling there with me and it sounds just like me. So that’s great. I can’t think of a better compliment! I need to write the Lithuania book the same way. I need to stop thinking so deeply about it and just write it. Just write the damn book. I will get it started soon. Well it’s started. But I’ll get back to it soon.

The interesting thing to me right now is how I am having an easier time working on smaller projects. Usually, or at least in the past, it’s been easier for me to work on big projects. A book was easier to attack than an article or an essay. A sweater was a more exciting knitting project than a pair of mittens or socks. Now I am finding that the big projects are dragging me down in a way. I’m dreading them, and wishing they were finished so I could play with the smaller projects. I even use my iPhone now more than I use my laptop, and I got rid of my letter-sized notebooks and got a small pad that fits in the back pocket of my jeans. Luckily, this book will be filled with sock and mitten projects!

Maybe I need to write the Lithuanian book as if it were a bunch of small articles and as if I’m talking to my blog readers. That’s the way I write best, and most naturally. When I’m talking to you. When I try to get literary or write without thinking about my readers, my writing becomes stiff and awkward. Quite the opposite of the result I’m looking for.

I need to frame the book with my trip, like I did in Arctic Lace. I need to talk about my travels and thoughts surrounding each chapter, and then fill in with the facts about the topic at hand. My co-author June’s parts will be different but our editor will make it flow smoothly while leaving both of our voices in place. I hope we can also do an audio book so we can both read our portions. June is English, and it would be really fun to listen to an audio book that combines English and New York accents!

I have five knitting books out right now. I have three more in the works. I have ideas for another dozen. But I feel like I need to stop writing knitting books for a while, and focus on teaching and participating in online knitting communities, and meeting knitters at shops and events. So I’m working on fleshing out my workshop schedule more, including (yes, finally!) online classes, and spreading the word about my current books to more people. I also want to publish some smaller ebooks, and I’m working on another top-secret e-knitting project that is very exciting. (I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to talk about it, perhaps after the holidays.)

Tonight I think I will read Arctic Lace again. That way I will get into that voice. Maybe I’ll read a chapter every morning as I get ready to work on the Lithuanian book. I know what I need to do. I just need to do it. So I’ve accepted that this is my writing process. Arousal procrastination. I need to wait until I can’t take it any more, and then write. It works for me. I get good results. I don't write every day. I need to stop worrying about this. I should not try to follow anyone else’s rules.

#best09 topic: What book - fiction or non - touched you? Where were you when you read it?

There were two books that touched me deeply this year. One was nonfiction and one was fiction.

The nonfiction book that influenced me was Black Lambs & Gray Falcons: Women Travellers in the Balkans, edited by by John B. Allcock and Antonia Young, which I read in Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, Cumbria, England! How's that for an address? I read it at my friend June Hall's house, the house I'll be staying in this summer. I wrote about my experiences reading this book here:

Blog posts about Black Lambs & Grey Falcons

This book is still influencing me, because it led me to discover the work of Edith Durham in the Bankfield Museum in Halifax. Just the other day, I received a booklet called "The Durham Collection of Garments and Embroideries from Albania and Yugoslavia" in the email. It's full of information about the collection, and it's inspiring me to spend more time at the museum next summer going through the archives. Who knows where it will lead! Very exciting.

The novel that touched me most was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I just finished this book last week. It is not something I would have chosen to read myself. I usually prefer novels that are more fantasy and less stark reality. But a good friend recommended it, so I downloaded a copy for the Kindle app on my iPhone.

