Knit knack: UW-Madison exhibit pays tribute to woman who moved to Wisconsin and became the 'queen of knitting'
Wisconsin State Journal - November 10 2006
When Elizabeth Zimmermann came to the U.S. from England in 1937 with her German-born, brewmaster husband, she passed the time on the ship from Southhampton to New York by knitting en route.It was just the beginning of a revolutionary journey.
Years later, Zimmermann would set up shop in Wisconsin, creating a mail-order business - and a benevolent cult following, really - that would influence the fields of textile crafts and fiber design, and the countless people who hold the patient art of knitting dear.
"She's like the queen," says Mary Jo Harris, president of the 400-member Madison Knitters' Guild. "When I think of someone who has influenced the knitting world, she is certainly No. 1 on my list."
Zimmermann and the multi-generational fruits of the knitting system she developed (not to mention her crisp and charming sense of humor) are the focus of "New School Knitting," an exhibit at the UW-Madison Gallery of Design through Dec. 17.
It's the largest show to date about a woman whom curator and UW grad student Molly Greenfield calls "truly beloved." The Oct. 29 opening drew the largest crowd in the gallery's history, close to 250 people, some of whom wore their own handmade sweaters inspired by Zimmermann's legacy. [more]
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