Donna Druchunas's Blog

Well, with Hawaii and jet lag, I let my blog tour get off track. What WAS I thinking, trying to do anything besides lying on the beach while I was in Hawaii? But now I've been home for a few days, and it's time to get caught up. So here's where we've been so far, and where we are going next.

Where We've Been So Far

Annie Modesitt wrote about the lace and colorwork wimple she designed for Successful Lace Knitting

Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, wrote about my Alaska Cruise and Arctic Lace

L'Tanya Durante at Craftnicity wrote about the lovely flower-motif pullover she designed for Successful Lace Knitting

Connie Chang interviewed me about recording an audio book and what it will be like to teach on a cruise

Cheryl Potter wrote about working lace in unusual yarns and in hand-painted colorways

Shannon Okey, Knitgrrl, interviews me about lace techniques and recording an audio book about knitting

Evelyn Clark wrote on my blog about her triangular lace shawl designs, including the special shawl she designed for Successful Lace Knitting using one of Dorothy Reade's lace patterns

Joanne Seiff wrote about qiviut, musk oxen, and all things knitting & Alaska

Renee Leverington at Goddess Knits shared some background information about the beaded lace stole she designed for Sucessful Lace Knitting

Knitting Out Loud announced the Arctic Lace audio book that will be released on the cruise in May (you can also follow them on Facebook)

Ok, that's where we got off track, mostly because I was in the water swimming and not keeping up with the tour. So, what's next?

What's Next
Joanne Conklin at Rhythm of the Needles will have a guest post from me, as soon as I get it sent over to her! Joanne is also planning a cruise with Craft Cruises, so she'll no-doubt be talking about what it's like to plan and implement such a fantastic knitting event

Kristi Schueler will write about the drop-dead gorgeous socks she designed for Successful Lace Knitting

Janet Riehl will have another guest post from me where I'll talk about the intersection of culture and craft

Jean Scorgie will write on my blog about the raglan sweater she designed for Successful Lace Knitting

Kathleen Ernst will interview me about traditional domestic skills practiced by different ethnic groups and how that ties into my work

Ava Coleman will write on my blog about the tea cosy and table runner she designed for Successful Lace Knitting

---

There's more after that, so keep checking in! And don't forget to sign up for the Craft Cruises mailing list to qualify to win 2 balls of qiviut yarn at the end of the blog tour!

The first week of my winter-break blog tour is over. I'm a bit off on the schedule, but I hope that's not confusing anyone too much. I insanely scheduled the blog tour during my ten-day 20th anniversary Hawaii vacation so, neeless to say, I'm having a bit of conflict of interest? Blog or beach? Blog or snorkling? Blog or another maitai? But this morning I am setting aside a few minutes to blog before we get our rental car and head out for the north shore of Oahu to check out the kind of surf that has given me nightmares since I was a little girl. Sounds like fun, huh? I will not be going in the water today, unless I take a dip in the pool when we get back to the hotel tonight. Wearing my swimsuit all day anyway. Hey, why not? I'm in Hawaii!



Today we'll talk about the Lace Mesh Triangular Shawl designed by Evelyn Clark. Evelyn is the author of Knitting Lace Triangles, and she used the design techniques she discusses in her own book to create a beautiful triangular shawl using one of Dorothy Reade's original lace stitches. Evelyn expained a bit of her design proess to me:

Lace Mesh was used for this triangular shawl that is knit from the top down to a scalloped edging. Since the edging can be worked after any 20-row repeat, the size of the shawl can be customized. The sample is knit in lace weight Shetland yarn, creating a versatile accessory for both day and evening wear. This design also could be knit in fingering, sport/DK, and light worsted weight yarns.

I selected Lace Mesh since it works naturally into a triangular shape. The simplicity of the design shows off the beauty of the lace.

No changes were made to Dorothy's charts. But personlly, for a left-leaning decrease, I prefer a modified ssk that I learned from Meg Swansen (sl 1 st knitwise, replace on holding needle, and knit 2 sts together through the back loop).

Here's what's coming next:

Joanne Seiff writes about knitting with qiviut and , to get you excited about the Alaska Cruise and Arctic Lace audio book!

