Donna Druchunas's Blog

Here's a sneak peek at one of the designs from my next book, Ethnic Knitting: Discovery, coming out in October. The book does not have patterns for specific garments, but instead it has recipes where you can choose the charts, colors, yarns, and gauge of your choice and do a little 'rithmetic (with my help), and knit your own, custom sweater. The charts and recipe ideas are inspired by traditional knitting styles from around the world, with tips for updating them for a more modern fashion and fit.

So, except for the cover (which I posted a few days ago), there are no photos of sweaters in this book. Instead there will be fashion illustrations that show the garments I envision to help inspire you to design your own custom creations.



Each recipe includes three variations:
1) A schematic drawing where you fill in your own numbers. If you're an experienced knitter, this is probably all you need to design your own sweater.

2) A spreadsheet to help you with the calculations if your're not ready to dive in on your own.

3) Step-by-step instructions for those who have never designed a garment before and for those who like a little more hands-on help.

Well, here's the sneak peek at the basic Danish pullover with simple knit-and-purl stitch patterns. It's a rough, but you can get the idea on what the book might look like after we (really the artist and my publisher) clean up the details....