Exclusive Club: 100 Member Limit
MEMBERSHIP IS CLOSED AND IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
You know you want it. The chance to travel with Arctic Lace author, Donna Druchunas, as she cruises down the Alaska coastline. But maybe you couldn’t come with me, or maybe you want even more.
Armchair Cruising + Knitting!
Here’s your chance to experience the cruise from the comfort of your own home. This exclusive club includes six shipments of luxury yarn, each with two custom patterns, membership in an online course and private community site, the Arctic Lace audio book on CD, and several special gifts and bonuses along the way.
Themes
Each edition of the Arctic Lace Luxury Yarn Club will include stories about how the design was inspired by the Alaskan or Canadian landscape. A photo essay will let you come along with me as an armchair traveler, and explore the wild rural and urban landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. You’ll learn about these topics and more:
- Anchorage: musk oxen, Yu’pik and Inupiat Eskimos
- Juneau: berries and bears, the history of Alaska, Russian influences
- Haines: forget me not and fireweed flowers, bald eagles, Alaska wildlife
- Glacier Bay: glaciers, snowflakes, the arctic and sub-arctic climate
- Ketchikan: fishing, Tlingit culture and totem poles
- Vancouver: forests, evergreen trees, mountains, city life
Yarns
Because the availability of luxury and exotic fibers varies from year to year, the exact yarns that you’ll receive in the mail will be a surprise. But you can be sure they’ll be the highest quality and a selection of the best and most beautiful fibers from around the world. The colors will be chosen specifically to suit the custom designs I’m creating exclusively for you! You’ll receive six packages including some of these fantastic fibers:
- Qiviut: The soft and warm underdown of the arctic musk ox is one of the loveliest fibers available today. Because animal population varies from year to year, the price and availability of this yarn also fluctuates. The texture and body of this yarn makes it very easy to knit with, even at a very fine gauge.
- Angora: Did you know that an angora rabbit will sit peacefully on your lap while you spin fiber right off of it’s back? I’ve seen this myself several times. Of course most commercial yarn is not processed so laboriously. You may also be surprised by the merino-angora blend yarn we’ll feature in the club that has the softness and halo of angora fiber without the shedding!
- Mink: I didn’t know mink could be sheared or that their fiber could be spun into knitting yarn. If you didn’t know that either, you’ll be amazed by the cashmere-mink blend yarn we will feature in one of the club editions.
- Buffalo: Just like with the arctic musk ox, it’s hard to imagine that these big, burly animals can yield soft, luxurious fur. But because they have a double coat with coarse outer guard hairs and fine under down, the latter can be used to make a lofty, cuddly yarn that seems more like the fiber of a kitten than a bison!
- Sea-Silk: Handmaiden yarns describes their Sea Silk yarn as, “a luxurious silk combined with Sea Cell (a cellulose based fibre made with Seaweed) has dramatic sheen, beautiful drape, with just enough ‘grab’ to ease knitting.” I couldn’t agree more. Ever since the first time I laid hands on this yarn, it’s been a favorite in my stash and on my needles. A great luxury option to make a warm-weather project.
- Cashmere: Although cashmere comes from the lowly goat, and the animals aren’t as exciting as many of the others in this list, the fiber is one of the finest and most popular luxury fibers in the world. If you’ve ever knitted with it, you know why. There is nothing that compares to the cushiony, spongy hand of a pure cashmere yarn. Once you’ve knitted with it, you will wonder why you never took the plunge before.
- Possum: We’re not talking about the American possum here. This yarn, with a soft hand and an amazingly fluffy, cloud-like halo, comes from one of the species of Australian possum, a marsupial species that spends it’s life in trees. If you’ve seen the movie Willow, you may remember that the sorceress Fin Raziel first appears as a possum.
- Guanaco and Vicuna: Yarns made from the fiber of wild camelids of South America are very rarely available and always quite expensive. If you upgrade to First Class or Captain’s Table membership, you will be one of the few knitters who get to work with these fabulous yarns!
- Other fibers that may show up in your mailbox might include yak, camel, unusual silk blends, or a surprise plant fiber that spins up as light and strong as a spider’s web!
Projects
The yarns are special enough, but with each package, you’ll also receive an exclusive pattern designed just for this club and inspired by my travels in Alaska and Canada.
- You’ll find lots of lace, of course! But I’ll also throw in some surprises of cables, textures, and maybe even some colorwork.
