Donna Druchunas's Blog

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.

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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)