If you are familiar with Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ), and you definitely should know about her, you know that besides being an absolute genius knitter, she was a talented story teller.

In the Knitter’s Almanac, each month focuses on a project(s) that make sense to knit according to how EZ found herself working through the year – an aran sweater during the quiet days of January, mittens for next winter in May and, my favorite, a pi shawl for traveling in July. And, each month has a story, of course.

This is from the classic version of the Knitter’s Almanac. You could see from my cover photo that my copy is well-used. But, a Commemorative Edition came out last year.

It is a hard-bound copy that will hold up well as you tote it around with your knitting. 

You can see that some of the projects have been re-knit and the color photos are a nice update. 

You certainly don’t need to follow EZ’s schedule but I do enjoy reading the stories sequentially from January to December. These days I’m still working on the EZ Anniversary Shawl. My love for Pi shawls came from my first reading of the Knitter’s Almanac. I also learned that a sweater knit in the round can be turned into a cardigan by the simple expedient of cutting up the front and adding a buttonband. February’s baby sweater can be knit up quickly any time of year.