You talk about Elizabeth Zimmerman. Who is she?
Christine
Amy: Who is Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yeah, I have the same question! She seems to be the ‘be all and end all’ in the knitting world. I feel like such a plonk for not knowing who she is!!!
She wrote that book Knitting Without Tears that everyone loves. Something about not having to purl. Which i never got, because i don’t mind purling and i dont see why everyone hates it so much.
E.Z. wrote many wonderful books on knitting that serve both newbies and experienced knitters alike. I highly recommend her books to anyone looking to expand their library.
Type her in amazon.com and you’ll find her books of patterns there. You can also go to Amy’s Free Patterns link (scroll down to the bottom, look to the right) and she has some links there too. Finally, Amy shows off a pattern from Zimmerman in this link.
I know you asked Amy, but I just posted the basics about her anyway. Amy can come back here and put in a fav rave.
Yeah, EZ’s great. She’s responsible for increasing the popularity of Continental knitting, and the popularity of knitting in the round, and knitting seamless sweaters in the round. She also popularized (introduced?) the percentage system, where you figure out how many inches the body of your sweater is, and then work out how many inches wide your sleeves can be, and how high up to put them, and how many inches the neck will be, all based on percentages from the body stitches. It sounds complicated, but many feel this is the easiest kind of sweater to make, and it’s very versatile, you could knit a sweater for most anyone, never looking at a pattern again!
EZ put out many books and videos, under her own press, “Schoolhouse Press.” Her daughter Meg Swansen, another highly accomplished knitter, runs the company now, and is also published. I just talked to Meg for the first time, recently, over the phone, and she’s INCREDIBLY NICE and just wonderful! She runs a knitting camp every summer, which I’m thinking about attending this year! For more on their books and videos, and her camp, you can visit www.schoolhousepress.com
Amy
A friend of mine has a friend that was getting rid of all of her craft things. So my friend knowing that I love to knit took a few things for me. One of them was a copy of “Knitting Without Tears”. Its an older edition and has a red cover. At first I had no idea who the author was then I began hearing and reading about Elizabeth and sure enough its her book. So I’m glad I have it and thankful to my friend of thinking of me! 
How much are the camps? I t doesn’t say on the website
Not only all of the above, but her writing is witty and charming. I’d read Knitting Without Tears even if I didn’t care about knitting!