Today marks my sixth blogiversary. (Note: that may not be a word. Don’t use it in an essay or anything.) I wrote in this space and sent it out into the world for the very first time on January 23rd, 2004 – and I still remember the thoughts I had, and it’s still what I think every time I hit post. Is there anybody out there? What happens next?
Ken gave me this blog as a present, setting it up almost immediately after I emailed him several pictures of a sweater in progress, and a lengthy explanation of why I felt about it the way I did about it, with enquiries about buttonholes. (I believe I demanded to know his position on the position I was thinking about knitting them in, but it was a long time ago.) He came back to me a while later, not with comments about my knitting, but this blog. I’ve often thought that Ken got the blog set up so that I wouldn’t send him more knitting stuff – a desperate self-protecting move in the department of diversion. Ken claims that it just seemed like I "had a lot to say about knitting" which it turns out that I sort of do. From that those first thoughts – wondering who would be on the other end of this thing, and how they would feel about it, six years later I find myself here – still thinking the same things, and still curious enough about the answer to keep doing it.
Is anybody out there? Yes. A blog is a really weird form of communication. It’s not like a conversation.. since there’s not that same back and forth, instead it’s like holding a party in your living room where only one person is allowed to talk at a time. First the writer takes a position, or tells a story, and they get that down – their whole part… and then the reader becomes the writer and vice versa, and the new writer posts their insight into the topic – also without interruption. It’s a complex way to communicate, and when I read the comments (and I read every comment on the blog) I’m frequently surprised at what resonates -and what doesn’t. In a whole great big post about a sweater, steeks, wool, seams and pattern error… I’ll make one reference to chocolate cake and the entire of the comments will go that way… and I’ll sit there stunned. Cake? You really want to talk about cake? It’s a queer risk really, sort of a writers book camp. What will happen next? The blog knows, but I don’t – and trying to figure out what direction the blog-sled will go in after I give it a push down a hill is like trying to figure out why most food-shunning two year olds will eat frozen peas. Intriguing, but hopeless. (If you have a toddler try the pea thing. I swear it’s true.)
I have thought more than once since I wrote my last blogiversary post that I am not sure anymore about the role of the blog in my world. When I started, knitting blogs were everywhere, and the community of the blog was an incredible way for knitters to get to know each other and talk about knit-community concerns and trends. Much of that has shifted I think, mostly to Ravelry and other forums like twitter, and every dog has it’s day and all that. I like that stuff and I’m glad we have it and I enjoy it – but as other ways to communicate in the knit world have sprung up, I often wonder if blogging is what it was, and if I care? There have been times too – if I’m going to be honest, over the last year that blogging has been intensely painful, and has brought frightening, scary, damaging things or people into my life, and as much as I’d like to look the other way, the truth is that another bizarre thing about blogging is that you don’t pick your audience. Anyone can read, anyone can comment, and while I’ve always thought that was one of the best parts, this year marks the first time that I have ever banned someone from the blog, and only the second time I have deleted comments from someone. (I exclude here the comments that are a sales pitch to increase my penis size, and I only delete those because I have no penis. I think that’s fair.)
I sat here last night and today, and I thought about what to write to mark this occasion, and I thought about the role of the blog in my life, which seems wise, since I’m not in charge of the role of my blog in your life. I thought about what it has been like to have it bring me hurt, and what it has been like to have it bring me tremendous happiness and healing. It turns out that even when I’m a little scared of it or when it feels like a risk, what doing this for six years has brought into my life is pretty remarkable. I have a record of my family life for that time, and posts about the children from six years ago are now an important part of our family story. In this age of digital rather than paper pictures, it also has been a great place to put images of our story, and the girls really love going through the archives, admiring the younger versions of themselves and recalling grand adventures. (Joe and I too. I love the post where we confessed that we’d finally gotten married.) Beyond that, the connections that I’ve made through this blog are just about priceless.
I have a wide net of friends that I wouldn’t have ever met without this, and even outside of the blog they have come to be relationships that have changed my life and the course of my path. Professionally too – the blog has been a good thing, and I hope I’ve earned the things that it’s brought me in that way. I like to think that the writing and the stories have been a good trade. I remember too that the times that heartbreak or grief has come into our family like it does all families – that the blog (that’s you) has left comments of support that were so kind and helpful that they made a difference. A few weeks ago in fact, a woman I have never met, heard from, or spoken with sent me an email that was so impossibly perfect and had such impeccably good timing that it was like being thrown a liferaft on a very, very rough sea. There will never be a way to thank her, or any of you for all that you’ve done for me.
So I was sitting here, typing all that mushy stuff, and trying to find words to tell you one simple thing and not being able to really get there, when Rachel H sent me her latest version of the spreadsheet where we’re adding up the tally for MSF/DWB and I started adding some too.. and then I stopped and checked the total. I stared at it. It’s something I didn’t think was possible when we started, I really didn’t, and I’m not deluded enough (yet- though I still have some kids at home) to believe that I’m responsible for this – because I’m not. Most of you would have given whether I tallied or not, whether Rachel H and Natalie tallied or not. Most of you would have given, so it’s not that I see it as my accomplishment. I see it somehow, my lovelies, as OUR accomplishment. As a profound expression of kindness, compassion, caring and concern for your fellow humans, even though some of them are probably not knitters – and I’m just – so… Proud. So proud.
