Donna Druchunas's Blog

No, she's not sick. She's participating in a fundraiser in memory of a friend who died of lung cancer.

Here's a note from my sister, June Druchunas:

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ve decided to take a stand and fight back against cancer by participating in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life® event right here in my community.

Please support me in this important cause by making a secure, tax-deductible donation online using the link below.

To donate online now, click here to visit my personal page.

Relay For Life® is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people worldwide to:

CELEBRATE the lives of those who have battled cancer. The strength of survivors inspires others to continue to fight.

REMEMBER loved ones lost to the disease. At Relay, people who have walked alongside people battling cancer can grieve and find healing.

FIGHT BACK. We Relay because we have been touched by cancer and desperately want to put an end to the disease.

Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Sincerely,

June Druchunas

OK, since I'm not working on my book right now, I may as well be blogging. Right? Here are a few tech tips for knitting Aran Sweaters.

First, if you have never knitted cables before. Here's the basic way it works:

Cables are made when stitches in the knitted fabric cross over each other. You place a few stitches on hold by slipping them onto a cable needle, knit the next two or three stitches, then knit the stitches off of the cable needle. These traveling stitches may move to the right or to the left.

Cable needles are short, double-pointed needles made especially for the purpose of knitting cables. They usually have a notch, ridges, or a curved section to keep the stitches from falling off while you are manipulating the cable. In an old 1956 knitting pattern I have a copy of, the instructions tell you to use a toothpick to hold the cable stitches. I guess cable needles were not readily available at that time. And I'm assuming they meant those hard, round toothpicks, not the flimsy, flat ones.


To make a left-crossing cable, you hold the cable needle in the front.

Crossing a four-stitch cable to the left:

1. Slip the next 2 stitches onto the cable needle and hold the cable needle in front of the work.

2. Knit next 2 stitches from left needle.

3. Knit the 2 stitches from the cable needle.




To make a right-crossing cable, you hold the cable needle in the back.

Crossing a four-stitch cable to the right:

1. Slip the next 2 stitches onto the cable needle and hold the cable needle in back of the work.

2. Knit next 2 stitches from left needle.

3. Knit the 2 stitches from the cable needle.





BUT, you can also knit cables without a cable needle, which is what I do most of the time. Why? Because I never know what to do with the darn cable needle when I'm on the plain stitches between cables. Hold it in my mouth? Stick it in my knitting or behind my ear? Poke it into the fabric of whatever I'm wearing? Nothing ever seemed comfortable to me, so I finally bit the bullet and learned how to make the cable twists without the extra needle. (There are other ways to do this, but the technique I'm explaining here is the one I find easiest and most comfortable.)


To make a left-crossing cable, you cross the first few stitches in the front.

Crossing a four-stitch cable to the left:

1. Insert the tip of the right needle into stitches 3 and 4 on the left needle from the back of the work.

2. Pull the tip of the left needle out of 4 stitches and let stitches 1 and 2 drop, then put stitches 1 and 2 only back on the left needle.

3. Slip stitches 3 and 4, that are now on the right needle, back onto the tip of the left needle. The order of the stitches has now been reversed.

4. Knit the stitches in the new order.


To make a right-crossing cable, you cross the first few stitches in the back.

Crossing a four-stitch cable to the right:

1. Insert the tip of the right needle into stitches 3 and 4 on the left needle from the front of the work.

2. Pull the tip of the left needle out of 4 stitches and let stitches 1 and 2 drop, then put stitches 1 and 2 only back on the left needle.

3. Slip stitches 3 and 4, that are now on the right needle, back onto the left needle. The order of the stitches has now been reversed.

4. Knit the stitches in the new order.

Hey, if you miss my blogging when I'm really busy, catch my status updates on Twitter.

This is the dedication for Kitty Knits:

For my sister June and her feline friends, Oliver, Bob, George, Peter, Chloe, Samantha, Stewart, Greg, Bonnie, and Clyde.

And here are my sister's cats. The only time she can get them in one photo is at feeding time, and even then, they won't stop moving to pose.

