Sunday, September 18, 2011

Barbie Surprise Jacket?

In the near future, I'm teaching a couple of classes on the fun, fascinating and sometimes frustrating Elizabeth Zimmernmann "Baby Surprise Jacket". This pattern is a wonder, and remains incredibly popular. It's fun to knit, and the resulting garment is a clever little piece of knitterly origami that, once folded, becomes a sweater.
Others - including me - have blogged about the project, and there are over 15,000 projects on Ravelry for this pattern. I would be willing to bet that this is one of the most-knit projects in recent history.

 The challenge with it is that in classic EZ style, the pattern instructions as originally given in her newsletter and books were... shall we say... casual and minimal... EZ liked a knitter to think for her- (him-) self, and so wasn't much for row-by-row instructions.

 As such, the pattern can be somewhat intimidating to a newer knitter.

 As is my wont, I've developed a mini version, to allow knitters to work through the construction in a short amount of time, to help them figure it out, and to get all their mistakes out of their system.... It was dubbed by V. as the "Barbie Surprise Jacket".

 I had a few keen knitters test out the instructions for me. One intrepid knitter, the lovely Liz, tested it out for me, and sent me this picture...
So if you've got a desk toy that needs a cardigan, I have just the class for you!

2 comments:

Liz said...

Hee hee! He's looking quite dapper and it is sweater weather here in NY.

Marilyn said...

Ohhhh I love it!! Please say we will be able to purchase the pattern.