New School Knitting

I generally wouldn't duplicate posts between this blog and my Knitting News site, but I'll make an exception for Elizabeth Zimerman [via].

New School Knitting: The Influence of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Schoolhouse Press
The Design Gallery - on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus
October 27 - December 17, 2006

Exhibition celebrating America’s knitting doyenne to open
UW-Madison News - October 17 2006

All knitters seem to agree: Knitting is so much more than the dropping of stitches.

Molly Greenfield learned to knit from her mother. Now a master's candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the history of costume and textiles, Greenfield says that a long broad swath of American history can be seen through this craft.

"Knitting was and is a pervasive form of creative expression for women, and also an area in which women could be designers. This exhibition is not only about the history of knitting, craft and design, but also about women's history, the rise of the women's movement in the United States, the history of immigration in America and the migration of highly educated Europeans to America during and after World War II," she says.

The exhibition to which Greenfield refers is the one she is curating on the doyenne of American knitting, Wisconsinite Elizabeth Zimmermann.

[...]"New School Knitting," composed of about 35 pieces, plus a selection of videos and other materials, will run through Sunday, Dec. 17, in the School of Human Ecology's Gallery of Design on Linden Drive. Swansen will attend the opening reception at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29, at the gallery. Greenfield will speak at 2 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session with [Meg] Swansen. [more]

Various and Sundry Knitting Links - October 22

- Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises. - Even Metafilter appreciates Elizabeth Zimmerman.

- More Zimmermania

- An opposing view.

- Lolly interviews Nancy Bush, another knitting icon.

- HOW TO - Create a Photoshop sketch using a knit swatch

- Kill those pills.

- Tempest in a Teacup? - "As you may know there has been some malicious rumours circulating in the USA suggesting that my cashmerino qualities contain no cashmere at all.On hearing about the rumours my distributors in the UK, Designer Yarns , who buy the yarn from a leading Italian manufacturer immediately started extensive retesting of all my cashmerino ranges in the UK and Italy,including DNA`tests. All conclusively confirmed the presence of cashmere in these yarns."

It's hard to know what to believe with this whole situation.

**Update**
It's not likely to put an end to the controversy, but DNA test results on Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino have been posted.

Comments

[Faith]

I love the link selection today. So juicy! It's so interesting to hear both sides of an argument. Isn't it great that we have so much diversity here in the knitting world? Who would ever imagine from the "outside"? And controversy--AH! Love it. (Probably that's not very nice, but it does make things ever so much more interesting.) =)

[gleek]

hhmmm, reading the debbie bliss thing is interesting. i never really TRULY think about the content of the yarn, just how it feels and how it knits up. the only time, for me, that the content of the yarn matters is when i'm trying to care for it! i suppose if the DB yarns didn't have cashmere but were claiming they did and charging more i would be upset. money always plays a hand in these affairs, too. it's an interesting dilemma.

[knittymama]

Great Zimmerman info today!