Piecing Together a Knitting Community : the Legacy of Elizabeth Zimmerman

Abstract

Elizabeth Zimmerman (1910-1999) tranformed the image of knitting from domestic drudgery to an expression of beauty, intelligence, and women's comaraderie. Her belief that all knitters can design for themselves without the constraints of published and restrictive patterns revolutionized American knitting. Zimmerman began her own mail-order yarn supply business and knitting newsletters in the mid-1950s, hosted her own instructional television show and taught the first knitting camp/retreat in 1974.