Viva La Zimmermann!

I have been inspired to get to know the work of the great Elizabeth Zimmermann.

I started my adventure by making the original "Baby Sweater on Two Needles" (which is just a small fraction of the knits La Zimmermann had on her slate for that short month...)

I do not know who will get this. Perhaps the new daughter of my friends Kelly & Marco...
I made this little sweater in dishcloth cotton. It IS worsted... Plus, I wanted to see if it would work. I already had my sights on the adult sized project & I knew I could not afford a decent quality wool or other worsted for that.

So... Two cones of varigated Onward to the February LADY sweater!
I really appreciate this adaptation of a Zimmermann Classic.

I really enjoyed watching how the space-dyed color repeats & patterns played out through the sweater. I was forced to use two different dye lots on this project, but it worked out that I was able to do the body of the sweater with one ~800 yd. cone (It took EXACTLY one) & the sleeves with the other. It was luck which made it work, I know. But, I'm quite grateful for it just the same.

The Gull Lace pattern is just simple enough for meditative knitting, but just complicated enough to keep you motivated to finish each step of the 4 row repeat. It is super fast to complete when knitting in the round for the sleeves on the adult sweater.
Any errors are quickly spotted & fairly easy to repair if you catch it in the return row. This is NOT usually the case for lace patterns, simple or otherwise.

It is the subtle elegance of such things that is the root of my deep regard for Elizabeth Zimmermann. She was clearly not into wasted motion, yarn, or even thought. At first sight, her work might look dated, or even clunky... If that's what you think, then I invite you to look more closely. Yep. Knit your way through her "non-patterns" & you'll be astonished by the unassuming brilliance.

Even if the Baby Surprise Jacket is not to your taste (& there's no accounting for taste, nowadays) the elegance of the concept is enough to make an architect applaud.

Check out this designer's blog to see her Zimmermann research & subsequent inspirations & designs! Very snazzy stuff, no?

The February Lady Sweater pattern by Pamela Wynne (from Flint Knits) is available as a free ravelry download. It is a justifiably celebrated rite of passage for anyone who wants to really know what the "big deal" is about knitting your way through the Almanac.

Originally, I thought I was going to knit this for myself. I really did!
Well... as I got underway, I knew it was not for me, really.
This ended up a perfect Christmas present for my own sweet Mother!
She has spent years making sweater upon sweater for everyone else. It is more than her turn!
I think I'm going to start a tradition where each Christmas I make a new sweater just for her...
Last year was the Nantucket Jacket by Norah Gaughan from the fabulous Interweave Knits Winter 2006 (If you are observant, you can see it folded on the back of the chair)... I wonder what next year will be?