Popular knitter and writer — and Lion Brand customers’ favorite blogger — Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will be our special guest on our 4th episode, which will be available at LionBrand.com starting November 27th. She’s the author of four extremely popular books and writes the blog, Yarn Harlot.
Stephanie will be answering YOUR questions, so leave a question here on the blog, e-mail us at yarncraft [at] lionbrand [dot] com by November 18th and YOUR question could be in the podcast!
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November 9th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I joined a prayer shawl ministry August 2006, where I learned to knit. I have taught myself most of the stitches, and the latest thing I am proud of is mastering cables. Now I am tired of doing just shawls, scarves, and other flat stuff. I would love to do something like socks, hats, or sweaters. What do you suggest I start with, and where is the best place to learn?
November 10th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I’d like to know if you consider yourself more of a product knitter or a process knitter? I’m very curious what people knit and why they choose the projects they have on their needles.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I am a lifelong crocheter and recently have decided to learn how to knit. I’ve tried a few times and put the needles down and just go back to what I know. Now I’m trying again. Do you think it would be easier to learn with large needles? If not what size would you recommend?
November 10th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I really like the modular squares I see in knitting magazines. Is there a similar pattern for crochet?
November 10th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I listened to the last several Podcasts for the first time even tho I have been a Lion Brand customer for a very long time. The episodes were interesting and it will be especially great for all the newer and younger knitters that are just finding out the wonderful truths we older knitters have known for far longer-the obvious outlet for creativity but also the quiet release and that yarn promotes and the way it brings together people that would never otherwise connect! Good job!
November 10th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
I have some older yarn that has been living in the attic in an old blanket/bedspread plastic storage bag. The yarn is quite clean, but does smell a little dusty. What can I do to get rid of the dusty smell?
November 10th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Did you ever think you’d ‘grow up’ (yes those are air quotes) and have other grown women throw underwear at you?
Seriously, what did you want to be when you grew up?
November 12th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Stephanie, when you begsn to write professionally about knitting, how did you resist assuming the nom de plume of Stephanie Purl-McPhee?
November 12th, 2007 at 1:42 am
English (throwing), Continental (picking or German), Portuguese, and the heretic Combination…there are so many types of knitting, but why all of the fuss between which is “better”? Just as there is more than one way to decrease, shouldn’t we have more than one way to knit?
What are your thoughts on the aforementioned ways to knit, and what “style” would your way of knitting most closely fit?
November 12th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I love your Podcast and Blog! I have a fear of tying knitting in the round even though I have knitted some advanced items. I hope you consider touching on this technique soon - I am missing out on some great projects!
November 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Question for Stephanie:
Of all of your books, I especially love your “Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much.” Each time I look at it, I notice something new or something that reaches out to me in a new way. Do you feel that way with any of your books? Also, which of your books that you’ve written do you feel the most connected to (or simply is your favorite)?
November 15th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
So….how much of your Christmas knitting is done?
November 15th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Stephanie, what would you consider your favorite pattern of all time and why?
November 15th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
What was the final result concerning the woman in the pink underwear who nearly ran into you that day? Do you still see her? Did you find out why people from a news show were at her door?
November 15th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
As cheesy as this is going to sound, can you comment on how knitting affects your world view? Knitting seems to naturally promote generosity, community, hope and peace. Should we require our world leaders to learn to knit?
November 15th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Two things:
I love you rblog
and
who do you look up to in the knititng world and why?
November 15th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I would really like to know how you can knit while being on the phone? Do you have a special hands free phone - or how do you do it?
November 15th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Stephanie,
I often wonder if you catalog everything you knit on the blog…or are there things (some of Joe’s socks maybe?) that don’t rate the blog?
–Melissa
November 15th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
I would love to knit a pair of socks, but I’m seriously intimidated by the DPNs. I’ve heard of knitting socks on two circulars, which seems less scary. Have you tried it? Is this technique suited to a near beginner? What are the pros and cons of each method? Maybe socks are just something for more advanced knitters, but you make them sound so very appealing and I’m dying to try my hand at it. Thanks!
