Saturday, November 04, 2006

EZ percentages


After putting my red sweater photo on the Crafster forum, a few guys over there asked what I meant by Elizabeth Zimmermann's percentages. This is a new technique to me, and I've gotta say that I was completely blown away by it's simplicity. I bought the books purely on the strength of seeing all of the EZ projects on other people's blogs.....the books are not very 'pretty', and I never would have bought them otherwise....it's only when you see how much valuable knitting info is in them, that you forget about the pretty. If you have seen the hand drawn pictures in these books and want to see them knitted up in 'real life' (2006 style!), take a look at the Zimmermania blog (awesome!)
...ok, basically, these instructions allow you to knit a sweater (plus heaps of other stuff), using the yarn and gauge of your choice, knitted up in the style of your choice, using just one body measurement! The rest of the measurements are taken as a percentage of that one...right, don't panic here!...the maths is EASY!
My red sweater was the basic raglan (it was made in the thickest yarn and the simplest pattern, so that I could 'test' the technique without putting too much time and effort into it). The sleeves and body were knit in tubes, which were then joined at the underarms onto one circular needle, and decreased at the 4 raglan points...kinda like a backwards top-down raglan. These garments are designed for minimal finishing, and as a real bonus for people like me, who prefer knitting to purling, they are knit in the round, so that not one purl stitch is needed :-D
I did a google search on Elizabeth's name to put some links here, but really, there were so many, I didn't know where to start!
After making this first sweater, I am a real fan, and plan to make heaps more :-)

6 comments:

Rose Red said...

The red sweater looks great - I hate seaming so I'm going to have to get into Zimmerman - I've just bought Knitting without Tears from eBay, so am looking forward to getting into it - thanks for the inspiration!

one year from now..... said...

EZ Rocks!
I agree with you clickertyclick...it is very liberating to *not* have to worry about a pattern.

I've got Barbara Walker's treasuries.. and now I worry about the pattern that will appear on the EZ pattern...Such a dilemma!

Suzanne said...

It beautiful--and I LOVE the trim on the sleeves and neck. Nice one! And the red--VaVa VOOM!

Nonna Rose said...

I am working on my first EZ sweater and am fascinated by the process. I have now bought 2 Zimmermann books and asked for a 3rd as a gift. I will post on the mania blog when I've completed my project. Your red sweater is AWESOME. I'm sticking strictly to the "recipe" but will step out of the box on my next try. Thanks for sharing with us via your blog.

Ashley said...

I dont get it...so if you didn't know how to knit a sweater before, this book would help you??? and you dont need patterns????

Way Out Wear said...

Wow! Thanks for all the helpful info. I think I'm going to get two of EZ's books - I think I should have started with them!