Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot; born June 14, 1968) is a writer, knitter, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and

doula A doula () is a trained professional who provides expert guidance for the service of others and who supports another person (the doula's client) through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion o ...

living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada.

Life

Pearl-McPhee's grandmother, a professional knitter, taught her to knit when she was four years old. She has three daughters, one grandson and one granddaughter, and a granddaughter who died as a baby. Her husband, Joe, is a record producer.

Work

Pearl-McPhee has contributed articles and patterns to

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

magazines such as Cast On, Interweave Knits, Knitty, Stranded, and Spin-Off. She also contributed a chapter to the book ''Knitlit Too''. In addition, she has written eight books on knitting. She has been described as a knitting humourist. One of Pearl-McPhee's best known works is her blog, which also carries the moniker "The Yarn Harlot". In 2004, she founded ''Tricoteuses sans Frontières'' (Knitters without Borders), a group dedicated to raising money for the non-profit

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

(

Doctors without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

). As of the 6th anniversary of Pearl-McPhee's blog (January 2010), they have contributed over $1,000,000

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

to MSF/DWB. Pearl-McPhee has protested against cuts to library services. In 2006, she started the 2006 Knitting Olympics, a competition for knitters to start and finish one challenging project during the timeframe of the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

. Over 4,000 knitters worldwide participated. Pearl-McPhee often makes personal appearances at conventions, book stores and other craft-related events where she shares her view of life and knitting with fellow crafters. Pearl-McPhee originated the word ''kinnear'' on August 2, 2007, on her blog. Now cited in the

Urban Dictionary ''Urban Dictionary'' is a crowdsourced English-language online dictionary for slang words and phrases. The website was founded in 1999 by Aaron Peckham. Originally, ''Urban Dictionary'' was intended as a dictionary of slang or cultural words ...

and in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

' 2007 Word in Review, it is defined as "kinnear v. To take a candid photograph surreptitiously, especially by holding the camera low and out of the line of sight." Kinnearing was originated when she attempted to take a picture of

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...

at an airport while on her way to Boston, MA. When Kinnear learned of this, he started to try kinnearing others, including his ''

Flash of Genius In United States patent law, the flash of genius doctrine was a test for patentability used by the United States Federal Courts for just over a decade, beginning circa 1940. Origin The doctrine was formalized by the Supreme Court's opinion in '' ...

'' costar,

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war co ...

. He showed his attempts on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'', where, in the same interview, he declared that Pearl-McPhee is "the

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

of knitting."

Books

*''Knitlit Too'' (contributor), 2004, * ''Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter'', 2005, *''At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much'', 2005, *''Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks'', 2006, *''Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting'', 2007, *''Things I Learned from Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not)'', 2008, * ''Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again'', 2008, *''All Wound Up'', 2011,

References

External links

The Yarn Harlot (blog)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl-Mcphee, Stephanie 1968 births Living people Canadian bloggers Canadian humorists Canadian women non-fiction writers Writers from Toronto People in knitting Canadian women bloggers Women humorists