Elizabeth Zimmermann and the Percentage System
Elizabeth Zimmermann is like a goddess in the knitting world. You should know that the main reason for this is that she appeared on American TV at a time when there were not many TV channels and everyone watched the same programs. So that pretty much means everyone who appeared on TV at the time has made history (you can say she is to knitting, what Julia Child is to cooking). Nowadays, if you show up on TV, you only get to be famous for 15 minutes, how unfair...
That said, I don't want to minimize how brilliant and worthy of her reputation she is. Her philosophy was that knitting was simple enough ("Knitting without tears", the title of her most famous book, sums it up) and there are (almost) no set rules. Every knitter should be free to go along, improvising and adapting methods and instructions, as better suits him.
She was an amazingly bright woman, who discovered (or rediscovered) methods and techniques to simplify knitting, promoted knitting in the round taking advantage of new materials that made cable needles more flexible and easier to use, and made some brilliant patterns such as the amazing Baby Surprise Jacket, that pretty much proves her a genius.
Her most amazing contribution, in my opinion, is by far the brilliant EPS "Elizabeth Zimmermann's Percentage System". It allows to design sweaters in a very simple way, easily adapting the number of stitches to the final size of the piece and the gauge. It is brilliant, and so easy to understand, that I swear by it. Instead of following patterns blindly, (which for me always ends-up with stupid mistakes), it is far better to use the pattern charts (if doing colour-work or cables) and join it to one of the EZ patterns with the EPS. I'm sure this is what many sweater designers do, but the looooong set of instructions, with its lists of different stitches for different sizes, simply hides the simplicity of the design.
To conclude, I must admit she may be a genius, but she is no goddess. Before any diehard fans start trolling me with their outrage, let me remind you that she did encourage her readers never to take anything related to knitting, including her instructions and opinions, too seriously. She certainly is not without fault. Besides the fact that she can be verbose and self-important (talking too much about herself and putting too much value in her own opinions), I find that her books are a bit outdated. In particular, I would not recommend learning techniques from them (there are better sources), but I do most surely recommend to learn to do sweaters using the EPS. "Knitting without tears" is definitely a must have book for this reason. The only thing wrong with this book is the lack of a good table of contents that makes it difficult to find the pattern you're looking for.
Her books are a good purchase also because of the simplicity and good taste (in a sporty, casual way) of her designs. The former making them very appropriate for the beginner and intermediate knitter, the latter making them still wearable after so many decades. Note that her first book, KWT, was published in 1971, her last, "Knitting Around" in 1989.
Which reminds me to finish by saying, that using the EPS doesn't necessarily mean following it to the letter. In particular, notice that fashion has changed since the 70's and so have the proportions of the clothes we wear. You'll find that small changes to Zimmermann's recommendations will provide a better fit according to modern taste. Studying other designer's patterns and trying to derive a percentage-system recipe from them is a very good exercise to learn how they are made, and a way to decide what changes you'd like to make.
Create you own percentage system and you'll be able to use it for almost any sweater or cardigan you will knit. Similarly, you can use a percentage system for almost any type of garment: gloves, hats, socks... It's just the way we humans are made, we're mostly proportional, and the elasticity of the knitted fabric does the rest.
Obese people, however, do have different proportions, and the EPS will not work for them, even considering elasticity. This doesn't mean you cannot use a percentage system when knitting for them, you can and should. This is just the reason you may want to change the EPS and create your own percentage system.
Babies and small children also have different proportions to adults. Zimmerman did consider this and included them on her books.
That said, I don't want to minimize how brilliant and worthy of her reputation she is. Her philosophy was that knitting was simple enough ("Knitting without tears", the title of her most famous book, sums it up) and there are (almost) no set rules. Every knitter should be free to go along, improvising and adapting methods and instructions, as better suits him.
She was an amazingly bright woman, who discovered (or rediscovered) methods and techniques to simplify knitting, promoted knitting in the round taking advantage of new materials that made cable needles more flexible and easier to use, and made some brilliant patterns such as the amazing Baby Surprise Jacket, that pretty much proves her a genius.
Her most amazing contribution, in my opinion, is by far the brilliant EPS "Elizabeth Zimmermann's Percentage System". It allows to design sweaters in a very simple way, easily adapting the number of stitches to the final size of the piece and the gauge. It is brilliant, and so easy to understand, that I swear by it. Instead of following patterns blindly, (which for me always ends-up with stupid mistakes), it is far better to use the pattern charts (if doing colour-work or cables) and join it to one of the EZ patterns with the EPS. I'm sure this is what many sweater designers do, but the looooong set of instructions, with its lists of different stitches for different sizes, simply hides the simplicity of the design.
To conclude, I must admit she may be a genius, but she is no goddess. Before any diehard fans start trolling me with their outrage, let me remind you that she did encourage her readers never to take anything related to knitting, including her instructions and opinions, too seriously. She certainly is not without fault. Besides the fact that she can be verbose and self-important (talking too much about herself and putting too much value in her own opinions), I find that her books are a bit outdated. In particular, I would not recommend learning techniques from them (there are better sources), but I do most surely recommend to learn to do sweaters using the EPS. "Knitting without tears" is definitely a must have book for this reason. The only thing wrong with this book is the lack of a good table of contents that makes it difficult to find the pattern you're looking for.
Her books are a good purchase also because of the simplicity and good taste (in a sporty, casual way) of her designs. The former making them very appropriate for the beginner and intermediate knitter, the latter making them still wearable after so many decades. Note that her first book, KWT, was published in 1971, her last, "Knitting Around" in 1989.
Which reminds me to finish by saying, that using the EPS doesn't necessarily mean following it to the letter. In particular, notice that fashion has changed since the 70's and so have the proportions of the clothes we wear. You'll find that small changes to Zimmermann's recommendations will provide a better fit according to modern taste. Studying other designer's patterns and trying to derive a percentage-system recipe from them is a very good exercise to learn how they are made, and a way to decide what changes you'd like to make.
Create you own percentage system and you'll be able to use it for almost any sweater or cardigan you will knit. Similarly, you can use a percentage system for almost any type of garment: gloves, hats, socks... It's just the way we humans are made, we're mostly proportional, and the elasticity of the knitted fabric does the rest.
Obese people, however, do have different proportions, and the EPS will not work for them, even considering elasticity. This doesn't mean you cannot use a percentage system when knitting for them, you can and should. This is just the reason you may want to change the EPS and create your own percentage system.
Babies and small children also have different proportions to adults. Zimmerman did consider this and included them on her books.
Comments
Post a Comment