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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Donna in Alaska
The last couple of years I've been busy working on my newest book, Arctic Lace. I went to Alaska in 2004 to get my research into full gear, after spending about a year reading and dreaming about possibly writing the book. After that, I was full steam ahead until it got finished.

This photo was taken in the middle of my trip to Alaska, with my husband as the photographer (he took most of the photos in the book, too). We were driving from Anchorage to Fairbanks and stopped a few times to soak in the scenery.

I grew up learning many different crafts from my mother and grandmothers including knitting, crochet, rug-hooking, embroidery, and sewing.

After a 25 year vacation from crafts, I started knitting again and learned to spin and dye wool with natural dyes.

Before I returned to knitting, I spent almost 20 years working in corporate cubicles as a writer, designer, and creative services manager. My cubes were in military training facilities, small businesses, and large corporations. During that time, I wrote and designed marketing materials, training courses and technical manuals for many types of hardware and software products.

I also streamlined documentation production processes for several companies. I was recruited by Fujitsu-ICL Systems and Hewlett-Packard's Colorado storage division to establish in-house creative services departments and to implement procedures based on systems I originated earlier for the US Navy Fighter Weapons School at NAS Miramar and Pyxis Corporation in San Diego.

After all that time, I rebelled and left my cubicle behind to combine my interest in knitting with my skill at writing easy-to-follow instructions. My designs and articles have been featured in Family Circle Easy Knitting, Knitters, Piecework, Interweave Knits, Fibre Focus, and INKnitters magazines, and I design patterns for several yarn companies.

I was born in New York City, but today I live at the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with my husband and two cats, who are very helpful when it comes to testing new knitting designs!

I hope you enjoy visiting my site.
Donna Druchunas
Send me an email

Comments

Hi Donna. Beth here. I was in the class that you gave at the Yarn Expo in Anchorage.

While going through a bunch of stuff here at school I found a photo copy of a pattern for a Bethel Nachaq, dated September 1974, with the names Katie Tootkaylok and Helen Howard. It says it is copyrighted. Would you like to have a copy for your files in case you have another book?

Also you offered us in class the pattern to the lilly of the valley shawl that you had on, if we emailed you.

My email is eweltner@yahoo.com

Beth Weltner
Akiachak, AK

Posted by Beth Weltner at Tuesday, May 01, 2007 16:10:51

Hey Donna.

I dig your page.

I'm sure I'll see you soon.

Cale Scott Hand

Posted by Cale at Saturday, May 12, 2007 13:16:47

Hi writerdd!

I linked here from SkepChick. How do you set up a blog like this from SkepChick? I don't understand how that works. Would I need my own web host account somewhere?

Posted by Gregg QA from SkepChick at Tuesday, November 25, 2008 13:56:34

Hi Donna:

I just linked here from Skepchick, via your Barbara Walker interview. And now I see why you'd like to see Atheist bus messages in Lithuania. Greetings from a half-Lithuanian feminist atheist from Chicago! Thanks for exposing me to Walker's books - I'm going to read one this week.

Posted by Mary at Sunday, January 11, 2009 16:03:51

Hey,
stumbled accross u on the interweb, i think your really neat. i wish i could find more lithuanian books like you but a)im only 14 and b)i dont have money. you seem to know it very well! congrats on everything!

Posted by eve at Tuesday, May 12, 2009 16:15:29

Dear Donna

So thrilled to see that Ethnic Knitting is out & available for purcahse. As a knitter, librarian & Lithuanian on my mother's side I'm thrilled. I remember seeing books about Latvian & Estonian knitting, but kept thinking who's going to do the Lithuanian research--thanks so much for all your research & effort. I look forward to lots of lovely knitting.

Posted by Lucinda Kubitz at Sunday, May 24, 2009 10:09:01

Dear Donna
I enjoyed your book kitty knits and an knitting my second peruvian cat lace scarf, Did you publish your book incorporating Dorothy Reade's lace designs and if so what is it called? I can't seem to track it down. I hope you enjoyed your visit to England and to Woolfest

Posted by Lesley Crinson at Saturday, July 04, 2009 14:17:21

Ran across your site from a Google alert today. I noticed you mentioned "krustuki" and that the waiter didn't recognize the name back in 2007. My mother called them "ausukes" (little ears) as is common in Suvalkija. Now they mostly call them "krustai", because they're fried and crispy with powdered sugar on top. In Polish they are most often called "chrusciki".
Alot of Polish loan words were used in the past but now they try to create Lithuanian words for them. So your grandmother was just using the name common at the time.

Posted by Juozas at Saturday, August 08, 2009 07:42:27

Arts, knitting, hand make !!!

http://www.english.linuteme...
http://www.linutemezga.lt

Lithuania (Lietuva)

Posted by Saulius at Tuesday, August 25, 2009 00:09:47

Hi Donna!

I was leafing through a ribbon yarn book and came across a diamond scarf which had your name on it as designer (glittery, railroad track ribbon yarn - I think).

Quite frankly, nothing else in the book struck my fancy - is there someplace I could buy this one pattern as a standalone?

Thanks,

Posted by Patricia at Saturday, October 31, 2009 20:45:54

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