$ 1 000 110
Knitters who read here, who make up this community, have donated more than one million dollars (and we aren’t finished tallying) to Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders since we began the effort in 2004. That matters. Kindness, humour, decency, yarn, passion, interest, participation in the world around us… it matters, even when it sucks sometimes, and suddenly I knew what I’d been trying to tell you I thought about all this on my 6th Blogiversary.
This blog matters to me. Thank you for making it.
Steph,
You are a rock star and your blog has now raised 1 million dollars. Wow. Your blog has always made me feel like a million bucks, but to see it is truly amazing. Thanks for all you do. Really. And truly.
Thank you for standing in principles and in love. Thank you for wooly-inspiration, for tapping into and giving the community a focal point. Thank you for reaching into yourself and sharing your perspective on how to be a human on this waterball that we all share. Thank you for going the distance and then some. I’m thrilled to be part of the blog – this is part of me, my daily me. Thank you
We love you, too.
Happy 6th Blogiversary. You willingness to share your wit and humour, knowledge, and keen eye (for both knitting and human nature) are priceless. I’m really glad that you take the time to write. There have been many a time that I have been ground down by the weariness of everyday life only to read your observations on life and remember that there is magic in this world. Thanks for sharing.
And you are totally right about the frozen peas.
thank you too, for letting me be part of your life- you have become, with your family, a very special friend, who I care about very much, and whose daily trials and tribulations I connect with. AS for the total- knitters rock!
Mary
Amazing, truly amazing what YOU did. I know you don’t think you did much of anything, but know that I and allot of others know better. A million dollars! Dude..simply amazing
As my mother always taught me to say, after being invited into someones home (or blog, or life)
“Thank you for having us”.
and thanks for being a part of our lives.
I, too, will never forget the post about Joe and you getting married: I was kind of annoyed that you weren’t revealing WHO had gotten married – some of us are a bit slow. It wasn’t til I read the comments that I realized …..
Congrats on the $$ for MSF.
I am so glad that I have the opportunity to read your blog. I really, really enjoy it and how much you tell us about your life!
Happy Blogiversary – your blog is a liferaft in MY crazy world on many a day. I am grateful that you choose to share your world with all of us.
It matters to me too. I check it every day. Your blog has changed my knitting. Knitting is a more important part of my life thanks to you. I’ve learned, learned, learned about techniques, yarn, festivals, other knitters, cool projects, and knitting humor and on and on… it’s been a joy.
Thank you for your courage to open yourself up and share. This blog is a lovely and important part of my day.
Happy blogisvery!
Happy Blogiversary! For a minute there, I was afraid you were going to stop blogging! I so would have cried. Thanks for keeping it up, despite the downside. I think I need to go fondle some yarn to calm me down now. 🙂
Congratulations! It has been a pleasure reading your blog all these years. You bring a wonderful element to the fiber arts world.
Every year I giggle because your blog and I share a birthday. 🙂 Happy Blogiversary to you and the blog, and Happy Birthday to me!
Is anybody out there? You’ve had that question answered yet again in 1,000,110 ways! I’m so glad you took the risk–and continue taking it–to ask the question and to share your knitting and other aspects of your life with us! Thanks, Stephanie!
Happy blog-day to you. And well done the knitters on the MSF score! We might have donated without you, but the pride that “we knitters gave a million bucks!” generates is fantastic, and we wouldn’t know it without your help.
I offered a MSF-karma-gift to you in an e-mail, but I guess you haven’t sifted down to it yet. Just lemme know what to do with it!
…And this blog matters to us. Thank you for making it!
Happy Blogiversary!
Wow, lot of comments from people named Mary!
I have only recently joined your group of readers and all I can say about that is that I am most assuredly the poorer for it. Although I wasn’t here for the past six years, I will be for the next six. It is a joy to have your thoughts in my life. Thank you for sharing, Stephanie.
well, mazel tov, doll…
This blog matters to me too. I don’t know you personally, and I am a knitter but not one as dedicated as you are (I’m confess I’m actually more in love with fabric and I only knit because I can’t haul my sewing machine around so easily), but your blog is one of the 3 I have been reading every day for several years. I’ve cut way down on my internet reading and random surfing, but this blog stays bookmarked on my toolbar because I enjoy it so much!
About your readers donating to KWB, my household donated to a different charity that we love, but our giving was partly inspired by what I saw here. Generosity begets more generosity! I love that good bloggers are able to have such a powerful and positive effect in this world.
Thank you for having me at your blog.
My daughter gave me one of your books for Christmas, just after I had ordered 5 more, and she didn’t know that. We both have good taste in authors.
Your blog and you have been an ongoing gift to me and a reminder of the best we humans can be.
Stephanie, your blog does matter. I picture we readers as a wide net with you at the center; somehow we feel connected by our common interest in the way you express experiences that many of us share. I’m glad to know that you, as an individual, are part of this world, and I eagerly check for your latest post. I’m also glad that you, as an organizer, are helping other individuals like me pull together and do something great–support MSF and each other. I often read a selection of the comments with interest. An I’m sure you matter to MSF. Would I have given money to support Haiti without you? Absolutely, but I don’t know that it would have been to MSF. Your recommendation took me to find out more about their work, which is of course impressive.The million dollar total is the work of many many knitters, but I suspect that each donation is little bit of tribute to you–a gift to support the world in honor of you who somehow support us all by sharing your heart every day.
