Have I Said Lately That Elizabeth Zimmermann Was A Genius?

Well, she was.  I'm doing her mitered mitten pattern

and you know what that little bit of white is?  It's her "thumb trick."  When you get to where you want the thumb, you take a scrap piece of yarn and knit 1/2 the number of thumb stitches with the scrap yarn, then put those stitches back onto your left needle and knit them with the main color.  When you're ready for the thumb, pull out that scrap yarn & you have the live stitches to pick up for the thumb.  NO CUTTING INVOLVED!  I have survived steeks and will eventually steek again, but it's hard to voluntarily cut one's knitting.  It's just wrong and while I know EZ would never tell me to do something that wouldn't work, let's face it--the woman was tougher than I am.  She seems to have faced steeks undaunted.  I, on the other hand, am completely daunted.  I have spent a large part of my life trying to make sure that my knitting and sharp objects never get a chance to meet, and that's a hard habit to shake.  It's like someone telling you that Velcro and lace scarves are a good match.  I mean, it's just a tough idea to accept.

My little sidekick is having sweater blocking withdrawals...

I took the sweaters away from him, but didn't have the heart to take the towel.  Since he missed most of winter last year because of the cast & rehab issues and has never been overly fond of cold anyway, but last week he would go out and sit in the snow for a bit--just long enough for some of the snow under him to melt--then when he would get up, it was so cold that the water on his little "furry breaches" would turn into icicles really quickly, and he'd come tearing into the house convinced that some bizarre ice monster was attacking his rear end.  Okay, yeah, it was seriously funny, but I think one can laugh AND feel sorry for him at the same time.  I think he'll venture outside again after the spring thaw....

Comments

tinebeest said…
that image you just painted of Theo is hilarious. We demand a video when he dares to venture outside next time!

I don't know what the fuss is with steeking. You like to knit, so if it were to go horribly wrong, all the more knitting you get to do! And you'd use up more stash, because you can't knit with spaghetti-length yarn :-D

(In a few weeks I'll cut-- erm-- steek my March of Fibres. We'll talk again then, I promise!)
December 14, 2009 at 2:44 PM
bittenbyknittin said…
I love the thumb trick! And I like those mittens, too. The image of Theo being chased my icicles on his own butt is hilarious!
December 14, 2009 at 5:54 PM
RobinH said…
EZ's trick is pure genius--and you can always do the thumb as an afterthought too (okay, it's cutting knitting, but only a little bit!).

Unfortunately, I don't have the right kind of thumb for this- the way my hands are shaped, I really need a gusset to make the mittens wider in the thumb area. So what I usually do (if I'm knitting mittens in the round) is increase up to the thumb, put two thirds of the thumb stitches on a stitch holder, and then cast on the remaining third across the gap. Requires that I pick up stitches when I knit the thumb, but it's a better fit for my hand-shape.
December 15, 2009 at 5:51 AM
Daniele said…
I am so cracking up! Poor Theo!! lol

Genius on the mitered mitten, although I know what happens when it's finished... wink wink
December 16, 2009 at 1:11 PM
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