Renee Leverington shares some background information about the beaded lace stole she designed for Sucessful Lace Knitting

Knitting Out Loud - a sneek peak of the Arctic Lace audio book!

Hi Everyone! I'm just starting an interesting blog tour to talk about things that are happening in May. Why talk about it now? Because the events will be part of the Alaska knitting cruise I'm teaching on with Lucy Neatby May 23-30, 2010: The Musk Ox & Glaciers Cruise.

In addition to teaching on the cruise, I have two exciting releases coming out in May:

Successful Lace Knitting: Celebrating the Work of Dorothy Reade
Successful Lace Knitting is, in a way, a sequel to Arctic Lace. It takes the lace knitting techniques of the Oomingmak Musk-Ox Producers' Co-operative knitters to the next level by including gorgeous projects by over 20 contemporary designers including Annie Modesitt, Evelyn Clark, and Cheryl Potter. In addition, the book delves deeper into the techniques used by the co-op and takes you on a whirlwind tour of the world with knitting archaeologist, Dorothy Reade.

During the blog tour you'll hear from the designers about the projects they created for the book, how and why they chose the yarn and stitches for their designs, and you'll see pictures of the pattern stitches, some of the works in progress, and some of the final photos for the book. It's a great look into the design process as well as the collaboration required to put together a beautiful knitting book.

There's also a chance to win 2 balls of qiviut lace-weight yarn!

Arctic Lace: Stories and Projects Inspired by Alaska's Native Knitters, audio edition

In fall, I mentioned that I was at the studio reading Arctic Lace for an audio book edition. Right now it's in production, and it will be released this spring. I'll have a sample clip floating around during the tour, so you can hear me reading the stories in my own voice. This was a very exciting project for me because I love Arctic Lace and the stories that I got to tell in that book, and I know that so many knitters love to listen to audio books while they knit. Because Arctic Lace has so many stories in it, in addition to the actual knitting instructions, it's perfect for the audio book format. And I'm very excited that I got to read the book myself, so you can hear me talking to you.

Here's what will be happening this week. Later on, I'll post additions to the tour schedule, which lasts until Valentine's day.

Date
1/13 Annie Modesitt talks about the lace and colorwork wimple she designed for Successful Lace Knitting
Annie Modesitt lives in St. Paul where she designs, writes, and raises her redhead kids. A self-taught knitter, for years she felt "wrong but happy" with her intuitive yet peculiar style, until she came upon the term "combination knitting" and finally felt legitimate. She teaches around the world and loves interacting with knitters of all ages and cultures.

1/14 Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, will talk about my Alaska Cruise and Arctic Lace
Drew Emborsky, aka The Crochet Dude®, was taught to crochet at age five by his mom while snowbound in Lake Tahoe. After studying fine art in college and doing the “starving artist” thing for years, he found solace in crocheting for charity while grieving the passing of his mom. It was during this time with the charity group that he became known as The Crochet Dude, which then led to the launch of his wildly popular blog in 2005. Since then Drew has had published numerous patterns in magazines and compilations books, 6 of his own full-length books, has appeared as a guest on various t.v. programs, and is currently the crochet expert on the hit PBS show "Knit and Crochet Today". Drew lives in Houston, TX with his cats Chandler and Cleocatra.

1/15 L'Tanya Durante talks about the lovely flower-motif pullover she designed for Successful Lace Knitting
L'Tanya Durante enjoys mixed media art, embroidery, knitting, crocheting and designing.

1/16 Connie Chang will interview me about recording an audio book and what it will be like to teach on a cruise
Connie came upon knitwear design as a way to relax and unwind from her days working as a postdoc in physics. Somehow, what began as a hobby has consumed her life, turning into a full time profession, relegating science research into the hobby role. She hopes one day to find a good balance between the two; but for now, she is working on environmental health science research between sweaters. Connie has published in Interweave Knits, Knitscene, Knit.1, various knitting book collections, and self publishes her own work.