Finally, if this blog was a birthday gift, then this blogiversary may be near your birthday. I celebrate your birth! Both you as an individual, and you as a leader-organizer. Thank you for sharing your point of view with us, your blog readers.
♥
All things are possible when people work together and do the right thing. You are an inspiration. thanks for being there.
Thank you for making your blog too!
Happy Blogiversary.
And, holy moly! over $1 mil? WOW!
Cheers! and congratulations. I’m glad you find it so rewarding.
Hey YarnHarlot, to be honest, I don’t know if I *would* have given to MSF/DWB without you. I’d grown disenchanted with Red Cross (USA in particular) after various news stories of proportions of donations going to whatnot. And I often found myself, in crises, wondering where I could send my money that would do “enough” good. So, when Haiti hit, and friends were asking “where should I donate, what can I do”, I knew where I was going instantly. And, well, thanks. I needed an easy place to go with that feeling otherwise I dither myself into inactivity. But instead, I gave. And I felt a little bit better.
What a wonderful post! You’re so giving, and it’s always a joy for me when you let your readers into your thoughts. I hope that – if you want to – you keep it up for another 6 years.
And also, knitters rock 🙂
Pretty effing impressive, young lady!
I’m so happy to have stumbled into this beautiful party. Thank you, Stephanie, for inviting all of us in!
Because of you, because you blog, good things have happened in the midst of a not-so-easy world. Your family stories and your travel adventures and yes, your knitting, feel like things that happened to a friend. I’m grateful to you for doing it.
Thank you Steph for inspiring me and countless others to be better knitters and people. May this year bring you cold beer and great yarn.
Thanks Steph, for being here and for sharing your laughs, your joys, and even your pains. We love you too!
CONGRATULATIONS on your 6th blogiversary!
You make a difference in my life every time I read your blog, as well…
I would also like to see a special article on KWB, on the ‘Dispatches’ newsletter we receive every month from Médecins sans Frontières; I strongly believe you and all knitters who contribute to the KWB effort deserve it!
Cheers and hugs from Toronto
Congratulations on your blogiversary! I can always count on taking away something from your posts. I’ve learned a lot of things (not only about knitting, but about Canada, and thanks for that, too!), I’ve laughed (a lot!), and I’ve cried. I’ve identified with the parenting thing. Besides all that, and in spite of the occasional rocky spots with commenters, your blog is a cornerstone for the virtual building where knitters gather from all over the world. Thanks for all you do, and thanks 1,000,110 times over for inviting us into your home!
Oh, and another thing. The last book of yours, that I went to the signing for at Third Place Books, and I realized, while standing in line (not having read the book yet) that I wanted you to sign it to my mother. Which you did, most graciously. Of course, I read it before giving it to her (as is the custom in my family, all gift books need a reading by the giver first). And I realized that I’d been entirely correct that the book was for her. So, I finally got it to her this Xmas (long story, which I won’t go into, as this is long enough already). And she ended up reading it while she was sick in the hospital (kidney stone, she’s all better now). 3000 miles away from me so I couldn’t visit. But, well, I got to be there a little bit, with your well-written essays to represent me. Thanks.
I would have given some money, but your essay on thinking about what I spend daily/weekly on discretionary items, then thinking about the global poverty levels has made me contribute more. Not just to MSF, but to our local food bank, and I was inspired to set up an “adopt a family” collection in the lab I managed last Christmas.
Also, what was that about cake?
Thank YOU for making it, because it’s brought me a lot of insights over six years. And not just knitting ones.
I started reading at the famous Valentine’s Day post, printed it out and read it to anyone who would listen, and then started reading backwards to the beginning. I’ve loved it all.
Happy anniversary!
I know my life is better because of the knitting blogiverse – and you were the one who pulled me into this crazy world – and, you know, I think the world is better because we knitters have banded together. Seriously, I really think so. Or maybe it’s just that it’s easier to have hope when the kindness and generosity and downright niceness of so many people is made so plain every day on our blogs, on Rav, everywhere on the Internet.
As I type this, I’m wearing a gansey I knit about 15 years ago, of good, hearty New England Bartlett wool. Most of it is stockinette – knit one row, purl one row, knit one row, till I went stir crazy (yes, I still remember). And yet all those little stitches, added one by one, by one, by freakin’ one, made a sweater, a good sweater I still wear a lot. Your writing and your leadership (oh, shut up, you are too a leader. Or at least a role model, of the best beer-drinking, yarn-hoarding sort) has built this community of knitters one day at a time, word after word, day after day, year after year. You do good work, Steph, and we are so very proud of you.
Congratulations!
Both on the anniversary of your blog and on the generousity of knitters donating to MSF with your encouragement! Eight years – WOW! Over a million bucks – even bigger WOW!
You’re an amazing woman, Steph, and I’m so pleased that you choose to share part of your life and passions with us.
Happy Anniversary to you and all your readers and the million plus is AMAZING. I’m completely in love with all knitters right now. Again.
