Welcome to our Introvert Interviews series where we talk to introverts from all walks of life about their experiences and their introversion.
Donna Druchunas is an author, knitting pattern designer, and popular knitting instructor. In this interview we talk about energy management as a teacher, collaborating without talking on a phone, and being an introvert.
You’re a knitting pattern designer, author of 9 books, and a knitting instructor. How did you decide to craft a career out of knitting?
That was entirely by accident! I used to be a technical writer and I worked for companies like HP and Fujitsu. I never really liked my jobs, especially after the first year when it was new and at least somewhat interesting. But I’m slow to figure things out and it wasn’t until my knitting friend Kris asked me, “If you can write instructions for how to install a hard drive, why can’t you write instructions for how to knit things?” A huge light went off in my head and from that point forward, I started thinking about using my love of knitting as an outlet for my writing. Originally I thought I would write one or two knitting books as a segue into writing something “more creative” but I’ve since discovered that there is so much richness and depth and creativity within knitting that I’m not sure I’ll ever have to write about anything else!
Are you aware of your temperament when you’re teaching classes?
Not when I am actually teaching, but definitely before and after. I do not interact with anyone before my classes. I go into the classroom early and set up my things. This gives the students confidence that I’m around somewhere and we’ll be starting on time. Then I go somewhere private with a cup of coffee and sit with my feet up in silence until just a few minutes before the class begins. I do the same thing during my lunch break if it’s an all-day class. Right after the class, I will interact with students, answer questions we didn’t get to in the program, and sign books. If there’s an evening program at the event, I will attend but I don’t interact very much. Otherwise, I spend the evenings in my room watching favorite movies or reading. Once I get up in front of the class, I am “on”–that is, I become “teacher Donna.”
Do you do anything in particular to recharge before, during, or after a class?
On top of what I do while I am at a teaching event, I also end up sleeping for a few days when I get home. It was a while before I realized that I need to take several days off after each teaching event and I need to let myself get as much sleep as my body wants. Sometimes I sleep 12 hours a night and take naps for the first few days after I get home from a teaching trip. I don’t even look at my to do lists for the first few days after I get home. I also pack at least 48 hours before a trip so I am not sitting around worrying that I’ll forget something. (I have a standard packing list that I use for every single trip.)
What does your day-to-day life look like?
When I’m home, I wake up without an alarm and poke around on the internet in bed for about 20 minutes wishing I had a house elf to bring me coffee. Then I get up and make coffee and get on the computer to look at my to do list for the day, then I dive into writing or whatever other tasks are at the top of the list OR the tasks that energize me most (sometimes those are the same). I usually take a walk every day and sometimes I go off and run errands in the middle of the day because I can and because my concentration only lasts so long and I need to move my body and get some fresh air. In the evenings I watch TV, read, or knit (or some combination thereof) and I often do some more work, usually editing or research, late at night after my husband goes to bed.
Writing a knitting book requires working with test knitters, editors, co-authors, illustrators, etc. How would you describe your approach to collaboration?
Email and Basecamp. I like everything to be in writing and easily archived for future reference. I never want to talk on the phone. That’s such a stressful activity to me. Meeting with people in person can be fun when it’s not in the middle of a teaching event but usually those are the only times I am in the same place as other knitwear designers, authors, and so forth. I love collaboration, but it has to be controlled. And above all else, I hate meetings where things meander and go off on tangents. If I’m in a meeting, I have to be in charge of the agenda and keeping things on track.
How much of an effect do you think being an introvert has had on your career?
Everything! I’ve always been very aware of being an introvert and I’ve never been interested in any type of career that required me to fight with my temperament. Thank goodness I am not shy any more, though. Being an author is not just sitting around in your house writing. There’s so much more to it than that, especially these days. A lot can be done online though, which is a life saver for many introverts.
If you were able to travel back in time, is there any advice you would give to your younger introverted self?
Being shy is not the same thing as being an introvert! You can overcome the former, but the latter is who you are. When I was young, I used to pray that I would become and extravert because it was so painful not being able to talk to people and being afraid of just about everything. I thought that was what it meant to be an introvert. When I was a little girl, my mother says I would not even talk to people unless they were invited to our house for dinner. I was well into my 30s when I discovered the Myers Briggs test and read more about temperaments and learned that I was an INTJ and all that meant for me. What a relief! By then I was already overcoming my shyness to a great degree, but I still found my energy in solitude.
Where can people find out more about you?
My website is www.sheeptoshawl.com and I am druchunas on Twitter and Ravelry, and I have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DonnaDruchunas.
