Customer Reviews

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac (Dover Knitting, Crochet, Tatting, Lace)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a wonderful deal. The projects are interesting, the text is witty, and I am actually setting out to follow the Almanac for the entire year of 2002 (it is January and I am almost done with the January project). This is a knitter's paradise. HOWEVER, there are two things you should know before buying:

1) I would be lost if I did not also own E Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. Her instructions in the Almanac are somewhat abbreviated, and I need the other book as a cross-reference. Knitting Without Tears has the pictures and the more elaborate descriptions to help me understand what she means in the Almanac.

2) The binding of this book is extremely flimsy and cheap. I purchased my book new in October, and, by December, pages were already falling out! It is now not even four months old and it is full of tape (I used clear packing tape to bind the pages in so that I did not lose any of the precious instruction!)

This is a small book that packs a lot of knitting punch. The Knitting Almanac is very useful for many types of projects. The book is arranged by season as Elizabeth knits her way through the year, making warm things for her entire family. There's some fun commentary, too.

Let me list some of the most useful patterns in this book:

Best baby sweater. This is a lacy cardigan with a round yoke, easy to make, and so pretty. I made so many of these I can't even count. The lace stretches a bit, so the growing infant gets a lot of wear out of the cardigan. And it's easier to dress Baby with something that doesn't pull over the head.

Leggings. If you want to make warm tights for babies, kids or even adults. It's HARD to find such a pattern.

"PI" shawl: this is a round shawl that folds into a semi-circle. Very elegant, you can add your own lace stitches to make it unique.

Shirt Collar sweater--good for summer, short sleeved with an open collar. Can be made in any size.

Mittens, socks, an Aran sweater, there's more. This book, packed as it is, still fits into even a small knitting bag or purse and is not expensive. This has to be the biggest bang for the knitting buck I know of. I'm on my second copy. I wore out the first one.

I received this book as a gift from a friend, and it has really raised my enjoyment of knitting to another plane.

I am an intermediate to advanced knitter. I know lots of different increases, decreases and pattern stitches and I have made some pretty complicated stuff-mostly by following other people's patterns like a robot. I have designed a few simple things my own, with varying results, but I would never have thought that I could design something as complicated as a sweater on my own in a million years-that's something to be left to the "experts," or so I thought.

The Knitting Almanac has shown me that there is no mysterious, arcane knowledge or mystical formula required to design your own project. Knitting can be much, much more than just following a series of individual stitches row-by-row until, miraculously, you have a finished product sitting in your lap. Every project in the Almanac is visualized as a whole, and the reader comes to understand how those individual stitches are part of an overall design that gives form to the work.

Zimmerman provides a rough framework for making mittens, sweaters, and other garments, along with complete directions for a finished project. This gives the reader the opportunity to follow along, keeping the larger design principles in mind, and create the garment that's pictured, but one is also encouraged to try different design choices and create something unique. The text is sprinkled with helpful techniques and valuable insights into knitting as a practical hobby, a mechanical process, and a lifelong love.

The style is anecdotal, rather than technical, which has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it gives you insight into the design process that takes the author, one of the world's greatest knitters, from idea to finished project. It's also very readable and fun. On the other hand, the patterns are written much less formally than what the modern knit-from-a-pattern knitter is used to, and they can be vague and just plain confusing at times.

At first, I found this maddening, but I realize now that to become a better knitter I need to apply what I have learned about knitting and bring my own ideas to the work. If I don't have the courage test my knowledge, skill and my creativity, I will be forever shackled to patterns written by somebody else.

For knitters who are ready to stretch their wings and fly, this book is a push out of the nest into a larger world.

I will admit that I have only made one project from this book, which was the baby pants. They are fantastic. It is true what EZ says, that the more outlandish you make these pants, the cuter they look on a baby. My pants looked bizarre until I put them on chubby legs. Irresistible! I have several things I want to make next, and I know I can trust her, and they will work out. Even though I have only made one project, my copy of this book is dog-eared from reading it cover-to-cover. I have also used the techniques presented for my own projects.

I'd rate this book as a must have for anyone who wants to become a better knitter. Elizabeth Zimmerman inspires knitters to look at yarn in a whole new way...to envision what the yarn can become....and not be worried about what pattern leaflets are available. I'm a large-size person, and have always been limited to the few patterns available which were written to include sizes large enough. At the same time, I have short arms, and the available patterns were never quite right. I'd learned how to "make do," by modifying the patterns which were available in large enough sizes, but this book helped me find a better approach. With Elizabeth's insights, I was able to design a sweater that was based on MY measurements, and on what I wanted. It freed me from limitations and opened up a whole new world of knitting. It's also a great book for a new knitter (although it doesn't teach how to knit). The humor is contagious, and innoculates the beginner against taking knitting too seriously.