Wow! 6 years! I’ve been reading, for, oh, maybe 5? Or 4. I started when I got your “Meditations…” book as a gift. I confess in this era of blogging, I read only one on a regular basis: yours. I have friends who have blogs, family even, and I don’t check them daily like I check yours. And $1,000,000! Wow! I had heard of MSF before I started reading your blog, but I never donated to them until you began KWB, so yeah, the money I’ve given, may not have been if it wasn’t for you! Now go eat some cake!
Thanks for being here. I also think it is worth it, and follow the blog on a regular basis. What you say here does not fit neatly into 140 characters.
The older ones like frozen grapes.
Whoops! I jumped ahead two years – SIX, not eight. 🙂
Because of you I have laughed, cried, learned to knit socks, been in awe of what technology can prompt people to do, and basically just loved being able to come here and “listen” to your stories. Thanks so much for sharing them!!
A thank you right back at you, I have you to thank for opening up the knitting world for me, I had knit years ago and then put it down, cross stitch held my interest for over 25 years. I had just started knitting again when somewhere on the internet I spotted where you were going to be speaking and book signing in North Hampton, MA at WEBS. I had just picked up your first book. My friend and I decided to go and we were floored, a theater full of knitters, a store with a book signing line a mile long! Now we both belong to a Knitting Guild, a weekly knitting group, many knitting blogs, Ravelry and have more patterns and yarn than we will ever use.
My life has been enriched with new friends, new places to go and a satisfying, calming and productive addition to my days. Thank you again for sharing your life and your knitting world with me, and broadening mine.
Stephanie: I’ve never posted a comment, but I read your blog almost daily and have enjoyed countless laugh-out-loud moments at my desk. I’m sad to read when things are troublesome, I’m glad to read whenever there’s a photo of knitting-in-progress, I’m (almost) as proud as you when challenges are overcome by Harlot & Family but mostly I’m forever astounded at how brave you have been to share so much of yourself with the world at large. Your books got me started and the interesting perspective – you and all the blog comments – keep me coming back here for more!
Happy blogiversary! Thank you for sharing so much of your life with us.
Sometimes when I’m out in the world and I see something knitted, I think “Gosh, I bet Stephanie would like that!” and then be embarassed because I don’t know you and never will, except vicariously through this blog.
Thanks for making me laugh! HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!
Thank you, Stephanie, and congratulations on your blogiversary!
I laugh and cry with you through your blog. You are an intelligent, self-searching, and loving woman. (Aren’t you amazed at the kind of man it takes to commit to a woman like that?) I think we have lots in common, though a generation apart.
You, however, are much more articulate a writer than I am. I “get” you. You mirror so much of me and help me feel okay.
Thank you.
Everyday I check your blog. I love the way you write and the way you see life and the way you make me laugh. I know it is sometimes a lot of work and I felt bad for you around Christmas when someone you cared for had something happen to her/him, and you kept on blogging when you probably didn’t feel like it. Your words and your positive attitude about life, people, and knitting have brought over a million dollars to the Doctors without Borders. Man you have to feel like you have made a difference in this world!!!! I can hardly stand to look at the Haiti situation and here you have gone and DONE something constructive. Please keep blogging, Stephanie. I so enjoy “your company”.
This blog has been a highlight since I first discovered it (and then went back and read through the archives). Thank you for persisting in blogging through it all – the good, the bad, the ugly.
Balancing family, work and recreation (and where does the blog fall in all of that?!) and maintaining a sense of humour about it all is so impressive. And inspirational.
CAKE!
On a more serious note… I think perhaps there is at least one or two more readers out there like me who often are so gobsmacked by your clear, interesting, humorous writing about steeks and wool and pattern errors that we feel like we want to contribute to the conversation, but are at a loss. So the brain cells go, “Cake! I can talk about cake! I’ll talk about cake!” And thus, we make a comment about cake rather than steeks. Or maybe I’m the only one whose brain functions bizarrely.
All this to say, thanks for being there and may you have a very happy blogiversary!
My husband has started taking an interest in my “crazy blog people”.. when I laugh at the laptop he’ll ask “is it the knitting blog or the scientist blog”? and often it will be you. I hope that you will always get as much from the blog as you give to it, for we certainly appreciate every word.
Reaching over $1 million is so incredibly, amazingly awesome, and I believe you do have a lot to do with it. Yes, I would have donated to some sort of Haiti relief effort no matter what, but your encouragement through the blog gave me somewhere to direct my efforts, and gave me an incredible sense of belonging with all these other wonderful knitters. I think that’s something your blog gives; a sense of community, of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. I’m a recent convert to your blog, and I absolutely love every entry you write, whether it’s about knitting or washing machines or cake or family. Although I have never met you, I feel like I know you, at least a little bit. Thanks for all your efforts and especially for your blog. It’s a little ray of sunshine in my day.
Happy Blogiversary, Stephanie! Thanks so much for all you’ve done for us too. If it weren’t for you, my knitting wouldn’t be where it is today and I also wouldn’t have the online friends I do because of hearing you speak at Webs about Ravelry. Talk about life changing. So yeah, we love you too!!
Clearly the contributions of KWBs to MSF is a great example of the good outweighing the bad. Congratulations on your blogiversary and thanks for sharing.
Steph, your blog is one of the things that makes me smile, even on the most horrible of days. I look forward to your posts like I’d look forward to an e-mail from a faraway friend.
You do so much good, for so many people, in so many ways. Not just the whole MSF/KWB thing, you just make me (and lots of other people, I’m sure) feel like there is more good in the world because you are in it.