–Erynn
November 15th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
what is the worst (either ugliest/scratchiest/ worst use of fiber in a skein) and best yarn in your stash? And did Megan really steal the blue yarn from the other day’s post? She really redirected you away from the issue pretty well…
November 15th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
So I’m a beginning knitter, and I’ve knitted scarves, scarves, and scarves. I have almost filled my closet (and my kids’ closets) with scarves. I have also conquered an entrelac scarf (go, me!), and I am starting to think there might be something else to knit that isn’t a scarf. But scarves are safe because they don’t come in sizes. So what would you recommend that’s simple enough to actually do, but that will be a (little) challenge, too ?
November 15th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
hi Stephanie,
Do you have Sable?
November 15th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Question for Stephanie- Am looking for suggestions on how to secure a sock in progress on dpn for traveling. I have tried the little rubber thingys on each needle and they are hard to keep track of. rubber banding the needles sometimes works…
.Thank you
November 15th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Stranded on a desert island, what knitting reference book would be imperative?
November 15th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I’m a new knitter. I’m about to lose my mind trying to turn a heel on a sock on double points. What is the easiest way to do this? I know there are many great sock knitting books out there, but I tend to learn better with picture by picture and/or video tutorials. Are you aware of a good tutorial or have you already written one that I haven’t found?
November 15th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
So, Stephanie, when are you coming to the UK on a book tour? And in particular, to Edinburgh? We have good cake and great babies here too you know!
November 15th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
How did you get started as a writer? Were you writing before you began your blog?
November 15th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
What is the best thing to use to block items? I mean other than buying those expensive blocking boards… any homemade simple ideas?
November 15th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Cut and pasted from your blog comments, when it should have been over here in the first place, sorry… A question, then: you’ve mentioned about boiling a fleece to get it clean. Having been told by my spinning teacher that the yolk in a fleece stains it forever, and that the lanolin does over time if you don’t process the whole fleece oh my goodness right the very moment they shear it…ahem…is there a way that a bit of water and excessive heat, then, could de-yellowify the two-year-old fleece crammed in the back of my closet? Does it matter that it’s superfine kid mohair rather than superfine merino?
November 15th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Hi Steph!
I’ve got all of your books and ready your blog constantly. I started with The Secret Life of a Knitter and couldn’t stop. I just had a little boy in June right about the time you where in in Portland, OR on tour so I wasn’t able to waddle myself down to see you (BUMMER!) and I was thinking of a couple of your stories and my question is are you still a doula and knit for momma’s during labor and my labor was 47 hours would I have been a socks, hat, sweater? Keep on knittin!
November 15th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
With all the many, many sock yarns out there, what is your second-favorite one? We all know your love for STR, but which yarn would you reach for it all the STR were magically gone?
What would you put in a note to your family if you were given the chance to go anywhere and do anything for three days?
November 15th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I was reading your blog about ripping your yarn stashes apart looking for sock yarn…and well, How big is your yarn stash? and when is it considered too big, if ever? (I am a new knitter and have just 2 boxes of yarn, well three boxes)
November 15th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Hi Stephanie: I have a 16 year old daughter who wouldn’t knit if you gave her a private concert with Fall Out Boy. Do any of your daughters knit? How did you get them started? How old were they when you taught them? Also, what does it feel like to be famous? When you go to buy yarn do people recognize you and ask for sock pictures?
November 15th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Question for Stephanie:
Do you have any advice for a sufferer of picking-up-stitches dread? I have two projects all done except for the sewing-together/finishing step, due to the aforementioned ailment.
November 15th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
When will you be washing more fleece for the gansey?
November 15th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Questions for Stephanie:
I have most of your books, and love them, especially the Meditations for Women who Knit too Much. I saw you at the McGill bookstore in Montreal in 2006, and you were just as much fun live as you are in your books and on your blog. Good on you, girl!
I am about ready to try toe-up socks again. What toe would you recommend and why?
Also, I have started Sivia Harding’s Diamond Fantasy Shawl, and am already panicking about blocking it. Any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks
November 15th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Since the renaissance in knitting over the past several year, it seems more and more people have started (and become addicted to spinning, myself included). If this back to basics trend continues, will we all furtively be feeding the sheep we have stashed in our back yards?