- Two patterns in each shipment give you more choice on how to use your fabulous new yarn!
- Shawls and shoulder wraps are my favorite projects for working with luxury yarns and I love designing them.
- Scarvesare second best and work well in any climate, as an outdoor accessory in a winter wonderland or as a warm-me-up inside an air conditioned restaurant in the heat of the summer.
- Socks may not seem like an obvious choice for a luxury-yarn project but there’s nothing more pampering than a pair of bed socks made with the softest yarn you can imagine. And some of these fibers are also being used in combination with wool to create yarn that is strong enough to wear as a daytime sock, too.
- Hats. Well, who wouldn’t want to have these fibers keeping the warmth in your body on a frigid day?
- Fingerless gloves. Yep. I’ve found that mittens and gloves are often too hot for everyday wear when I am going in and out of the car, stores, and other locations. But fingerless gloves, which also cover the wrist and warm the pulse, can actually help keep your whole body warm even though your fingertips are left free to fiddle with keys, type on your iPhone, and steer your car.
- Surprises!
Schedule and Shipping
Everything will be shipped by US Mail.
- As soon as you sign up, you’ll receive your welcome packet with more information about what you can expect in each package that comes throughout the year.
- In August, you’ll receive an email with your login for the online course.
- In September, you’ll receive your first package with yarn, a pattern, and a reminder of how to participate in the online course.
- In November 2012 and in January, March, May, and July 2013, you’ll receive additional packages with a new yarn and pattern in each one. As each package is shipped, you’ll also find new material in the online course.
- International shipping is available at an additional cost (see Prices and packages below)
About the Online Course
Every member in the Arctic Lace Luxury Yarn Club will receive access and a lifetime membership to a complete and exclusive online course that will not be available to the general knitting public. In the course you’ll find:
- An audio welcome message from me
- Video tutorials
- A knitalong for each project when it is shipped
- Additional knitting tips and tricks to help you with the projects
- A discussion area to talk with other members and share photos of your knitting
- A place to ask questions that I’ll answer for you personally
Pricing and packages
100 member limit only
Join me on an Armchair Travel Knitting Club through Alaska!
Get a 10% discount for paying in full on registration or make 3 monthly payments.
Value Membership (Membership is now closed)
The Value membership package is a great way to get started with luxury fibers. You can pay all at once or in three separate payments as you go. Every Value member will receive:
- Six projects to knit with luxury yarns that I select especially for you
- Two patterns in each shipment
- Individual PDF and printed patterns
- Online course membership
- A signed copy of my Arctic Lace Audio CD
- Blueberry stitch markers
One payment $500 (plus $55 for international shipping)
Three payments of $175 ($525 total, plus $55 for international shipping)
USA Members (3 monthly payments of $175 + free shipping):
Coupon code holder? Click here and enter your coupon code as your password. Please use lowercase letters.
International members (1 Payment of $500 + $55 for shipping):
International Members (3 months payments of $175 + $55 for shipping) $193.33 for 3 months:
First Class Membership
The First Class membership package includes everything in the Value package plus:
- Yarn tasting booklet
- Package of 6 Alaska knitting post cards
- PDF of the Arctic Lace book with all of the patterns
- A live 60 minute online group meeting with Donna
- Substitute Guanaco for one project
One payment of $750 (plus $55 for international shipping)
Three payments of $260 ($780 total, plus $55 for international shipping)
USA Members (3 Payments of $260 + free shipping)
Coupon code holder? Click here and enter your coupon code as your password. Please use lowercase letters.
[/one_half] [one_half_last]International members (1 Payment of $750 + $55 for shipping):International Members (3 Payments of $260 + $55 for shipping) $278.33 for 3 months::
Captain’s Table Membership
The Captain’s Table membership package includes everything in Value and First Class packages plus:
- Pair of luxury lace knitting needles
- Limited edition signed, souvenir pattern book
- A live 30 minute one-on-one phone meeting with Donna
- Substitute Vicuna for one project
- An extra surprise!
Three payments of $350 ($1050 total, plus $55 for international shipping)
USA Members (3 Payments of $350 + free shipping):[wp_eStore_subscribe:product_id:65:end]
Coupon code holder? Click here and enter your coupon code as your password. Please use lowercase letters.
International members (1 Payment of $1000 + $55 for shipping):
International Members (3 Payments of $350 + $55 for shipping) $368.33 for 3 months:
Any Questions? Please send us a message.