We may never have met. We may never meet. But if we ever do – I’m buying you beer. Lots of beer. OK?
{ hugs }
Brought tears to my eyes, your blog made we want to try it. Mine is much smaller but has broadened my world & I thank you. Changes in my life may bring a temproray suspension (special oppurtunities for our kids sometimes force us to make a choice).
The peas are an absolute fact!
And thank you, Stephanie, for brightening my life and RSS feed with your blog all these years. 🙂
Keep on truckin’, friend.
in a word, or two: holy crap.
Good to read you, always!
A very happy Blogiversary to you! I can’t begin to tell you how tremendously much I admire you. Not just for your mad knitting skills or your ability to write books and organize events that make so many people happy (though that stuff is pretty darned nifty, too). You’ve been able to put yourself out into the world — to “boldly go,” as you and Mr. Roddenberry would say — and still hold on to your obvious fondness for people in general, and that amazes and inspires me.
Congratulations on this latest milestone, and best wishes for many more to come.
Thank you for everything you’ve done, both for MSF and for knitting/blogging. I’ve been a fan for at least three years now, and you’ve challenged and inspired me in a lot of ways.
Stephanie,
I love your blog almost as much as I love your books. I look forward to reading you insights into knitting, life, Canadian politics and everything else. I don’t think I’ve ever read a boring post here. I have laughed and cried along with you for over 2 years now. I know I would be crushed if you stopped writing here. Their are many of us out here in the blog that really, truly feel like you are family.
As far as the MSF/KWB tally goes. I am so impressed that we as a group have managed to reach such a lofty goal, and for such a wonderful organization. I wonder how long the second million will take.
Happy Blogiversary. And thank you for the humor and sense of community that you have brought into my life. Keep knitting, keep blogging, but most important, keep living. Live the life you want.
Your friends are out here cheering you on.
-Risa
I must admit I sometimes feel a bit weird reading someone’s blog, especially when it’s as personal as yours, without actually having met that person. I always enjoy seeing your designs/projects and reading your views and insights though. I’ve learned from you as well. For instance, thank-you for sharing with us about the nasty-blog-stalker- woman; I’m so naive–now I “get” cyber bulllying a bit better. Thank-you for always encouraging generosity, civility and acceptance among people. You inspire us in many ways. Thank you for welcoming us strangers into your blog. Happy Blogiversary!
hey, happy blogversary !! I think back to the first time I had found your blog and thought, finally, someone who gets it ! knitting is a way of life and I’m not the only one. So, happy day and many, many more!!
hey, happy blogversary !! I think back to the first time I had found your blog and thought, finally, someone who gets it ! knitting is a way of life and I’m not the only one. So, happy day and many, many more!!
Congratulations, Stephanie!
And thank you so much for all you do … some of which has come about because of your wonderful blog.
Go knitters for MSF!
Raises a beer, cheers, and wishes you many happy returns of the day!
CAKE! for everyone.
Dude, of course this blog matters! In a million ways (well, more than a million, now), large and small, this blog totally matters. Thanks for having us — this is one hell of a party!
Thanks for doing it- even after six years- I read it every day, look forward to it- and even found myself talking to someother knitter about it in the laundry matt today- some lady I had never met before – who was knitting a jacket as I sat knitting a sweater- and we had our knitting and this blog in common- wonderfull!
Happy Sixth Blogversary, Stephanie! And thanks to EVERYone who helped MSF reach the one millionth dollar donated! Who knows, maybe by the time you reach your 12th Blogversary we will all be celebrating the two millionth dollar donated! Congrats, and keep up the great work!
Thank you, Shephanie! It has been a pleasure to be included and I hope you choose to continue.
Thanks for posting your thoughts on yarn, fibre, the world, and just being a human being trying to do the best she can every single day. I only started reading your blog about a year ago, but your blog and books have been wonderful little slices of heaven on some really hard days. I’m so proud of all of the knitters who have donated to MSF/DWB. I teared up when I saw the new total. It reminds me that there are still some really great people in a world that can be really crappy sometimes. I’m proud to count myself among you amazing people. Thanks again and I hope to be reading for more years to come.
Huh. For some strange reason the screen went all blurry just as I got to the end of the post. Curious.
Thank you for your words. Happy blogiversary, Steph.
Congrats on your blogiversary. I love reading your blog and all the knitting ideas, the good and the ones gone wrong, the family times that help me know that others go through the same kinds of things I am going through. Thanks for the times you have made me smile and laugh especially when I needed it most.
Six years of knitterly blog wisdom and $1 000 110 for MSF! Clearly the blog is a force for good and not evil!
You’re a brave, inspiring and wonderfully insane woman. I feel so lucky for your stories to that make me laugh, think and have kept me sane (especially throughout grad school). Thank you for putting this piece of yourself out there for the rest of us!
Happy blogiversary, lamb. Whatever the blog’s given you, it’s given the knitting world a focus and a refracting mirror for our mutual joy. But I’m most grateful because when Ken gave you the blog he gave the world a good writer.