November 15th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
question for stephanie -
are you being pushed, via contract, to produce more books than you otherwise would? we knitters are a patient lot and will happily wait for longer intervals between books if you need to slow down and just enjoy for a bit.
November 15th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
This is a two-parter: Part 1) do you warn a designer/yarnie/supplier/blogger when you’re about to include them or their products in a blog post so that they have advance notice of getting upsided by a whackload of knitters’ click-throughs, and Part b) how careful are you to use your (read this next part with the voice of Aladdin’s genie) *awesome cosmic powahs* only for good?
November 15th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Do you still watch “Survivor?” If so, do you still like it enough that you put down your knitting during it?
November 15th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I happened on your book, “casts off”, in the library and I loved it so much, I felt as though it was written just for me. I went and bought the others. You also opened up a whole world of knitting blogs for me, for which I thank you. And I really enjoy your blog and writing style.
I hope you don’t think I’m crazy, but I’m a very picky grammarian, and I just go nuts when “knit” is used as past tense. When did the word knitted go out of use?
November 15th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I read on your blog that you are able to knit and read at the same time. I find this quite astounding - no wonder you are able to get some much done. How did you learn to accomplish this feat?
November 15th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Hi Stephanie
Do you have a favorite yarn and stitch pattern?
November 15th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
hi! i have pretty much always known how to knit. but since falling into knit blog territory i have been overwhelmed with the hitherto unknown intricacies of the whole yarn thing, the apparent “levels” of knittyness (spinning? weaving? hand-dying!?) that exist. and i am fascinated with the question of exactly when one crosses that line from good ol’ hobby knitter to INCREDIBLE KNITTING GENIUS OF ALL THINGS!!!! so at what point do you think you made the transition??? cos i hope to get there too…. i just have a few doubts. :[
November 15th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
What is your next book about and when will it be published?
November 15th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I’d like to know if Stephanie listens to podcasts, and if so, which are her favorites?
November 15th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Stephanie,
Love your books! Question: what happens to the travelling socks when you’re done with a pair? Do you wear them or give them as gifts? Do you frame them in your living room, or do they join the collection in the rings of Saturn? Just wondering!
November 15th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Hi, Stephanie! What is your favorite thing that you have ever knit, and why is it your fave? Ditto hardest thing.
I was going to ask what was your dumbest knitting error but that might be too personal…
November 16th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Now that so many of us have stalked you to multiple book tour appearances…
Of all the people you’ve met on tour, is there any one that stands out in your memory more than the others?
And of all the places you’d never visited before, which city/region did you love the most?
November 16th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Hi Stephanie! What is the best knitted (or crocheted) gift you have ever recieved? What is the worst knitted (or crocheted) gift you have ever recieved.
I love your books and Yarn Harlot. Keep it up!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:50 am
Having kind of started in the middle of your rise to fame, as far as discovering you, I went backwards and forwards with both your books and your blog. I have followed your blog for over a year now and have read almost all of your books - getting there
Missed the chance to see you here in Cleveland. But the one thing I’ve wanted to ask is how amazed are you with how your life has gone from a knitting doula/mother, et al to a touring author/knitting humorist/guru/friend to the fiberarts community?
November 16th, 2007 at 2:17 am
As a doctor with a big interest in breastfeeding, I found your background as a lactation consultant very cool! Do you miss working with moms and babies? How long did you nurse your girls, and were you able to knit while nursing? I am not that coordinated.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:47 am
I join the ranks of “I Harlot,” frantically hitting the ‘reload’ key when the blog is busy… Adore you, want to knit like you and want to write like you. Now, about the question…
I get it that you’ve been knitting for a long time, and I get it that you are a fast knitter (possibly related to the ‘knitting for a while’ thing, ya think?). What I don’t get is how you can knit fast *and* keep track of where you are in patterns. I can make my way through a stockinette sweater fairly quickly, but would die of boredom; knitting it in an interesting pattern is much more fun, but I would have to do it in one fell swoop so I didn’t lose track of where I was. How do you keep track of colors/stitches/rows so well when you knit in 3-5 minute increments of ‘found time’?
