Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-follow Directions for Garments To Fit All Sizes [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Zimmermann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1971

Do you love to knit -- and hate to purl? Have you ever started a sweater without enough yarn from the same dye lot to finish it? When you cast on, do you end up with a tail of yarn that's maddeningly too long or too short? Elizabeth Zimmermann comes to the rescue with clever solutions to frustrating problems and step-by-step instructions for brilliant, timeless designs.

In Knitting Without Tears, you'll find elegant designs for:

• Color-pattern Norwegian ski sweaters
• Seamless patterned-yoke sweaters
• Hooded garter-stitch jackets for babies
• Watch caps, socks, slippers, mittens, and more!

This classic and influential book is poised to inspire a whole new generation of knitters who have yet to discover the joys and comforts of knitting. As the lady herself once put it, "properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either."

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Vogue Knitting Elizabeth taught us to trust our instincts, revel in our creativity and above all, find joy in the simple act of knitting.

The New York Times [Elizabeth Zimmermann] brought a penetrating intellect and a sculptor's sensitivity to revolutionizing the ancient art of knitting. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Elizabeth Zimmermann (1910-1999) was born near London, England, and attended art school in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1937. Frustrated by magazine editors who translated her conversational knitting instructions into abbreviated code, she started her own knitting newsletter and launched Schoolhouse Press, a mail-order business that still sells knitting supplies, books, and videos under her daughter Meg Swansen's guiding hand. In the mid-1960s she hosted The Busy Knitter, a nationally syndicated public television show, and by the early 1970s had become an icon of the knitting world. This and her three lively instructional books -- Knitting Around, Knitter's Almanac, and Knitting Workshop -- are treasured by knitters around the world. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons; 1st edition (January 1, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684106892
• ISBN-13: 978-0684106892
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (135 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

534 of 549 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly a beginner book, July 9, 2000

By 

Emily Cartier "kallicat" (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes (Paperback)

I'm a beginning knitter. I bought this book because I am terrible at following directions and everything I'd read about it indicated that EZ would help you learn to modify patterns so they worked the way you wanted. They were right.

This isn't really a learn how to knit book tho. It's more an introduction to sweater design book. You are walked through several basic styles of seamless sweaters, given a good stern lecture on why gauge is important, and shown pictures and charts you can use as a jumping off point. I would expect a learn how to knit book to cover several styles of knitting, multiple castons and castoffs, and lots of techniques, all with extensive illustrations for those of us who aren't very good with written instructions. This book does not fit the bill. It is one I will consult frequently as I begin to knit my first sweaters.

It works very well in conjunction with Vogue Knitting or one of the other basic learn how to knit books. Don't buy it as the only knitting reference you'll ever need.

edit: 8 years later, I'm still knitting. I still use this book, and have knit several sweaters based on the ideas in it. They're the ones that get *worn*. It is still an entertaining read, despite rereading large chunks 4-5 times a year over the last 8 years.

155 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My knitting took off after learning the method in this book, May 21, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes (Paperback)

This knitting book is ground-breaking. Instead of following a pattern line by line (nothing wrong with that, I like to do that) you learn how to create sweaters to fit any body, with any yarn. Why would anyone want to do that? Well, you might have bought 15 balls of yarn on sale and don't know what to make of it. Instead of waiting for a pattern to turn up for that amount of yarn, that weight, etc, you can create your own sweater in various styles to fit anyone, you, a family member or friend.

The Percentage System used in this book is easy to follow: knit a sample of your yarn, carefully measure how many stitches per inch or centimeter, then multiply that gauge times your chest circumference MINUS 10 percent for the ribbing. Increase up to 100 percent and off you go. Soon you will have a yoke style sweater, Norwegian drop shoulder or saddle shoulder, or even raglan style. Such freedom. You can go to yarn sales and as long as you have enough yarn, you can make anything from it.

Right now I am knitting a cotton summer top using this method with some bargain yarn. While this book doesn't have gorgeous color photographs of stylish knits, it does teach you to create your own. After I bought this book, my knitting really took off. Yours might, too.

222 of 227 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable fun for the serious knitter, May 5, 2000

By 

Carol S. (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes (Paperback)

I'd repeatedly read and heard about Elizabeth Zimmerman (or "EZ" as she was/is fondly known) but never read any of her books. I was, however, skeptical that her books could be as wonderful as they were reputed to be. The photograph on the cover of "Knitting without Tears" did little to entice me; the sweaters looked, well, a bit dowdy and boxy for my taste. Eventually I gave in and bought this book. Now I am a believer. EZ won me over with her very first sentence: "Most people have an obsession; mine is knitting." Somehow she managed to take knitting very seriously without ever taking herself very seriously. The book is full of practical tips and tricks for improving your knitting, conceptual ways to create your own patterns, and EZ's very decided opinions about the craft (worth considering whether or not you agree with them all). Best of all, anecdotes and humorous, often ironic commentary abound. Even if you never knit a seamless sweater, you'll be glad you bought this book.