Your blog matters to me, personally, a great deal. I came to it late-6 months before Sock Summit. I found it so intriguing that I went back and read from the beginning, noting the increasing number of commenters over the years. I made thrummed mittens(30+ pairs) 4 years after you made yours. I began to knit socks. I buy yarn from Tina and from Megan. I joined Tina’s World Domination Tour. I bought your books. I have become a knitter(after a 25 year hiatus) and it’s all because you blogged. Yes, my dear Stephanie, there are the people out there who hurt you dreadfully; people who think they can advise you what to do withthe income from your own patterns; people who have the gall to ask you to divulge your difficulties in detail. But, the good and kind and generous and tactful far outnumber them as that $100,000,000.00 total attests. I didn’t set out to write a novel, but I really do want you to know from the bottom of my heart what a difference you make in all our lives. We(the BLOG) love you and wait in anticipation for each of your posts. Stepping off the soap box and backing away from the computer, Cheers and red wine, Hazel.
Thank you for your blog. It enriches my life & I always look forward to reading your posts. Inspiring & empowering. Thank you!
Thank you for this blog, Steph. I started my own blog because of you and several of my friends started blogs because of me. Ripples in a pond for which I am extremely grateful. <3 <3 <3
As one of the first bloggers I have come to “know” I value your opinions and points of view. I laugh and cry and am proud to be one of your followers.
Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
I know change has not been a favorite word lately, but look at the change you and the blog have brought about in the world–not just the large-scale like MSF, but human to human scale of how your words can be the thing someone else needs to hear, or inspire someone else to comment in a way that affects yet another reader.
Happy 6th! and keep being the change–
Laura
Dear Stephanie, I have only been reading your blog for maybe a year or so, and it makes me laugh, cry, ponder big and small parts of life and in general is a “must read” each day. You and Joe, your girls, even your appliances (RIP Sir Washie) are a part of my world now. Thank you! And while I would probably have donated for the people of Haiti, your post motivated me to donate to MSF and to donate more $$ than I would have otherwise. Congratulations on topping $1 million!!
As Sarah said, thank you for having us. I greedily check your blog everyday and feel inspired in so many different areas of life every time I do.
Hi Steph. I had a panicky moment as I read this post in which I thought you’d say your blogging time was coming to an end! If it ever does a small but very very happy moment of my day would come to an end. I love reading your blog, and hearing you always wonderful take on knitting and life. Happy blogiversary! You may not have single handedly raised a million dollars, but you inspired it. Knitters are great and you are our hero.
Whoops!! I know we’re generous, but I got carried away with the number of 0’s in my post total. That should be $1,000,000.00-NOT $100,000,000.00. Cheers and red wine, Hazel.
It has been a privilege to peek into your knitting & into the life you’ve shared blogging. Remarkable. Funny. Intense. Inspiring. Did I mention funny? Thank you!
( don’t know what URL is……)
I don’t do internet, or social networking, or (any other)blogs or techie stuff but you have given me such literate pleasure. Your anniversary is the same date as my late (and always desperately missed ) sister’s birthday; you have lifted my spirits so often I can’t tell you. Life sucks sometimes but no-life is worse, hey. Keep our spirits up. Please. And thank you for everything.
OMG. I thought for a minute you were saying goodbye. Breathe. Breathe. OK, I’m ok now.
Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Happy anniversary!
You do realize that this blog matters to us too, right? It’s hard to explain how, but…it does. I’m glad you continue to update, write, amuse, share and all that with us, your largely virtual audience.
That KSF total blows my mind. I do believe it’s evidence of the community that’s sprung up and been brought together here.
Keep on knitting!
all teary-eyed from the mushy warm fuzzies…
rock on, rock on, yarn harlot! you are the best!
No, we thank you for being here for us. I can’t count the number of times during my daily read that I start giggling, and DH asks me what’s so funny, and all I have to say is “the Harlot”, and he just nods as I have said it so many times before. The picture of you and me at your book signing has been my ravatar since forever, and will remain so as I consider you to be a friend that I “talk” to daily. Congrats on your blogiversary, and the MSF milestone!
Happy Anniversary! I am honored to celebrate with you!
Frozen peas, definitely. And he won’t eat anything else green.
Fabulous post. We love you.
You are so welcome; and thank you, too.
I read and love the blog every day and rarely comment, but wanted you to let you know that your writing was a comfort and encouragement to me during a hard time of my life. You spoke of the woman who sent you a perfect e-mail. I hope you realize that you have been that person for me and probably countless others. Thank you, too, for the nudge towards giving to DWB. It’s wonderful what knitters working together can do.
Happy Blogiversary!
And, thanks for continuing to write, and share, and lead, and inspire, and break down, and recover, and despair, and rejoice…
Your words serve as a reminder that life goes on, we are not alone, even when it is hard we can continue to cope.. or not cope, but get through it anyway… and then that there are also so many things to be grateful for, and to celebrate and acknowledge and cherish.
Thank you.
Thank you, Stephanie. Thanks for telling us about your furnace and the hole in your house, and why we need to do a gauge swatch so we don’t run out of yarn before the scarf is done, and how Joe got the truck stuck, and why one should never go into the hall in a hotel in one’s underwear. Thanks for getting this crocheter to put down the hook and at least occasionally pick up the two pointy sticks. Ooh, and thanks for telling us about the Noro Striped Scarf.
And most of all, thanks for educating us about MSF. Over a million? THAT gets me nose-running crying. Anybody got a handkerchief?