Why Lithuania first, since it is chapter 3? No reason, except that I am generally obsessed with all things Lithuanian.

I'm not going to reveal the techniques that I used in Ethnic Knitting Exploration in this blog post series, but I'm going to share some other things I've learned about knitting in each region that didn't make it into the book.

In Chapter 3 of Ethnic Knitting Exploration, I cover raglan sweaters made with color patterns that are traditionally used on gloves, mittens, and socks in Lithuania. I didn't realize it when I wrote the book, but I later found out that there are many knitters in Lithuania today who make sweaters incorporating these traditional colorwork patterns. And in several of the Lithuanian knitting books I have, raglans are featured more than any other type of sweater. The books are from the 1970s, so that's not surprising in itself. What did surprise me is that the sweaters are worked in the round, and top down. (The sweaters in Ethnic Knitting Exploration are bottom up, but you can easily make them top down if you are familiar with the technique and you prefer it.)

In this Ethnic Knitting Tech Tips post, I'd like to share several of the interesting raglan seam shaping techniques that I've found in these books. This is a translation from the Lithuanian instructions, which explain how to make a swatch with the seam shaping, resulting in a little triangle-ish swatch. The first two photos show the swatch with the cast-on edge at the top, just as it would be in a top-down sweater. The third photo shows how the seam would look in a garment, and it is upside down (cast on edge at the bottom).

Raglan seam method 1 (from Mezgimas by J. Januškienė):
Cast on 12 stitches. (Note: this includes selvedge sts not included in the instructions below.)

Row 1: Knit 4, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, knit 4.

Row 2: Purl all sts except knit the yarn overs.

Row 3: Knit 4, purl 1, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, purl 1, knit 4.

Row 4 (and all following even rows): Knit the knits, purl the purls, and knit the yarn overs.

Row 5: Knit 4, purl 2, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, purl 2, knit 4.

Row 7: Knit 4, purl 3, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, purl 3, knit 4.

Row 9: Knit 4, purl 4, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, purl 4, knit 4.

Row 11: Knit 9, yarn over, knit 2, yarn over, knit 9.

The purls make a triangle, repeating from one purl stitch to five, as you continue to increase.


Raglan seam method 2 (from Mezgimas by J. Januškienė):
Cast on 11 stitches. (Note: this includes selvedge sts not included in the instructions below.)

Row 1: Knit 4, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, knit 4.

Row 2 (and all even rows): Purl.

Row 3: Knit 4, yarn over, knit 3, yarn over, knit 4.

Row 4: Knit 4, yarn over, knit 5, yarn over, knit 4.

Repeat rows 1-4.

(Note: when you repeat, you will have more stitches on the outsides of the seam lines, but the arrangements of the yarn overs is what you are repeating for the decorative seam treatment.)

Raglan seam method 3 (from Mezgimo abėcėlė by M. Maksimova):
Cast on 11 stitches. (Selvedge sts are included in the instructions below.)

Row 1 (right side): Slip 1 selvedge stitch, knit 4, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, knit 4, knit the selvedge stitch.

Row 2 (wrong side): Slip 1 selvedge stitch, purl 4, then knit the yarn over through the back, knit 1, knit the yarn over through the back, purl 4, purl the selvedge stitch.

Row 3: Slip 1 selvedge stitch, knit 5, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, knit 5, knit selvedge stitch.

Continuing from here, on every right side row, increase on both sides of the raglan seam line. Working the yarn overs this way on wrong-side rows, the holes will be almost invisible. Don't increase on the wrong-side rows.

(Note: I'm not sure this picture actually matches the text. It looks like the center stitch is purled on RS rows to me, but I haven't swatched this yet. But it is correct that knitting the yarn overs through the back on the WS row would make the holes much smaller and less noticeable. You could also use M1 as an increase instead of a yo to eliminate holes at the "seams".)

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Next week: Ethnic Knitting Tech Tips from Ireland including knitting with a toothpick.

Oh my, I completely forgot about this:

Weekly tech tips related to Ethnic Knitting Exploration, each week focusing on one of the four main chapters in the book.

