Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
{{BLP primary sources|date=December 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
| image = Yarnharlot.png
| caption = Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at Maker Faire (San Mateo, 2008)
| birth_name = Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|6|14}}{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
| penname = The Yarn Harlot
| occupation = Writer, knitting teacher, blogger, doula
}}
Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee, also known as the Yarn Harlot (born June 14, 1968) is a writer, knitter, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and doula living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Life
Pearl-McPhee's grandmother, a professional knitter, taught her to knit when she was four years old.{{cite news|last1=Cunningham|first1=Greta|title=The 'yarn harlot' leads a knitting revolution|url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2008/05/13/harlot|accessdate=28 April 2016|work=Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)|date=13 May 2008}}{{cite journal |title=Chatting with Knitting's New Guard |journal=Vogue Knitting |date=2007 |volume=2007 |issue=Fall |pages=86–103}} She has three daughters.{{cite web |title=The Proust Questionnaire, with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee |url=https://open-book.ca/News/The-Proust-Questionnaire-with-Stephanie-Pearl-McPhee |website=Open Book |access-date=6 May 2023 |date=22 November 2011}} Her husband, Joe, is a record producer.{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Cathal |title=Let's hear it for Kinnearing |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2009/03/10/lets_hear_it_for_kinnearing.html |accessdate=29 October 2018 |work=The Star |date=10 March 2009}}
Work
File:Knitters Without Borders.jpg
Pearl-McPhee has written eight books on knitting. She has contributed articles and patterns to knitting magazines such as Cast On, Interweave Knits, Knitty, Stranded, and Spin-Off. She contributed a chapter to the book Knitlit Too. Pearl-McPhee has said that she started writing about knitting when she lost her hospital job "support[ing] birth and breast-feeding" because of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak among healthcare workers. She has been described as a knitting humourist, and has called her own writing "knitting humor".{{cite news |last1=Mercier |first1=Stephanie |title=What's so funny about wool? |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/whats-so-funny-about-wool-knitting-humourist-stephanie-pearl-mcphee-1.3787729 |accessdate=29 October 2018 |publisher=CBC |date=2 Oct 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Pearl McPhee |first1=Stephanie |title=Why I Write: Stephanie Pearl McPhee |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/43947-why-i-write-stephanie-pearl-mcphee.html |access-date=6 May 2023 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=26 July 2010}} She has said of her writing "I believe knitting is a transformative and intriguing act that can change the life and brain of the person doing it, and that knitting is a perfect metaphor for life and insight into some better ways through it".
Pearl-McPhee is known for her blog, "The Yarn Harlot".{{cite news |last1=Ruiz |first1=Amy J |title=Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/books/2007/06/07/339388/stephanie-pearl-mcphee-casts-off |access-date=6 May 2023 |work=Portland Mercury |date=7 June 2007}}{{cite news |title=Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the 'yarn harlot,' spins into A Real Bookstore on Monday |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/2011/10/21/stephanie-pearl-mcphee-the-yarn-harlot-spins-into-a-real-bookstore-on-monday |access-date=6 May 2023 |work=The Dallas Morning News |date=21 October 2011}} In 2004, she founded Tricoteuses sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders), a group dedicated to raising money for the non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). As of the 6th anniversary of Pearl-McPhee's blog (January 2010), they have contributed over $1,000,000 CAD to MSF/DWB.[http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2010/01/23/six.html Yarn Harlot: six]
Pearl-McPhee has protested against cuts to library services.{{cite news |last1=Alcoba |first1=Natalie |title=Celebrity knitter and best-selling author Stephanie Pearl-McPhee cheers on striking library workers |url=https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/celebrit-kitter-and-best-selling-author-stephanie-pearl-mcphee-cheers-on-striking-library-workers |accessdate=29 October 2018 |work=National Post |date=28 March 2012}}
In 2006, she started the Knitting Olympics, a competition for knitters to start and finish one challenging project during the timeframe of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Over 4,000 knitters worldwide participated.
Pearl-McPhee originated the word kinnear on August 2, 2007, on her blog.[http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/08/02/i_was_kinnearing.html Yarn Harlot: I was Kinnearing] Now cited in the Urban Dictionary and in The New York Times' 2007 Word in Review,{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/weekinreview/23buzzwords.html | work=The New York Times | first=Grant | last=Barrett | title=All We Are Saying | date=December 23, 2007}} 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 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 costar, Alan Alda.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/|title = Flash of Genius (2008) - IMDb| website=IMDb }} He showed his attempts on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where, in the same interview, he declared that Pearl-McPhee is "the Michael Jordan of knitting."
Books
- Knitlit Too (contributor), 2004, {{ISBN|1400051495}}
- Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter, 2005, {{ISBN|0740750372}}
- At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much, 2005, {{ISBN|1580175899}}
- Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks, 2006, {{ISBN|1580178340}}
- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting, 2007, {{ISBN|9781580176583}}
- Things I Learned from Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not), 2008, {{ISBN|9781603420624}}
- Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, 2008, {{ISBN|0740769472}}
- All Wound Up, 2011, {{ISBN|0740797573}}
- The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes: Stories of Tidiness, Self-Esteem and Other Things I Gave Up On, 2014, {{ISBN|1449437087}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.yarnharlot.ca/ The Yarn Harlot (blog)]
- [http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/tsffaq.html Tricoteuses sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders)]
- [http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html 2006 Knitting Olympics Participants]
- {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20121224100856/http://www.iknit.org.uk/iknitday.html I Knit Day 2008]}}
- [http://www.knittersreview.com/things-i-learned-from-knitting-whether-i-wanted-to-or-not-by-stephanie-pearl-mcphee Review of Things I Learned from Knitting: …whether I wanted to or not by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee]
- [https://libwww.freelibrary.org/podcast/episode/103 Stephanie Pearl-McPhee {{!}} Things I Learned from Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not)] (talk)
- [https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/stephanie-pearl-mcphee-a-superpretentious-literary-examination Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: a superpretentious literary examination] at Modern Daily Knitting
{{Knitting}}
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Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers