Seamless Hybrid

September 2010

The only way to truly appreciate the god-like genius of Elizabeth Zimmermann is to make one of her garments for yourself. And then another. And another. And another...

I mean, just look at this. Look at the way the stitches running horizontally across the body joint the ones running vertically across the shoulders. It looks like a seam, but it's not, it's two separate pieces being joined together with slip-slip-knits and purl2togs. It's something very difficult to visualise until you come to do it, and at that point if you're not taking your metaphorical hat off to Elizabeth Zimmermann as you go, you're probably doing it wrong.

The only caveat really is that Elizabeth Zimmermann's directions are always a little on the informal and minimalist side, so unless you have a bit of experience or are especially daring, it could be easy to end up feeling a bit lost.

For this sweater, she gives detailed instructions for one size and one gauge only, and if you're intending to depart from either you will need to get the calculator out. In fairness her style is very sensible and encouraging, but as others have pointed out, she writes recipes rather than patterns.

Having said that, this was designed in the 1970s, and it's still hard to find a more appealing or well fitting design for a man's sweater. We used some Cascade 200 Heathers in a dark olive green with acid green almost mustardy heathery bits. It's beautiful. And since this project used about 6.5 hanks, the overall cost was in the region of £33.00.

The waistband and cuffs are lined with a pale grey shade of Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino Aran, as I had half a skein of it going begging. The neckband is a simple 1 inch of 1x1 ribbing cast off tubularly. There's a full write up of the technical bits and bobs on my ravelry page, although as this is a custom-fit, how useful it will be remains to be seen.

Pattern: Seamless Hybrid with Shirt Collar by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers

Amount: 6.5 skeins

Colourway: 9448 Green

Needles: 4.00mm

Size: Custom (approx. 46" chest)

On ravelry: here