Glossary
Elizabeth Zimmermann
Elizabeth Zimmermann (1910-1999) was born in the U.K., moving with her husband Arnold to the U.S. after World War II. Known as EZ among knitters, she encouraged Continental knitting and knitting in the round when both were out of U.S. mainstream knitting.
EZ is credited with popularizing the Continental method of knitting, finding it more efficient. And many speed knitters agree. The Continental method is also known as the German method. It fell out of favor in the U.K. and U.S. during World War II, when the U.S. and U.K. were at war with Germany.
She favored seamless circular knitted garments because she felt they allowed easier knitting of more intricate patterns. She was not shy about expressing her opinions about knitting. One of her books is The Opinionated Knitter which seems aptly named. And knitters often have very strong opinions about EZ.
Reportedly after an editor changed her directions for a Fair Isle sweater, she began publishing her own patterns. In addition to knitting, teaching, writing, business owner (Schoolhouse Press) and publishing, she had her own PBS series and started a series of Knitting Camps.
She developed the EPS (Elizabeth's Percentage System) for designing sweaters. Her Baby Surprise Jacket, and Pi Shawl are among her best known patterns. She also is often credited with the I-cord, which she often called "Idiot's cord."
Knitting
Knitting is a method of making cloth or fabric from yarn or thread. Consecutive loops of the yarn or thread are interlocked to form the cloth or fabric. Knitting can be done by hand or by machine.
Knitting instructions
The directions for knitting a particular item or a stitch. Knitting instructions for an item are often included in the knitting pattern. Knitting instructions for a stitch may also be included in a knitting pattern, or as separate instructions in a book or DVD for example.
Left-handed knitting
Left-handed or mirror knitting is done by some left-handed knitters. Instead of knitting the live stitches from the left-hand needle to the right, they knit from right to left. The left hand does the bulk of the knitting, instead of the right. The term mirror knitting comes from the reflection in a mirror of a right-hand dominant knitter. That's what left-handed knitting looks like.
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