Channeling Elizabeth

The best way I could think of to extend the magic of Knitting Camp was to knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, so I chose The Katmandu Hat.

While I was at camp, I bought a skein of the Rangeley yarn that the pattern is written for. (You can buy it from Schoolhouse Press if you follow the link.) I should have chosen a lighter color because this is my second attempt. The charcoal color made it hard for me to see I was skipping a step in my first try.

The pattern is from this book, which was published post-humously and features garter-stitch patterns:

You start knitting at the bottom center of the back. If you look very closely at my photo, you can see that V beginning to emerge in my knitting.

Happily, I feel a bit of the magic of camp with every knit and purl. EZ was a knitting architect, and this pattern displays that talent. One of the great things about camp is that it builds your confidence. This pattern incorporates a slew of different i-cord methods, all of which are new to me. I don't think I'd be willing to try them if I had not been to camp.

I finished Peggy Guggenheim by Francine Prose, largely because it was short. As much as I love modern art, it was hard to stick with Peggy. She was a self-centered rich woman who neglected her children while she chased men and artists (who were sometimes one and the same). I will give her credit for having good taste in art at least.

Tonight I'll dive into The Forgotten Girls. It's an impulse buy from Target so I hope I didn't waste my money. I'm just in the mood for some suspense, and this novel is by Sarah Blaedel, who is one of Denmark's top mystery writers. I'll let you know if it's good or not.

I'm joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Knitting Camp Rocks

Look who I spent the last five days with:

Yes, that is Meg Swansen, daughter of Elizabeth Zimmerman and doyen of the knitting world. I know I am very lucky that her famous camp in Marshfield, Wis., is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Madison. That makes it so much more affordable!

This is my second year at camp, and it just gets better every year. The staff is just amazing. Meg does the morning class; Amy Detjen and Heather Black are the workhorses -- they are there early and late, greasing the gears and answering endless questions.

Amy shows off her holiday leggings.

As you know, knitters are the nicest people on the planet.  Some of my favorite people from last year were back, and I made so many new friends, including indie Indianapolis dyer, Mandie Harrington. She sells her amazing yarn under the name of Sheepy Time Knits.

Here she's selling her yarn at the market. I sold my knitting-related earrings and paid for about 10% of the trip with my proceeds.

This year was especially fun because my dear friend Marsha went with me.  We are just so compatible and had a great time together. It feels weird that she's not here knitting with me now!

Yes, I bought yarn and fell in love with more EZ patterns, but that's for another post. In the meantime, let me leave you with some of the wit and wisdom of Meg Swansen:

"I'm helpless with written directions; the apple didn't fall far from the tree."
"If it's something you never  want to see again, give it to charity and someone will be happy to have it."
And my favorite:
"Cheating is not only permitted in knitting, it is encouraged."

Happy 4th to all in the U.S.

Meg Swansen in Person

Meg Swansen -- daughter of Elizabeth Zimmerman, for anyone who hasn't heard of her -- was the speaker at last night's Knitting Guild meeting Yes, we are lucky!

Meg always impresses me with her poise, graciousness, and wit and she didn't disappoint last night -- even though she talked about a subject that doesn't figure into my current life: EZ's patterns for children.

She went through EZ's patterns, explaining the construction of each one. My friend Marsha commented, "She was an architect or an engineer." And that's really true. All of the garments had an unusual construction, like the baby hat that starts out as a heart. And of course, everyone is amazed by the Baby Surprise Jacket.

Speaking of the BSJ, Meg announced that her son Cully is writing a "comprehensive book on it with some new developments." I haven't yet knit a BSJ, but I'm still fascinated by this origami-type pattern.

Meg explained that the original pattern for the BSJ gave detailed instructions for the first 7 or 8 rows and then told the knitter to keep going. "My mother's premise was 'you have as good a brain as me so use it!'" Meg said.

My favorite of the patterns she presented was the Katmandu hat. She showed pictures of children wearing it, but the Ravelry link shows at as an adult pattern. It's in EZ's book Knit One, Knit All, which I will be tracking down!

I'll be checking in with Nicole today to Keep Calm Craft On.

Some Images From Knitting Camp

Who Is This?

Recognize this lady?

You probably knew before I asked that this is a photo of Elizabeth Zimmerman, the doyen of modern American knitting. She is on my mind because I just found out that I'll be going to Knitting Camp this summer.

Even though the famous knitting camp (now run by Zimmerman's daughter, Meg Swansen) is less than two hours away from Madison, I never considered attending before this year because I'm just not that good of a knitter. It would be embarrassing, I was sure, because everyone else would be a master knitter and I would be revealed as a knitting fraud.

But the new knitting friends I met at last month's Sun Valley retreat talked me into it. They have all attended before and they said that the camp really is for everyone. They talked about how much fun it is, and by the end of that retreat, I was sold.

Here I've grown up in the shadow of EZ and never really thought about how cool that is. Now, though, I'm getting excited. I guess I need to actually read my copy of Knitting Without Tears before camp starts on July 2!