I Love Lithuania member Donna Druchunas is a prolific knitter, author, blogger, and teacher. She is one of the most creative people I know. Talk about ambition! I got in touch with her last Fall when she was in Vilnius, the captial of Lithuania. We had an engaging conversation in which we discussed her work, her travels to Lithuania and her Lithuanian roots, and some of the many interesting things she has seen there. Even if you're not into knitting you will appreciate the conversation about Lithuania.

Marina: How long have you been in Vilnius and what have you been doing there?

Donna: I've been here for a couple months, with a break when I went to Nida on the coast of Lithuania, and another break for a week when I went to Geneva and Rome. Part of the reason I'm here is I'm working on a book on knitting in Lithuania. I have a coauthor from England whose name is June Hall who has also visited Lithuania for several years. This is my fourth summer to come here, and I really wanted to come back.

Marina: Tell us a bit about yourself and your Lithuanian roots.

Donna: My father's Lithuanian and my grandmother made sure we knew we were Lithuanian! She cooked all the Lithuanian foods, and told us about Lithuania even during the Soviet period. Unfortunately, we didn't learn to speak Lithuanian at home.

Marina: Yes, I didn't learn anything useful either from my Lithuanian grandparents; just the words you can't say to people!

Donna: I didn't even learn those words. I just knew a few food names but it turned out they weren't accurate anyway. The second time I came over I took a language course but I can read better than I can speak.

Both of my grandmothers taught me to knit and to crochet, which ties in with what I'm doing these days in writing this book. I did other things along the way when I graduated from school, such as working with computers in several offices, and just hated it. I would write computer manuals, and then a friend finally said, “You know you hate that, so why can't you write a manual on how to knit a sweater?” This work doesn't pay much so I still do computer work. But my job is portable so that's why I'm able to travel if I want to.

Marina: Tell us about your published work.

Donna: I have written five books; most have some historical tie-in with the craft in some way or another. I wrote a book on native Alaskan women, which is a story of their culture and co-op business in Alaska. The book has how-to projects that people can make on their own.

And that's what I'm doing with this latest book on Lithuania; I have plenty of instructions on how to make your own projects. Then there's my new book on lace called Successful Lace Knitting, which just came out.

I have written two books on ethnic knitting which include techniques from countries around the world; in these books, you can learn how to design your own sweaters with patterns I have included. In one of my books, I have Lithuanian motifs for gloves and mittens that were originally from Lithuania Minor, on the coast of the Baltic Sea. 

Marina: When will we be able to see your new book?

Donna: Sometime in 2011; with all the finishes, publishing, cataloging and more, it's more work than just writing an ordinary book. The extra items to be put in include 20 projects, instructions to be written, pictures to be drawn to show techniques, and photos to be processed. It should be out by Fall.

Marina: I was following you on your blog, Sheep to Shawl, while you've been traveling and saw interesting posts about the fun little shops you were discovering.

Donna: Oh, there's so much textile and fiber art over there. So many little galleries and shops! You'll see things for the tourist market that are made quickly with larger-sized yarn, and then the higher-quality pieces made with higher-quality yarn. The art galleries also carry knitted items. I can't go out of the house without finding these things.

Marina: Of all the interesting shops over there on Pilies gatvė, what are the kinds of things you would advise others to buy?

Donna: If you like something, buy it; the street vendors have hand-made and machine-made things at really low prices. I bought small necklaces for my nieces that were 10 Litas (about $3 US). There are shops that are official amber and linen sellers were you can get a certificate of authenticity. There you can spend more money and get something more glamorous.

Marina: Your blog entries that caught my attention were about wrist warmers; tell us about them.

Donna: Yes that's the happening thing here now, and has been for a couple years. Irena Juškienė wrote a book, Riešinės (“Wrist warmers” in English), describing her visits to museums to learn about this traditional craft. She created a beautiful book with great photos, instructions, and charts. It really spurred popularity here. Just as sock knitting was big in the US, and then lace became popular, here it's riešinės.

Marina: That seems like a good beginner project. 

Donna: Yes, they have just one stitch, slip a bead up where you want it, no fancy stitches. The first thing you learn in knitting is all you need.

Marina: Changing the subject a bit, what's going on in Lithuania now with economic trends and attitudes? Is it better?

Donna: It seems expensive here to me; prices seem higher than last time I was here–maybe more like what we have in America, at least for some things. I can spend 150 Litas ($50 US) for a fancy dinner, which seems expensive to me for those who live here; the same for clothes.

Marina: I'll report back to our readers on current prices in Lithuania this month. The economy has been so bad everywhere, I was disappointed to see Lithuanian airlines go bankrupt in 2009. Did you have hard time getting there?