Thank you for the creative inspiration you give me each day and for the force of positive action that you set into motion with your support of MSF. Your mindful living has made the world a better place!
Don’t ever stop! You always brighten the day with topics large and small. And speaking of large–thank you for encouraging support for MSF, and congratulations to all of us for passing the $1 million mark. Let’s shoot for $2 million!
Happy Blogiversary! and YAY US! for the Knitters without borders total to date!!!!!!!
Thank YOU, Stephanie.
May the ripples you’ve sent out into the world via your blog continue to create ripples and waves of their own. Wool is good. People who love people and knit wool are even better.
Cheers to you (and your enabler, Ken) – Happy Blogversary! *clink*
Thank you for the blog.
It’s often the favorite thing in my day. I’ve laughed out loud with you, cried with you, and celebrated with you and your lovely family. I’ll never forget the post you wrote when your daughter turned 18 (I can’t tell you how many people I’ve forwarded that one to), or when Joe got the truck stuck at his parents house, and this post… when KWB reached the goal of $1,000,000.
Happy Blogiversary! I have been following you for about 4 years now and blogging myself for 2, and you keep me inspired to keep it up. Through your blog I have become a fearless knitter tackling fair isle, socks and spinning over the years. Thank you!
Happy blogiversary. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, inspirations, knitting hints, humor–just everything–with us. You are truly special!
🙂
Happy 6th! Harlot and many more… you give much more than you receive. The knitting universe is a better place because you are in it!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful work of art with us. It adds joy and beauty to the world.
(and frozen peas? like, while they’re still frozen? I’ve got to try that.)
I don’t often comment, but I read every post. Happy blogiversary and thank you for sticking around. I’d miss you and your stories if you left. We all would.
Congrats on breaking the $1,000,000 barrier! Woohoo! Happy 6th blogiversary! More often than not, your posts make me laugh! I love the one from 2005, where you talk about the elememtary school Christmas programs! My experience is much the same as yours, and yes, during the time that my kids were in elementary school, one of the grades sang, “Must Be Santa!” I think it’s a requirement! LOL!
Happy 6th bloggyversary! Long life to Yarn Harlot!
1. Happy Blogiversary. Of course it’s a word–you used it, right?
2. Wow! OVER one million for KWB! Teh awesome!
3. Thank you for blogging, for sharing your life with us, for inspiring knitters and fiber artists everywhere, and for making us laugh. A lot.
4. Thank you for, well, just being, I guess.
5. I’m not sure I’d be a knitter today if it were not for you.
6. Now, what about that cake?
Dear Stephanie,
Happy Blogiversary! For a moment I was afraid you’d say that six years is enough and you are quitting the blog. I started knitting, reading blogs, and blogging myself less than a year ago, and to me the knitting blog world is still exciting, inspiring, helpful, and often moving. I’d miss it so much if it suddenly ceased to exist! And to raise 1.000.000 for KWB/DWB is–excuse my lack of sophistication–*huge*! You are awesome! I’ll raise a pint to you tonight (what’s your favorite brew?). xo
Stephanie, I wasn’t even aware of DWB/MSF before you introduced me to them, to the beauty of what they do. It’s only recently that my family has achieved the kind of financial stability that puts us in the position to be fortunate enough to give, even in small amounts… and it’s incredible. Thank you for all that you do, and for being a beautiful woman with a soul filled with such love and light. Happy Blogiversary, and may you continue to be truly blessed.
A million thanks Stephanie – when I started reading the post I was selfishly, nervously thinking you might be quitting it. After all, it is a chunk of time that you devote for us several times a week. Congratulations on the MSF funds and thanks for putting your perspective out there for us – 6 years of sharing your thoughts with us is amazingly generous 🙂
everything needs a catalyst. your leadership provided the direction to KWB. my donation was in part inspired by you. credit given where credit due.
happy blogiversary! you matter.
Thanks so much for putting yourself out there for us. Yours isn’t just a knitting blog, to me it’s about life, the universe and everything, and its the only blog that I look forward to and check every day. When I read your posts I feel like I’m visiting with an old and dear friend, and when you live where I do, so far from family and friends, that’s worth more than you know. Is there a role for your blog anymore? You bet there is. Happy Blogiversary Steph, and never doubt that you are making a difference. Thank you!
I always love reading your blog – your fantastic and funny insights about life and knitting make my day. In sharing your bad times and your good times, it makes my times fit my life better. Reading the comments always puts thing back into perspective for me. The comments make me realize that there are lots of great people who are strangers, but stranger no more because we share the love of knitting and reading. It has been a great ride and I hope you do continue always.
Beer cake anyone?
You have made us all better knitters! Keep writing…
tina
Congratulations! You have entertained us but also brought all of us together. It’s hard to meet another knitter who doesn’t know who the Yarn Harlot is and it’s so much fun to tell a non-knitter about your blog. And I always look forward to Canada Day (I’m a wanna-be) and I make sure I share your blog that day with my non-knitting Canadian friends and other wanna-be’s.
I moved to the Chicago area from Denver not long ago and have no knitting friends here. You’ve been there for me. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself.
It is a pleasure and a privilege to read you every day. You make a difference in the world, and your blog matters. Thank you.
