Knitting Onward: Elizabeth Zimmerman, Meg Swansen, and Franklin Habit

I picked up "Knits," Interweave's Knitting magazine, from Knitochet last week because I'd let my subscription lapse. I was so happy to read the article on Elizabeth Zimmerman, Meg Swanson and Schoolhouse Press, Ltd. written by Franklin Habit. I was so delighted to read about people who have done what I've been doing for years. I only bought my first Zimmerman book, "Knitting Around," about 4 years ago. I grew up in Wisconsin and never realized what a fabulous knitter we had within the state. And like usual for me, I missed her at a time it would have been so easy for me to have met her. I lived about 150 miles from her, close to Lake Michigan, but north. I moved out West when I was 22, to Wenatchee, WA for a year. Then to Seattle, where I dabbled in assorted fiber arts and started my own custom-made sweater business. I made sweaters from my own imagination and from others' imaginations, from 1974 to 1987-ish. I stopped knitting for others and sold my sweater business to another knitter when I divorced my first husband, but soon found that some of my former customers came back to me. I was divorced by 1986 and worked for Providence Hospital for a little more than a year, then to the University of WA in Seattle for 10+ years. Being a single mom was not easy and I really envied people who had the local support of loving families to support them...the few I trusted in my family, my paternal Grandmother and sister, Tracy, were still in WI and the rest, I had disbanded from when I moved out West. The relationship with my Mother changed over the last few years and when she died last October at least one fence was mended to a certain extent. The past was just that, the past, and those things do not change, but we have the chance to try to make amends now, which my mother did try to do. I was one of the lucky ones--my mother apologized to me for what she'd done way back when. It changed a lot of my feelings towards her, so she she died, I mourned not having enough time with her--the mother I got to know after she apologized.

I have been knitting on and off for years, starting when I was 6 yo. I've also been crocheting on and off since I was 8. When I remarried after 12 years of being a single mom to Alexandria, we lived for 6 years total in both Southern and Northern California after we got married--my husband and his family settled there after his father retired from the Air Force. When we moved north again, we bought a small 2.3-acre farm in Walla Walla, WA, and several handfuls of a flock of Icelandic sheep, two Finnsheep, and two alpacas. We also had Miss Lacey, a tortoiseshell Persian cat and have Bud, a dwarf Great Pyrenees, who are deceased adn 3 yo respectively. At this moment in time, I am selling out of all but 3-4 Icelandic sheep and 4 alpacas because I need more time for knitting, spinning, felting, selling at the Walla Walla farmers' market, designing new items and patterns, and teaching knitting, spinning, and toysmaking classes at the local knitting/fiber store called Knitochet (http://www.knitochet.com/ and NOTE: if you get a chance to visit the owner, Michelle Keith, at Knitochet, you will be delighted by her assortment of yarn as well as her friendly demeanor, she'd be so happy to see you and to visit with you as well as give knitting advice if you need to confer on colors or designs).

Life takes many turns and all we can do is adapt and change with them. I got tired of being confined to just the store bought yarn and so in preparation for when I would have fiber animals, I learned to spin at Rumplestiltskin's (http://www.rumpleknits.com) in Sacramento, CA. So, when we finally moved to Walla Walla, I was ready for my fiber animals. I decided on sheep and alpacas, which turned out to be a wonderful direction for me to go seeing I'm allergic to rabbits. I can spin the kind of yarns I want to be able to use for knitting and crocheting. I'm planning to learn to weave when I get more time, but it may be a while. I already have my table loom, so it's a matter of finding a good teacher and I know some wonderful weavers here in Walla Walla. So, weaving will be something I'll be able to do soon enough.

For the present, I'll sell my items and yarn at the Farmers' Market, some of my yarn from Knitochet, and also from my farm. In the winter, when the market is over in October, I sell from my foyer "store" in my home, until the Market opens again in May. As I've mentioned before, I have Icelandic wool, Icelandic/Finn wool, Alpaca, Alpaca/wool blends, and various other fiber I've bought locally and spun into yarn. Alpaca always seems to be the first I sell out of in terms of yarn, but I have silver grey, rose grey, cinnamon, black Huacaya as well as white Huacaya and Suri. I process all the fleeces myself, then hand spin them, so it takes me a lot of time to get them finished. I finish one fleece at a time and if I dye any of them, it takes a bit longer. I have Romney (I sold my Romney ram last year), Finn, 3 shades of Icelandic, white Finn, Green Merino/nylon blend (sold my nylons last year--lol-- they were just too wild, but I will probably buy it from Paradise Fibers -- http://www.paradisefibers.net/ -- in Spokane, WA).

When I look back on my almost 54 years of doing fiber arts (I learned to embroider when I was 4 to create a bib for my forthcoming baby sister), I am amazed by what I've learned and am still learning. I picked up a DVD on Portuguese Knitting which I've been watching and putting into practice. I hope that once I've learned it, it will increase the speed of knitting I do now. I enjoy being able to design and knit/crochet patterns, but it all takes time. I figure if I can increase my speed, it will help me do even more. I haven't had any problems with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and hopefully will not have, so I will be able to knit and crochet the rest of my life. I do gentle stretching of my hands, wrists, and arms for range of motion (ROM), so that will help me be able to continue doing fiber arts. I enjoy working on a knitting machine, and on knitting looms, I've tried many other types of needle work: double pointed crochet hooks, dpns, circular needles, needlepoint, cross stitch, crewel emboidery, beading, punch felting, regular felting, fulling, etc.--but other than pot holders looms or trivets looms, I haven't used any larger looms for my crafts, but I am waiting to begin weaving as well. If I don't caretake so many animals, I will most likely find the time... It is my belief that we will not grow old if we continue to learn at least one new thing every single day...and I intend to make sure I don't grow old. ;^D I also believe that we will always go back to the things we love doing, even if we don't always stick with it all the time. ALL fiber artists, which is what we all are when we knit, crochet, or work with textiles or fibers, will always have at least 3-10 projects going at any one time. We finish 1-3, but start at least that many more. I think if we finally do finish all our WIPs (works in progress), it is time for us to move on to another life...so we will all live forever in our projects--forever remembers, just like Elizabeth Zimmerman...."Knitting Onward."

I enjoyed the article by Mr. Habit in Interweave Knits magazine, and hope to read his book called "It Itches" which will be put out by the same magazine.

Take care,
Jet