Knitter's Almanac is a classic knitting book by Elizabeth Zimmermann, and Dover makes it available at a bargain price. It features EZ's charming, conversational style and a collection of her innovative designs and techniques. Fans of Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, Knitting Around, or Knitter's Workshop will want to add this to their collection. If you have never knitted before, or never worked with one of Elizabeth's books, I recommend starting with Knitting Without Tears, which is designed for beginners and is a good introduction to her style of instruction. Elizabeth's patterns are not written in standard notation, but in conversational English. For instance, her baby leggings begin, "For longies, therefore, I cast on sufficiently for the waist and work a piece of ribbing." People seem to either find her style charming or frustrating. It might be good to get a copy of one of her books from the local library and see how you like her writing style before buying her books. For her devoted fans however, this book is a must-have. It includes a classic aran pattern, baby jacket and leggings (she calls them "longies"), an innovative sweater combining cabling with colorwork, her unusually constructed "Mystery Blanket", some mittens, hats, her classic "Pi Shawl", some Christmas ornaments, grown-up wool leggings (with or without feet), her open-collared pullover (an innovatively constructed knitted golf shirt), re-footable moccasin socks, and her "Hurry-Up Last Minute Sweater". There is an appendix full of illustrated instructions for techniques such as stocking stitch and garter stitch grafting, knitted-on sideways border, casting-on cast-off, sewn cast-off, provisional or invisible cast-on, thumb trick for afterthought mitten thumbs, afterthought pockets, and i-cord border. All of her patterns are worked in the round with few seams, and most are full of the unusual techniques she delighted in developing. Following them you will nearly always learn new techniques you can apply to other projects of your own. I purchased the book for her baby legging pattern (which works for any gauge yarn and any size baby you choose), and for the Pi Shawl, which is ideal for lace knitters who like to add their own lace stitches to a basic pattern. Also, I enjoy her conversational style of instruction, and find it a nice change from the norm.

This is the first Elizabeth Zimmerman book I ever purchased. I was excited to start knitting the projects, but found myself reading for enjoyment before I could ever start knitting. I felt like I was getting to know a personality and I'm glad I did that before I tried to knit her designs. Elizabeth Zimmerman is the most down to earth and practical knitter I've ever encountered. She doesn't elevate knitting to an art form. She talks about it in terms of mathematics, geometry, and problem solving, as well as being a solution to everyday problems like keeping warm, dressing the family in long lasting and practical garments, passing the time and providing a challenge to keep the mind agile. She is also a great advocate of finding the path of least resistance and attention to detail.

I absolutely love to read this book, even now after many years. The story about using a knitting needle for a shear pin in an outboard motor is a great illustration of Mrs. Zimmerman's mindset of keeping all things in perspective. I love the "vague" directions that are given before the "pithy" directions for the "dear unsure knitter and the blind follower." I've learned to trust my own instincts and abilities and I've learned to think by following the vague instructions. I've turned to the "pithy" directions only when I found myself in danger of wasting quite a lot of yarn with my failure. My projects probably haven't turned out to look like the prototypes, but that's not the point, really, is it?

I've knitted nearly all of the projects in this book, although it surely has taken me much longer than the year allotted in this book. My favorites are the Pi shawl, which I've done more than once or twice, the Norwegian mittens and the moccasin socks. I found the pictures of the sweaters to be unbelievably ugly, but that doesn't mean that the directions for knitting them aren't brilliant. My choices of necklines, shaping and colors don't have to be like anyone else's. I also found that the moccasin socks were quite unattractive, but the practicality of being able to resole the stockings far outweighed their appearance at first blush. Who actually sees the foot of your sock after all?

This book gave me the confidence to make mistakes and not worry about them. It gave me a friend in a woman I've never met and will never meet. It opened my mind to possibilities and made me think for myself. It has been a great instrument for cultivating common sense. After reading this book, little by little I acquired the rest of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books and got to know her even better. Of all her books, this one is the least expensive and offers the most for a knitter who has a few years of experience under the belt.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac is excellent! Not only does she take the inexperienced knitter through the basics, she challenges the experienced knitter to stretch their wings! Full of wonderful insight into this legend of the knitting world. You'll fall in love with her whimsey. She makes reading pattern directions engaging and funny! Add this to your library now!

This is one of the best, friendliest knitting books around,especially for traditional knitters, but really for any knitter. It has very practical advice and patterns, lively chit-chat and will never go out of date. I'm on my second one, have re-read it many times and have never been bored. Once you have read it you will understand why Elizabeth is so revered in the knitting community....now and forever!

I wish your ratings went higher than 10. Many years ago, armed only with this book, I taught myself to knit. Elizabeth Zimmermann became my mentor, my inspiration, my Hero. This book, and all of her books are a MUST for knitters. The size is another plus.....fits in your purse or knitting bag so you never have to be without it. Sharon