Books & DVDs

Elizabeth Zimmerman

Elizabeth is the Grand Old Dame of Knitting. Her instructions are just that–instructions, not patterns. Her deal is to get knitters to think for themselves instead of following patterns. Myself, I’m OK with following patterns, but I still get lost in them; with Elizabeth’s instructions, and the confidence she instills, I can kind of make it up as I go along without too much fear of the consequences. She was already getting on in years when the videos were made in the 1980′s. Her sweaters are pretty much all knitted from the bottom up. Her manner is very folksy and warm, a lot like sitting and talking to a beloved and slightly dotty elderly relatifve.

Knitting Workshop (Book) (DVD) … The DVD is from the old TV series, and worth watching for the demonstrations of the techniques. The book has much additional personal material that is so worth reading, you really should have both if you can swing it.

DVD: A Knitting Glossary … so many useful and critical skills are clearly demonstrated on this DVD, I just can’t say enough good things about it.

Knitter’s Almanac … working your way through the projects in this book will give you monster knitting skills. Not all are really appealing to today’s sensibilities, but there is plenty in there to make it worth while. For me, the instructions for a short sleeved knit shirt was worth the purchase price.

Knitting Without Tears … the TomTen modular jacket is in this book. It’s the first EZ item I ever knitted, and even for a beginner like me, it was pretty easy and turned out well. I modified it with i-Cord edging and a ribbed collar, cuffs and hem. Made me feel like a real knitter for the first time.

Meg Swanson

Meg is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s daughter and, to my mind, has surpassed her mother’s skill as a knitter. She is also on the DVD of the Knitting Glossary with Elizabeth. Watch her knit the Baby Surprise Jacket. Visit her website, Schoolhouse Press, and read about her knitting camp. I would really like to attend the knitting camp, maybe in 2009.

DVD: Knitting the Baby Surprise Jacket … This project was frustrating me–I’d frogged one and threw one away in disgust. I just could not visualize the directions in Elizabeth’s book until I watched it being done by Meg. Voila! it all made perfect sense, and I finished one in about three days after that. See a plethora of finished Baby Surprise Jackets on Flickr.

Barbara G. Walker

Knitting from the Top … will review soon.

Jacqueline Fee

Sweater Workshop … the Sweater Sampler was my first major learning experience, the first non-flat, non-square thing I knitted. It’s a great confidence builder and would make a unique little purse or bag to carry your sock project (just add a bottom to it). Mine is not exactly like the one in the book.  I learned increases, decreases,  a couple of kinds of ribbing, color work, add-on kangaroo pouch pocket.  Until I did this, I hadn’t done any binding off. It was fun to do but didn’t impress anyone but me. You see how it twists in a kind of a spiral? That’s because the stitches are all twisted. Someone in my at-work knitting group showed me a really easy and quick way to knit stockinette, and her method is called “knit through the back loop, purl upside down”.  It took me a while to retrain myself not to do that (thank you , Elizabeth Zimmerman).

   

Cat Bordhi

Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles … I averted my eyes from the double pointed needles and went straight for two circulars. Cat’s book makes it easy. Next step is two socks at once on the two circular needles. I’ll feel like a magician if I can pull that off.

A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting … I bought this after seeing Cat on Knitty Gritty and was amazed at the sculptural quality of the items created in it. I have made the Moebius Scarf and intend to make one of the felted cat beds. If I can get my cats to sleep in it, I’ll make more. They look yummy. I wonder if I could make one that’s queen-sized for my own bed?

Ann Budd

The Knitter’s Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements … Are you a stashaholic? If you’re like me, you get an email, link to a great sale and then wonder how much to buy. Take out most of the guesswork by carrying this handy reference in your purse.