I didn't like the first section of the book. I thought it was slow and boring and predictable. But I kept reading anyway. I'm so glad I did! At first I read just a few chapters a night in bed. But by the time I got to the last sections, I had to just keep going. I was up in the mountains staying at a friend's cabin, and I am afraid I was a bit rude, because I just I couldn't put the book down until I finished. Sometimes perseverance pays off. And so much for the editing nonsense about having to be fabulous in the first five pages. (All rules are made to be broken, once you know what you're doing.) I think the restlessness and even a little boredom that I felt reading the beginning of this book was reflective of what the character was feeling, and therefore appropriate.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is about two women who live in Afghanistan during the last decades of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first. Through the course of the book, the country is controlled by the Soviet Union, local war lords, the Taliban, and even occupied by the USA. There is nothing but nonstop violence for the people who live there, although the plight of most women was by far the worst during the reign of the Taliban. Far more than reading the news reports over the past decades, this book drew me into the lives of families living in Afghanistan, humanized the people and the suffering, and made me very sad to hear that Obama is planning to send in even more troops now.

While I was reading, I couldn't help thinking about the oppressed peoples I've met over the past few years in Lithuania. The few surviving Jews and the Lithuanians themselves. Although the types and extent of the violence is different in each of these situations, the human suffering is equally disturbing. Do I have any answers of how to fix things? Not really. But I know that invading and occupying a sovereign nation is not the answer. Our governments and politicians need to find the moral fortitude and political creativity to approach these desperate situations from a new angle, an angle that eliminates instead of increasing violence; an angle that uses love and education and charity instead of anger and guns to create change.

Black Lambs & Grey Falcons touches on these issues as well. The history of the Balkans is even darker than the history of the Baltics, although it's difficult to grade such levels suffering, something we in America can hardly imagine.

Both of these books will stay with me -- literally, but more important figuratively -- for a very long time. I can't stop thinking about how privileged I am to live in America and have the opportunity to travel and move where ever I want at any time, and how little I have done with my privilege. I hope these uncomfortable feelings lead me to meaningful action. If not I will be so disappointed in myself.

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As part of the Best Blog Challenge 2009, I'll be writing a few more of these posts during the month. I won't hit on every topic. Just those that really draw me in.

Every winter at this time, I make a plan for the upcoming year. I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I usually pick something to focus on. Last year I focused on my health. I feel like I had a very successful year in that area, and I got a lot done in several other areas, but I did let a lot of other things fall through the cracks. I was thinking that I would focus on marketing or my social life in 2010, but I've decide that I need to focus on BALANCE!

It's interesting. When I was younger I had a lot of trouble focusing. I always had so many interests, it was almost impossible for me to hone in on one area for any length of time. I never finished projects; I started many more things than I could ever hope to accomplish; and I had trouble digging down deep into any one area. I felt like a failure. Then, for the past number of years, I've been picking one area of focus and making a very strong effort to make a measurable accomplishment in that specific area. I guess I've learned how to focus a little too well now. So I'm going back to find a way to get through the year without ignoring any important areas of my life and work.

I like to use a life balance wheel to get a quick idea if any part of my life is out of balance. Here's one I stole from the web:



To check where you are in your life, rank each section 1-10 (1 being poor, 10 being fantastic), then draw a line connecting the scores. If you get a nice, big, round shape, great! If your shape looks more like a lopsided star, you may have some work to do in a few key areas.

Up until the last couple of months, I was lacking severely in the friends and fun areas, but I've made some adjustments in my life to correct that. Right now, everything is pretty much in balance and ranks highly in my life, except Physical Environment. That is way down, because I want to be on the other side of the Atlantic. To be honest, I should give it a mid- to high-level score anyway, because I love my house and I live in a beautiful location. But emotionally, I feel deprived because I want to be somewhere else. That will be corrected in 2010 because I'll be spending at least 4 months in Europe and if that works out well, at least half of my time in the following years.

I know, I know, you are probably all tired of hearing me whining about being here. I know my husband is! But the desire to be "there" is the driving force in my life right now. It's not a "grass is greener" syndrome. It's a feeling that I've left some important parts of myself far away. I've been working on integrating EuroDonna and AmeriDonna and it's starting to happen, but I don't think I will feel completely right again until I plant my feet on some solid soil about 4000-5000 miles from where I am today. Will I need to stay there permanently? I don't know. Perhaps a longer stay will satiate me. Only time will tell.

The challenge will be maintaining a balance in all of the other areas of my life when I change my location! Wish me luck...