Donna Druchunas's Blog

My 2010 schedule is shaping up quickly. I'll be updating my website with the new schedule soon but here's something I wanted to point out. I'll be teaching at UK Knit Camp in Stirling, Scotland next August! Here's some info from Yarn Forward Magazine (I think Borders carries this magazine for those of you in the US.)

I'll be in the UK from June to September, with some short trips to Amsterdam, Vilnius, and Geneva planned as well. If you're in the UK and you know a place where I could teach during the summer, let me know! It would be a lot of fun to meet more knitters and see yarn shops in England, Scotland and Wales. (Definitely need to go to Cardiff, just because of Torchwood.)

I also have some open time in the US in March, April, October, and November. So let me know if you'd like me to come teach during any of those months. Looking forward to a full and fulfilling year.

This morning I was writing about making things. Just now I saw this on Wil Wheaton's blog:

My friend Ariana works with Warren Ellis to make all kinds of really cool things. Lately, they've been experimenting with print on demand technology to take creative risks that simple economics would have rendered impossible as recently as five years ago.

Here's some stuff I wrote this morning. It's raw and unedited from my journal. If you read my blog regularly, you'll definitely notice the recurring themes. I was musing about how to write the opening chapters to my Lithuanian book. Chapters I wanted to write during summer, and then during fall, and now winter!

I am still thinking about process. This whole book, in a way, is about process. Processing flax. Processing wool. Making yarn. Knitting objects. The process of making things. The cultural background puts the process in to a larger perspective. That’s what I want to do with the history and culture sections. I want to show why and how process was important to Lithuanians in the past and how it is the same and different today. What is good and bad about the changes, from my perspective and from the perspective of the Lithuanians -- rural and urban. Just like in the US, the ideas of rural and urban people can be quite different, even though the urban people love the countryside and nature, and flock there en masse in August for holiday, they don’t still have a rural lifestyle. They are much more into consumption, although not to the degree that Americans are. And the old things are honored in museums. Well they are here, but most people don’t pay any attention to it. It is part of the mass consciousness in Lithuania -- the national costume, the ethnic stories and songs, the Lithuanian-ness of everything. In America we don’t have that because there is no one American ethnic identity. We are bits and pieces of everything. Nothing old, old, old is American. It’s all brought from somewhere else, except for the Native American traditions, which are not really part of mainstream American cultural awareness today.

I find the difference in this between America and Europe fascinating. In America your nationality is not “American”. It’s where your family came from. But when I go to Europe and people ask my nationality, “American” is the answer they expect. I am American because I am a citizen and I was born here, but my nationality to other Americans is Lithuanian and Russian. Maybe Jewish. (Added note: I know Jewish isn't a "nationality", per se, but I'm musing on the confusions between nationality, ethnicity, heritage, and so forth.) I don’t know quite how to write about this in a knitting book. Actually, there’s no quite about it. I have no frakking idea how to write about this in a knitting book. And what does it mean about the knitting anyway? How does the cultural background play into the knitting and how does the knitting play into the cultural background? Knitting was not considered, is not considered, very important in Lithuania. It always takes a back seat to weaving, and often to embroidery as well. Crochet is not differentiated. It is part of knitting. This is the same as the Russian concept. Wool takes a back seat to linen as well. So this is quite different than what we see happening in America. Although I would not say there are a lot of weaving hobbiests in Lithuania. It’s people weaving to make national costume reproductions and traditional fabrics. It’s “important” weaving. Knitting is never considered important, although there have been a few books that have come out over the past decade about traditional knitting, and there are usually small exhibits in museums about knitted accessories. What’s interesting is that both Antanas and Anastazija Tamosaitis wrote books about knitting. Antanas’s focusing more on the folk art and spirituality of the designs and Anastazija focusing more on craft and technique. It would be a marvelous things for both of these books to be combined into a new publication as one book, maybe in English. Hmmm. Who owns the copyright?

I need to finish translating Antanas’s book because he has written about the cultural implications of the knitting probably more than anyone else. And the Tamositis’s books are the ones that include the most about knitted and crocheted items in national costume ensembles.

But the process question is at the core of what interests me right now. What does making something from scratch give you? What appreciation do you lack if you never make anything for yourself? And yet, on the other hand, I always come back to the idea that there is no way in hell I would want to have to make everything for myself, nor would I wish that necessity on anyone else. It is a sign of poverty and want. Every group of people that gets a chance to abandon their labor intensive, although beautiful and unique, national costume for purchased clothing, does so immediately and seemingly with out hesitation. It is a matter of practicality. Baking bread is a hobby in America. So it knitting. Do we lose anything by having this as a hobby? Do we gain anything by having it as a necessity? What is lost and gained when a society becomes modernized? I would not want to live without modern conveniences. I would not wish that for anyone else to either. I do not find the old wooden houses with dirt floors and unvented fire pits romantic or nostalgic. I do not wish to live in that time. But what is worthwhile from that time that I can incorporate into my life today? That’s my real question and what I want to explore in the book. And how can honoring and recognizing your ethnicity and nationality be done in a good way without leading to nationalism and over stuffed patriotic bullshit? Is there a way to find balance? That seems to be the core question of everything I explore. Balance versus extremism. I tend toward extremism. I think most people do. But balance is better, healthier, more enjoyable. It is so elusive!

