I made my first foray into the world of Elizabeth Zimmermann, a knitting genius often called the Knitting Goddess. She was an impressive and analytical mind, a true knitting engineer. She designed a concept known as the Baby Surprise Jacket, which has been adapted for adult sizes. Those who have done the jackets always recommend starting with the BSJ, to understand the concept and for ease of scale before moving on to the ASJ. For Christmas, I got the Elizabeth Zimmermann book,
The Opinionated Knitter (go figure me wanting that book!) which is a reprint of her newsletters from 1958-1968. The newsletters were a quarter, back in the days of mimeograph machines, not blogs! Her daughter took over her mother's legacy, and edited the book for republication.
I started knitting the sweater Monday night, and finished it Thursday night. Since it is all garter stitch, it's fairly mindless, and now that I know the concept, I'll be making this "car knitiing."
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| The sweater, before it is sewn up |
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| Add 2 seams at the shoulders, and voila! Instant sweater. |
Well, Joanna, thanks alot! ! !
ReplyDeleteAnother book to add to my Library.
Really, Joanna, I really should get this book. I know that EZ was genius in that I believe she boiled instructions down so that they are easily 'digested', therefore making 'the process' more understandable, thus, we know what we are knitting and - - - knit more.
And with more understanding and enjoyment.
Guess I'll have to bit the bullet and add yet another to the shelf.
May wait 'til Mother's Day as I left 'a subtle' hint to DD#1 that a Barnes & Noble gift card would be a very nice thing to give to a mother.
We'll see.
Gerry: I think you would truly enjoy this book. It is more than just her instructions on knitting; it is full of stories (blogs) about a lot of things in life. (and reminds me of your blog.) The extras are really fun, and of course the instructions are genius! It's interesting that her patterns aren't really "patterns". They are more like explanations, so that you comprehend the concept involved. That really appeals to me. Hope you can hint it up for Mother's Day!
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