Customer Reviews

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want just patterns that tell you exactly what to do stitch by stitch, this isn't the book for you. If you want to everything necessary to learning how to design your own garments, along with a generous helping of commentary and lots of fodder for your imagination to spin off and invent your own "knitting workshop," then GET THIS BOOK. The seven separate sleeve shapings and how they can be done on a circular needle alone are worth five times what you're going to pay. The garter stitch chapter doubles that to ten.

Seriously -- get Barbara Walker's stitch collections, a fair isle chart book or two, and this. You literally do not need anything else to be knitting sweaters that you yourself designed for the rest of your life. Then, when people ask you what pattern you used, you can smile subtly and say, "Oh none, I just made it up." You and Elizabeth Zimmerman. :-)

There are 4 great books by EZ (Knitting without Tears, Knitting Almanac, Knitting Workshop and Knitting Around.)

This one has the famous "surprise" sweater which looks like a rumpled bathmat and magically transforms, with a few deft flips and a bit of legerdemain, into the cutest baby sweater you ever saw. It can be modified to make an adult jacket, too.

It also has plenty more useful and adaptable patterns--sweaters, hats, you name it. And since the patterns are adaptable to many kinds of wool, this is one knitting book that won't seem dated five or ten years from now.

The book was written to go with a video series. Some of the videos are still available from the publisher. The book, however, stands alone as a great knitting classic, and one that I reach for all the time when I need to make a gift.

I am a huge Elizabeth Zimmerman fan, and I love this book. The baby garter stitch surprise jacket is an icon of knitting. Everyone who saw the first one I made went completely gaga over it. I was embarrassed at a baby shower when I gave one and everyone went nuts over it. One caveat: EZ gives the pattern in a 7st/in guage, which makes a VERY tiny sweater. I would recommend going up some needle sizes.
I like the directions for the seamless shoulder shapings in this book better than the directions given in "Knitting Without Tears" because there are more of them, the pictures are front and back, and I feel the directions are more clear. Of any of EZ's books, this is the one with the most projects I want to make. I love it, and I frequently refer to it for techniques I want to use in my own projects.

I am an experienced knitter and I was surprised by how much I learned from this little book. I always followed patterns for better or worse. This book gives you patterns but it also gives you formulas so that you can take a pattern and convert it depending on the weight of your yarn or even use the formulas, ratios really, to create your own patterns. I learned two handed knitting for aryan designs and more. The sweater I used following this book's formulas was a design I adapted from somewhere else and it is the best fitting sweater I ever made.

There is much more too. Elizabeth's great comments and opinions that are funny and often thoughtful. For example I never thought about wool as a renewable resourse as opposed to knitting with a petroleum product.

I have been knitting for 20+ years, and had heard about EZ's books, but considered myself "beyond" them. Finally I bought this one on a whim, and have since purchased all her others. This book is the answer to the question, "How do I make knitting easy?" Forget the rigid patterns--this book explores knitting as it was probably taught for generations: Learn the CONCEPTS and the details will follow. I think this book is worth the money just for the baby "surprise" sweater pattern alone (a legendary baby sweater knit in one garter stitch piece with only 2 seams). When I learned to knit, it was SERIOUSLY not "hip," so I learned to design projects because I didn't have access to patterns. Now with books being written about how to make garter stitch scarves, I thank my lucky stars I learned when I did. This book will teach you to be an empowered knitter who does not need books and patterns to knit. If you are just learning, I cannot encourage you enough to buy this book & learn the fundamentals of knitting & designing--you can always buy the "fun" books, but you will be so much happier if you know how to alter & edit patterns to fit your taste & style. If you are a veteran knitter, it's still worthwhile. The percentage system for designing sweaters is wonderful! EZ's writing style is personable & funny--how could you not love a knitting book where the author admits that she hates to purl & sew seams???? The pictures are in black & white, but I think they still convey the ideas.

Like all Elizabeth Zimmerman books, this one is a joy to read. But unlike some of her books, this one really teaches you the "nuts and bolts" of some specific projects. Some of the projects are "out there" like the Puzzle Pillow, but most of them are timeless and endlessly appealing, like the Pi Shawl. Very, very valuable book for nearly every knitter (and even the experts will enjoy reading it).

After finally getting a copy of this book for myself, I'm sorry I wasted my money/time on the other knitting books in my collection. Elizabeth Zimmermann has a way of explaining the mechanics of knitting - even the most complicated techniques - with a conciseness & a simplicity that astounds, and her personal warmth & sharp wit come through on every page. I'd thought that I'd mastered the basics, but Elizabeth had a few IMPORTANT tricks to teach me. Her 'percentage' approach to pattern interpretation means that you will NEVER have to struggle adapting patterns for your exact measurements again. The included patterns are enduring classics that knitters have been making & remaking for decades now, & will likely continue to do so for decades to come. If you don't have a copy of this book in your collection of knitting, you MUST get one. If you don't feel inclined to get it for yourself, drop hints to your friends, lay a guilt-trip on your family - do whatever it takes. It's worth it.

EZ has a way with words. A down-home, embellished, but cut-to-the-chase, way with words. She has that same way with knitting. No fancy patterns that use modern yarn, and tell you exactly the things you need to complete the projects. Rather, she gives you a recipe. You can use any kind of yarn that suits your fancy, and it will still come out how it's supposed to. Very educational and useful for the experienced begginer.

This is my least favorite of EZ's books -- which is a little bit like saying that I prefer prime rib to lobster. It's still a great addition to a library but if money is tight, you may want to give priority to EZ's other books.

This is the book based on the PBS series she did about twenty years ago. It goes from the very beginning of knitting - how to cast on to some fairly sophisticated color stranding (aka as fair isle).

The bulk of the instructions are pure EZ -- no conventional patterns for her. Instead she teaches you how to measure the body in a few key places and "design" a sweater based on the proportions indicated by these measurements. Learning how to THINK like a knitter is an invaluable skill. And for the faint of heart, more or less conventional directions are provided in an appendix.

Some of the patterns are a bit dated but some are classics. This book includes the famous baby surprise jacket - knit in one rather strange looking glob, a couple of key seams and you have a great baby coat. There's also a good section on shawls which seem to be back in fashion in 2001.

Bottom line: A good book for your third dozen books as you put together a knitting library.

I borrowed the 3 part PBS vhs Knitting Workshop series featuring Elizabeth Zimmermann. I've been knitting for 20+ years and learned so many new things from her no-nonsense knitting techniques that I've changed how I knit. She is a knitting icon and this book is an excellent extention of her videos.

The book is not a "pretty" book as many recently published knitting books are, but it is chock full of knitting techniqes and know-how. This is a must have for any serious knitter.