How can I write about all of this in a knitting book? It’s done in Knitting Heaven and Earth. I can find a way to do it. I want this book to be deeper than Arctic Lace. I don’t even care if it scares away readers. It’s my book and I will make it be, make it say, what I want. I don’t care if it’s not mainstream or if it’s unusual.

I'm on a knitting binge. I'm not actually knitting... yet. I'm preparing mentally to start knitting a slew of mittens and socks, and get patterns to a few test knitters, for the Lithuanian book. And I'm thinking about knitting. Of course, lace is always in my field of vision.

I am completely excited about Crazy Lace by Myra Wood. I have had this book in my shopping cart on Amazon for months. I forgot to check if it had come out until I saw the topic mentioned on Ravelry, so I clicked through to Amazon and it said “ships in 1-3 weeks”… Blech. I went to the Borders website (our only local bookstore in my town), and it said “not available in stores” so I went right to Myra’s website and ordered a copy directly. My closest local yarn shop is a 30 minute drive and they might not have it in stock yet either, even though they do a great job of stocking books. I need total, instant gratification on this one, I’ve been drooling over it for so long.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love lace knitting – and all kinds of traditional knitting techniques. But I ESPECIALLY love when people take these traditional techniques and do something new and fun and funky with them. So that’s why Crazy Lace appeals to me. The photos I’ve seen are drop dead gorgeous and I just can’t wait to hold that book in my hand and drool over it!

Check out these, and more, on the author’s website.



It’s not just that the projects are gorgeous, but the photo styling and the actual photography is amazing too.

I recently started reading ebooks on my iPhone, but this is the type of book I will ALWAYS want to get in paper, so I can feel it in my hands and enjoy the pleasure of holding a nice quality product, enhancing the experience of gathering the information. I loved the visuals so much, I emailed Myra to ask who her publisher is, and I found out that she's a graphic designer and she and her husband are self-publishers.

I'll be interviewing Myra here after I get the package and have a chance to read the book. I can't wait!

No posts for weeks and then 2 in 1 day? It's that kind of day. Not only did I get a ton of "day job" work done (more about that in a future post), I also received the page proofs for my next book, Successful Lace Knitting: Bringing Dorothy Reade's Patterns and Techniques to Today's Knitters. In a very real sense, this book is the sequel to Arctic Lace, because it builds on the lace techniques that the Oomingmak knitters learned from Dorothy Reade, and expands upon the types of yarns used and projects made. This book includes everything from cobweb weight to super bulky yarn, and projects ranging from beginner to advanced experience levels. Whether you're a new lace knitter looking for a first project or an experience laced knitter looking for the next interesting project, you'll find something to suit your needs in this book. It's coming out next spring, and we'll be having a big book launch bash on my Alaska cruise next May.

Here are a few project photos to tantalize you!

Lately I've been going in VERY slow motion. Things are getting done. But I feel relaxed and leisurely about it. And a little guilty. I feel like I'm not working enough. On the other hand, I feel so good that I know I am doing something right. I am taking time to walk and swim, and spend time with friends. I've even been writing just about every day and going to a weekly coffee with knitting friends. I've also been listening to music a lot, which changes the way I work in subtle and not quite recognizable ways. I used to be able to work faster and faster when I had other things taking up some of my time or when my to do list got very long, but now I just slow down more. I keep plodding along with the faith that eventually each item will get crossed off of my to do list, only to be replaced by two or three more. There's no use rushing my life away just to cross items off a list.

So, back to greenness, which is related (in my mind anyway) through the existence of the slow-food movement. If that doesn't sound like a good transition to you, well, it's the way my mind works!

My editor sent me links to reviews of Ethnic Knitting Discovery and Ethnic Knitting Exploration as part of a green books review campaign:

Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on the Eco-Libris website.

Ethnic Knitting Discovery, which was printed on 50% post consumer recycled paper and processed chlorine free as part of the Green Press Initiative, was reviewed at MariReads. Here's an excerpt:

The author states that Ethnic Knitting doesn't usually include "line-by-line instructions" so you will not find that here. This book is definitely for the more experienced knitter, one willing to leave the written patterns behind and ready to try something a little different. So, if you are that knitter pull out your circular needles and some yarn, find yourself a copy of this book and get started. It will also give you the techniques needed to help design your own sweater.

Ethnic Knitting Exploration was reviewed on On My Bookshelf.

This book is absolutely packed with information, but the organization is brilliant and makes it very easy to design and execute a project that will fit perfectly and incorporate the elements you like best.

That's enough about me and my books. I'd like to end this post by pointing out a few of the great projects in Knit Green by Joanne Seiff. (You can see more photos if you click on that link.) I was really pleased with the variety and quality of the projects in this book. The garments and accessories are classic designs that you will be able to wear for a long time, and the home dec items and other odds-and-ends will make great gifts for yourself and for others. I like Joanne's design sense. It's down to earth and practical, but still fun. Although full out fashion funk is enjoyable sometimes, it's not classic and lasting, and I prefer a quieter approach to project design. I've also gotten tired of knitting big projects all the time, so I was happy to find that this book includes quite a few projects that are quick and satisfying to make. The photography is also beautiful, which makes the reading/viewing experience even more pleasurable. In addition, each project uses yarns that illustrate the topic of discussion in that chapter.

These are two of my favorites:



You can see more project photos on Joanne's Ravelry page as well.