Donna: Well there's still a lot of airlines that go here. I took Ryanair since I was coming from England; it's really inexpensive and goes to Kaunas. You can book a bus tied to your flight by using the website. You can get off your flight and get to the bus which takes you to the train station in Vilnius. Baltic Air, Finnair, and quite a few others still go. You can also fly into Klaipeda though I've never tried. But it was not a problem getting in and out of here. There are no direct flights from America obviously, so you usually have to stop twice. Starting out on the east coast is best. You'll have to fly in to London or Warsaw or Frankfurt, and then into Vilnius. It can take me almost 24 hours door to door, leaving from Colorado.

Marina: What do you love most about Lithuania?

Donna: One thing I love is that Vilnius is great for walking. You can walk around the tiny streets for hours to discover little shops and cafes and narrow, winding streets. Lithuania has one of the biggest medieval areas still intact in Europe. You really have to get out and explore. You can go to the top of Gedimino tower where you can see the old town, and then turn around and see the new part with skyscrapers.

What I love most about Lithuania this year is Nida. I went to Neringa and really enjoyed the beach. I've been to the bigger cities of Klaipeda and Palanga before but liked the smaller more natural areas the most. Those two are more tourist party areas; Nida is more of a resort place, with just the beach and the Curonian Spit, which is a national park. You can walk out on paths, and see dunes and water on two sides. I went at the end of summer when the weather was perfect and enjoyed soaking up sun.

Marina: What was the funniest thing to happen to you over there?

Donna: I was visiting my co-author, June Hall, in England. Two artists from the felting group Baltos Kandies were there and we were talking about when we were school kids. We talked about the things we were told when the cold war was still going on. I said we used to have to go into the hallways and duck down, away from the windows and put our hands over our heads in case the Russians would bomb us, which of course would do nothing to protect you in a nuclear attack but we did it anyway. I was talking about this and they just looked at me and burst out laughing; they said did the exact same thing in case the Americans would attack. So here we were on both sides doing the same thing. We just laughed about that for about a half hour.

Marina: What are you seeing as far as old techniques in Lithuania, perhaps something similar to that of your grandmother's knitting?

Donna: This style of knitting is rarely mentioned in American books. Americans don't know why they can't follow the books over here. it's similar to the continental style, what could be called the Russian style but you wouldn't say that around here! You hold the yarn differently. The majority of knitters here use this technique. I've been going to a new knitting shop in town. The older shops have the older Soviet mentality, where no one says hello and everything is behind the counter; very intimidating to those of us used to the western style. The new shop has a library where you can look at books; it’s very open and inviting and is called “Močiutės Mezgimo,” or “grandmother’s knitting.”

Marina: it's sad that in 2009, when Vilnius was made the European Capital of Culture, it was not well attended, because of the economic downturn.

Donna: Yes travel was down all over Europe, and in Lithuania it was much more of a crisis than in other places, so people just stayed home. It seems they are trying so hard to adjust to western styles, and experiencing many ups and downs. The dollar still goes a lot further than it will in other places in Europe. The good thing is that Lithuania is in the EU and that makes it easier to get there; to go to Belarus, for example, you have to get a visa, which can be expensive. But I have two Lithuanian friends who have left the country and gone to Ireland and Sweden for work.

Marina: Yes, that's been the trend for younger people–to leave to go work in the UK and other places. I have a couple of close friends who have done that.

Donna: On the other hand, I have an Italian friend who has come here to run his tech business, which is an emerging market. So we'll see this trend more in both directions.

Marina: Thanks for the wonderful conversation, Donna. I really enjoyed talking about all things Lithuanian!

You can read articles about knitting, Lithuania and Donna's other travels plus order her books at: SheeptoShawl.com. See book list below.

BOOK LIST

You can order Donna's books on Amazon.com or through her website SheeptoShawl.com.

• Artic Lace: Knitting Projects and Stories Inspired by Alaska's Native Knitters by Donna Druchunas
  
• Successful Lace Knitting: Celebrating the Work of Dorothy Reade by Donna Druchunas
  
• Ethnic Knitting: Discovery: The Netherlands, Denmark Norway and the Andes by Donna Druchunas
  
• Ethnic Knitting: Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland and Ireland by Donna Druchunas
  
• Lithuanian Knitting by Donna Druchunas and June Hall; to be released Fall 2011

Submitted by Marina Farrell

Photo #1 by Donna Druchunas, Photo #2 Courtesy SheeptoShawl.com, Photo #3 & #4 by Dominic Cotignola