- Meg
November 16th, 2007 at 5:37 am
What do you do with all those washcloths you are given while on tour? Are they stacked up in the house, soundproofing Joe’s sound equipment? I worry about them taking up valuable stash space.
And when are you going to do a world tour? Think of the blog fodder!
November 16th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Is there some knitting technique you have never tried that you really, secretly want to try?
November 16th, 2007 at 8:04 am
I don’t think this will ever get to you, Steph but just in case. . .I have been knitting for 50 years and always using the ‘throw’ method. I have always done two color knitting with this method. I was inspired by your beautiful stranded mittens to make a pair of gloves and decided that I would try to teach myself the coninental method. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I have tried to stay with it. Any tricks? I am frustrated that it doesn’t get any smoother or quicker any faster.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Am I the only one or is it taboo to talk about? I have looked for the answer everywhere to no avail.
Why when I join knitting in the round, does it not join evenly no matter what I do? If I look at the cast on row of said knitting there is always a funky spot where it was joined, kind of like a little dip, or otherwise uneven place.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:50 am
This is the obligatory question (which you’ve promised to ignore): So . . . what about the gansey? ^_^
November 16th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Hi Stephanie,
I read your blog regularly and I am in awe of the ever-increasing total for Knitters Without Borders (now well over $250,000). To what do you attribute this stunning success? Do you think that knitting just attracts generous people, or is there something about knitting (maybe wool fumes?) that inspires generosity?
November 16th, 2007 at 10:48 am
How do you knit so fast?!? For the love of wool, please tell us.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Been wanting to know - Is Ken the knitting blog master the same crafty scoundrel that tricked you into knitting those freakin birds?
November 16th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Do you ever feel the pressure to be “on” or should I say “funny” whenever you are around other knitters? Do you wonder if you will freeze up and say the most mundane thing while they are waiting around for you say something that will cause to roll on the floor, clutching their knitting needles and howl? Do you have take stress meds or did I just cause you to go down that path?
November 16th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Question for Stephanie:
With so many projects “in work” how do you decide which one gets finished first/next???
November 16th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
As a knitter of many years, your blog is so fun and interesting. My question regards grafting the toe of socks on #2 needles - my ole eyes have trouble getting this to look right any suggestions
November 17th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
mwahahahaha…Quiara beat me to it… the gansey question which will be ignored…
November 17th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
For Stephanie,
I have been knitting for about 50 years, but you have introduced me to a whole new world of knitting. THANK YOU!
I have been asked to teach a class on knitting socks! I have never done this, any suggestions on good reference materials to help get me prepared?
November 18th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
What’s your favorite fiber to spin? Why? And do you like some wheels over others?
November 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
And answer and a question:
I know how to cure “join-dip!” Just exchange 1st and last stitches, pulling 1 through the other. Voila!
Question: I love knitting socks, but no matter how hard I “snug” the yarn, (even using the 2 circular needle version so it snugs up against the thin cable) there is a ladder or run up the sock at the site of where one needle begins and another ends. How do I cure this!! I’m ready to give up on socks because I can’t find anything on this–and I’ve looked in a ton of sock books!
November 18th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
You have written that we knitters would knit grass clippings with sticks if we couldn’t find yarn and needles. Let your mind go now: what fiber and tools would you knit with if they took away your needles and wool? And of course, money were no object?
November 18th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
How many pairs of socks do you knit a year, on average?
November 20th, 2007 at 1:08 am
I’ve been knitting for a few years, and feel like I’m finally getting comfortable with it, but I’m wondering if knitters ever reach the stage of not re-starting a new project several times before it really gets going. I mean like six or eight times, as I seem to discover new areas of denseness with every new thing I try - lace, a first sweater, socks… just about every single thing, every new stitch pattern - and when I asked the ladies sitting round the table at my LYS, they all just looked at me and laughed (there were fortunately no DPN punctures when they were through rolling on the floor!)
Is there hope that I will ever start a project and not frog at least 30 rows several times over before I figure it out?
November 20th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Just want to thank everyone for commenting! Please check back on Nov. 27 to find out if your comment was included in our episode!
December 5th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[...] we received, including one about Stephanie’s lightning-quick knitting on YouTube. Click here to read the rest of the [...]