Happy 100th, EZ

Today would have been Elizabeth Zimmermann’s 100th birthday. I think she’d be pleased at the many thoughtful expressions of thanks directed her way. She’d be glad that her endlessly inventive designs continue to provide challenges and inspiration to new generations of knitters. As for being a trending topic on Twitter – well, that might be a little hard to explain to her!

A few months ago when I launched our EZ & Meg pattern index, I wrote here about what a pleasure it was to work on. I read through every EZ book and pattern. Writing pattern summaries for some of her brain-teaser designs (surprise jacket, for instance) was challenging indeed. Her wry comments made me laugh, her wise ones made me nod in agreement. It would be entertaining to give you a selection of funny quotes here, but she wasn’t just funny. Her Digressions contain much beautiful and thought-provoking writing about the world she lived in. This, for instance, from Knitting Around:

“And finally, what about our new country America? America is not better, but different…Damn these people, whose parents went through untold agonies to come to the New World away from the prejudice and self-importance of the old. They are now just as self-important themselves…Of course it’s a splendid country; of course I love it dearly, but there are other countries no less splendid, or shall we say no less faulty, and their inhabitants love them dearly too. And that is to the credit of all concerned, until it comes to the point of thinking that there can only be one splendid country, namely one's own…”

Thanks, Elizabeth! May we all knit on with your curiosity, intrepidity, and joie de vivre as a model.

I leave you with a peek at some of the 31,000+ EZ-designed projects you’ll find on Ravelry. Click here to browse them in all their glory!