I've been swamped with all kind of shitty little odds and ends lately. Hoping to get caught up this week so I can dive back into working on books.

And I will try to type up some tech tips that I learned from Lithuanian knitting tonight!

Iki pasimatymo! (See you later!)

Born Again, part 2 of my story into and (later) out of Christianity, is now posted on de-conversion.com. Enjoy.

P.S. Yes, I know I misspelled that one word. It's the dang movie that completely messed up my ability to spell that. It may be fixed by the time you read the piece.

The author of two books, Ann McCauley is a talented designer, as well as my neighbor and friend. Ann's designs are both classic and stylish, and her work combines interesting ideas from seemingly unrelated areas such as dance, clothing design, spirituality, creativity, and healing.

If you haven't seen her books or taken one of her workshops, you are missing out. Here's a teaser about her work from her website:

Designer, author and teacher Ann McCauley brings a lifetime of artistic influences to her knitwear designs. Ann learned to knit from her mother as a child. Her interest in knitting escalated when she toured Europe as a professional dancer and observed people knitting everywhere she went. Ann began designing her own sweaters in 1980, focusing on solid colors, smooth fibers, and heavy textures that combine classic and contemporary elements.

As the second interview in this series, I've asked Ann to tell us about her work as a designer, with a special emphasis on the unique topics that make her books so special. Enjoy.

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Donna: What's your favorite thing to knit?

Ann: Undeniably, it has to be women's sweaters because they're also my favorite thing to wear. I love a nice long row!

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Donna: What led you to become a knitting designer and author?

Ann: I was designing my own sweaters for years. Every time I would wear one, people I didn't even know would approach me and ask where I got the beautiful sweater. I sold a few hand knits to those who initially asked before realizing that it would be simpler for me to write the patterns and let them make their own or find a knitter to make it for them. I felt that writing a book would allow me to keep my life simpler than going into production would.

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Donna: How did you find a publisher?

Ann: Basically, I think it was a miracle. I was researching knitting publishers online and saw that Martingale & Company was at that time actively seeking new manuscripts. I sent them a submissions proposal which they accepted. I refer to it as a miracle because I'd never written a book, have no formal design training in this field and submitted to one publisher.

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Donna: What is your design process like?

Ann: It always involves knowing what yarn I want to work with, swatching and stitch exploration. Visualization is a large part. I find that if I can be very quiet, still and contemplative often a design comes to me in a flash. It is hard to describe. In one moment, there may be no idea and somehow in the next moment, there's insight, direction, and some sort of knowing which may be more abstract than concrete. Unlike most designers, I do not design on the computer. I design on the needles. I almost always start with the back of a sweater because at that point, even if I think I already know, I do not have to commit to whether the sweater is a cardigan or a pullover. I like to let the knitting inform me of what it wants to become, what direction the stitches I've put in motion want to unfold. This is why I always encourage knitters to look at their work. Not only does it enable us to spot an error before we're way past it, it helps us to see the possibilities in a way that I don't find possible with a sketch. This is why I always do all of my own knitting. I find details that I feel I couldn't find otherwise, plus the actual act of knitting is one of my very favorite parts. I enjoy the process as much as the product. My view is that one has to be incredibly detail oriented in the design process.

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Donna: What inspires you?

Ann: Color, texture, usually smooth yarns, and elegance.

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Donna: Why do you focus on movement relative to knitting?

Ann: I focus on movement in a sweater design. The movement of lines and shapes, content and form, as well as flow, fluidity and the rhythm of a stitch or design. I focus on movement relative to our bodies so I/we can be free to knit (okay, obsessively if we want) with comfort, ease and efficiency. This involves a mindful approach to using our bodies in optimal alignment and allowing the movement of energy in our bodies to circulate freely while we knit. I view optimal alignment as a pass through place rather than a place that we find and inhabit from that point on. It's a place we can learn about and approach with our desired frequency. I draw on the experience of years of movement and dance training that supported a long performance career in modern dance, and great familiarity with principles from various healing arts and physical healing modalities.