Synchronicity

One of the aspects of knitting I have loved from the start is the sense of connection I feel whenever I pick up my needles.  Just as the strands of yarn loop together, the act of knitting connects me to other knitters across time and over space.  Whenever I feel the excitement of casting on stitches, or the satisfaction of binding off, I know that knitters from different generations, as well as from around the world, have felt the same awe that such simple actions result in such beautiful and functional items.

I am treasuring that feeling this morning. 
As I often do on quiet Sunday mornings, I prepared to catch up on reading other knitting blogs by gathering my knitting, a laptop, and a cup of coffee to bring into the living room.  As I sipped my coffee, the alphabetical list in my Blogger dashboard sent me first to "3 Sleeves to the Wind".  I have thoroughly enjoyed this blog ever since I admired one of the author's designs on Ravelry.  Her latest post includes photos of beautiful Fall colors in the Colorado mountains.  When I saw the green pines, golden Aspen leaves, and sagebrush, I was immediately reminded of one of the finished Fair Isle totes from the our recent wonderful weekend class.  Here is the tote knit by Betsy (our friend who planned the coastal weekend knitting retreat):

  When I was first struck by the similarities between Betsy's chosen yarn colors, and the green and gold trees in the 3 Sleeves to the Wind post, I thought I would just email a link to Betsy.  However, as I read on, I followed a link to "Meg Swansen's Aspen-yoke Sweater".  One click took me to a pattern page from the Schoolhouse Press.  (The Schoolhouse Press was founded by the late Elizabeth Zimmermann, and it continues on under the guidance of her daughter Meg Swansen.)  I couldn't believe my eyes as I scrolled down the pattern page and spotted a pattern for Elizabeth Zimmerman's Green Sweater!

During our fabulous Fair Isle weekend one of our many conversations (enjoyed over our knitting, and wine or tea depending on the time of day) focused on the famous EZ.  It turns out that Crystal Dobbs, who taught our class (multi-talented woman that she is: knitter, dyer, weaver, designer, and owner of Boll Weaver Yarns) also possesses a wealth of knowledge about Elizabeth Zimmerman.  The conversation reminded me of the rediscovered Green Sweater.  It was almost exactly a year ago that the tale of the Green Sweater appeared in the Twist Collective and photos of the original green sweater appeared on the Brooklyn Tweed blog.  I lamented that none of the articles expressly mentioned if and when a pattern for the rediscovered Green Sweater would ever be published, but I renewed my resolve to find out.
  How timely and appropriate, that I just happen to stumble across exactly what I was hoping to find when reading a blog post. . . a blog post which I had already decided to show to my knitting group as it reminded me so strongly of Betsy's Fair Isle tote and our wonderful knitting weekend.   I suppose I could have just checked the Schoolhouse Press website all along, but I like it better this way!

Links:
Read more about our Fair Isle knitting weekend here.
See photos of the Green Sweater at Brooklyn Tweed.
Read "The Tale of the Green Sweater" here.
Read "Channeling Elizabeth: Recreating a Family Heirloom" here.
Find the pattern for the Green Sweater at the Schoolhouse Press (scroll down).

[Edited to add:  In the spirit of feeling connected to other knitters around the world, I've added a flag counter to my blog page.]