1/17 Cheryl Potter talks about working lace in unusual yarns and in hand-painted colorways
Cheryl Potter owns a handpaint yarn company so she can basically conjure up any yarn in any color she wants for knitting. This may sound like your idea of Nirvana, but after 10 years the novelty has worn off a little, although she has to admit that entering the dye kitchen in the morning still gives me a tingle of excitement. Surprisingly she does not take much yarn home although she's been working on a never-ending Alpaca Rug for over a year. Chryl love designing large projects like rugs and throws capes and shawls, but she often just knits socks. Although knitting and writing about knitting take up most of her time, hand
dyeing yarn is still her first love.

1/18 Shannon Okey interviews me about lace techniques and

1/19 Evelyn Clark talks about her triangular lace shawl designs, including the special shawl she designed for Successful Lace Knitting using one of Dorothy Reade's lace patterns
Evelyn is a Pacific Northwest native who learned to knit and crochet from her grandmothers. After leaving a corporate career in marketing for a simpler life, she was inspired to pick up her needles again by Elizabeth Zimmermann's empowering approach to knitting. Along the way, she discovered a passion for lace knitting and enjoys sharing this addiction with others.

---

Successful Lace Knitting will be released in May on the Musk Ox & Glaciers Knitting Cruise, where Donna will be teaching along with Lucy Neatby. The audio book edition of Arctic Lace will also be published at the same time, so cruise participants will be among the first to have a chance to see (and hear!) these two new releases.

To enter to win 2 balls of laceweight qiviut yarn, sign up for the cruise mailing list. (scroll down on the left)

Lots of fun things coming up!

First, starting this weekend I'm having a Twitalong/Knitalong and we will be making these Lithuanian wrist warmers. This weekend I'll post the materials and during the week I'll start posting the instructions. So follow me @druchunas on Twitter to join up.



If you're not on Twitter, you can still see my posts here: http://twitter.com/druchunas

Or subscribe to my posts with your RSS reader.

Then I'll be having a special blog tour from mid January to mid February where you'll get some sneak peeks of:

My next lace book, Successful Lace Knitting, which will feature the work of Dorothy Reade plus 20+ contemporary designers,

The audio book release of Arctic Lace,

and

My Alaska knitting cruise with Lucy Neatby,

all of which will be happening for real next May. So don't miss any of this!

Plus, I'll continue to post various ramblings from here and Hawaii, where I'll be celebrating my 20th anniversary with my husband a little early.

Someday I will come back to Granada. I loved the tiny Arab bath, the archaeological museum, the unprettified streets of the Albacin area. And the Alhambra charged every neuron in my body. Over the week the geography of the place, the lonely vega and the glory of the mountains, began to imprint my senses. But while I was here, I felt restless and agitated. Lorca's ghost walks, uneasy in this city. Some things cannot be forgiven. The crime was in Granada.

These are the words of Frances Mayes, thinking about the poet Federico García Lorca who died in Granada, shot by Nationalist soldiers in the first months of the Spanish Civil War.

The thoughts and feelings mirror my own when visiting Vilnius and other parts of Lithuania. I return to Lithuania every year, drawn by the beauty of the place, the depth of the history, the mystery of the pagan and Christian folk art, the haunting tunes of the dainos, perhaps by a longing in my genes, the same longing for home that my Grandmother might have felt.

But nothing is simple. Being in Lithuania also brings up feelings of fear and grief, anger and frustration, a deep sadness that sinks into my bones. Lithuania is a country of beauty and death, and sometimes the two are inseparable, as in Ponary where the natural beauty of the Lithuanian forest is marred by the mass graves holding the bones of 100,000 victims of WWII, mostly Jews from Vilna.

Žagarė, a small town near the Latvian border, home of an annual cherry festival, is surrounded by beautiful countryside and farmland. Shortly before the Nazi's invaded, many of Zagare's Jews were expelled to Siberia by the Soviets. The remaining Jewish population was gathered in the town square on the day after Yom Kippur in 1941. Some were shot on the spot, while others were brought outside of the town to be slaughtered. Sitting near the town writing at the side of the river, and walking through the town square, I could not reconcile the beauty and the terror.

Some times it is impossible to forgive, inadvisable to forget. But the sins of the fathers should not be visited upon the sons. I neither forgive nor refuse to forgive. The tragedies that underly Lithuanian history are beyond the scope of my imagination. All I can do is hope to be a small voice for peace and understanding and to help, in any way I can, to make sure that the future is a thing of beauty, not of death.