Thanks for taking the risk and keeping this blog. It has become a part of my life over the past few years and I share in your triumphs and your struggles. I feel a part of a larger community that shares in knitting and life and whether we ever meet, I feel like I know you and if I ever saw you knitting in an airport, I’d come up and say hi!
Stephanie,
This blog matters to me too. It’s gotten me through some very rough times, not only because reading it always brings either clarity or a certain brightness to my day, but because it is one of the major reasons that I am knitting today, so thank you, for giving me that most beautiful gift.
So much love and appreciation,
Gardiner (Ink In Pieces)
Oh yes, your blog matters. Thank you for sharing so much about life and knitting.
Happy Blogiversary!
Is there cake?
I just wanted to say thank you for writing. I love to sit down after work (which has usually been yukky) and relax and read your blog. It makes me laugh, and I need that. You have a gift when it comes to writing. I love your humor. Thanks and Happy 6th!
This blog also matters to me. So thank YOU for making it. 🙂
Stephanie, many lives are richer because of you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts (and stashes).
Over the years that I’ve been reading your blog I’ve laughed and cried with you and the rest of the commenters. You’ve made me laugh when I was sad, and made me think when I was being stubborn. You’ve explained knitting techniques and Canadian politics. A new blog post from you improves every day. A million dollars? Do you remember a few years ago when you bumped the goal to $250,000 and thought it would take years? And we blew by it in three days?
My knitting has improved, I’ve tried making things I never would have dreamed of trying, and with your encouragement (plus your plain vanilla sock pattern) I’ve ventured into the world of socks and sock summits. My life has been better because I found this blog. Thank you.
everyone else has said it more eloquently than i could, so i’m just going to say thank you for sharing, for continuing to write and for being who you are.
Hi Steph
I have read your blog for years and check it everyday. I feel I know you, Joe and the girls. I have gone back a couple of times and re-read from the start. My boys want to know what the pieces of paper are on the desk with dates written on them – it’s where I’m up to at the moment in your Blog! PLEASE do not stop writing it. I have learnt things, knit and spun things because of you. Although we are not likely to ever meet I feel you are my friend. You actually make my day. Thanks for everything – you are amazing. Hope the coming year is great and congratulations on 6 years and a million bucks.
Happy blogiversary. And, as Pooh would say, “many happy returns of the day.” Thank you for six years (yes, I’ve been here since almost the beginning)of humanity, humor, strength, challenge, and goodness. Your notion of “whole wheat love” is one my sweet husband (of 18 years) and I refer to regularly. peace to you and yours.
I do not know where I would be with out this blog. I didn’t hear about the blog till 2005 but I went back and read all the archived posts and I check it everyday. I had a moment of panic reading todays post because I thought for that the thing you wanted to say was goodbye. I am so glad that you didn’t. I am truly sorry that anyone has every been mean or caused you pain and I wish I could fix that for you. Just know that you have fans and friends that are with you and support you and flat out think you are cool. Rock on sister.
No, thank YOU. And, it’s the least we can do…
When I started to read about your Blogiversary, I was afraid to keep reading since I thought you were going to tell us that you were giving it up. Then I checked the KWB tally and I decided that you couldn’t stop right now and I hope you never decide to give it up. I’m sure it’s frustrating at times but you always have something to say that lifts my spirits — so Happy Blogiversary!! and have a beer to many more! Thanks for all you do.
Way to go Stephanie!
And thanks 🙂
Happy Blogaversity!!! I love reading your blog, I check it every time I fire up a computer. It means a whole lot to me. I am the only one of my friends who knits and I live in a small town so if I want to hear about other’s knitting adventure I guess I could drive the hour and a bit to the nearest yarn store or check your blog. Thankyou for being you!
Happy Blogiversary! Thanks for sending up the ‘Knit Signal’ and encouraging folks to take some action. Mostly, thanks for sharing your stories with us. I especially like when beer o’clock rolls around. Feet up. Beer o’clock. Cast on!
Thank you Stephanie for giving us you. And thank you Ken for giving us Stephanie. May you both go on and on and on!!
I think it’s really, really funny that the woman who created the term “Kinneared” would warn that “blogiversary” might not be a word. We all know that even if it’s not, it will be soon. 🙂
I got all teary eyed. I hope the stories for your livelihood are a good trade for you, too. I do buy all your books so you can make a little money on this conversation. Oh, and they are awesome books anyways!
You’re welcome. And, thank you!
I don’t know if you’d want to add it to the tally because I didn’t go through the links via your blog, but my hubby and I donated $100 to Doctors Without Borders!
Bwah! Saw the $1,000,000 mark and I started to cry. What an amazing out pouring from people across the globe. As for your blog, oh, yes, you do matter. Gonna raise a good dark beer to you and your family and friends that you share with us each day. Can’t wait to see see Blogiversary Number 7.
Steph, congrats on the blogiversery, and remnding us all that we aren’t eh only ones life and the knitting fates like to screw over!
Though I’m not a frequent commenter, “thank you” is something I say almost every time — and I can’t think of anything more appropriate to reiterate on your blogiversary! I did not quite realize what a huge debt of gratitude we all owe to Ken — so my thanks extend to him too. xoxox to both of you!
Happy Blogiversary! Thank you for sharing pieces of your life with us.
BTW – my 10 month old shunned the pasta, but ate all the peas. Weird.
Happy Blogiversary! Today is my blogiversary too- year one.
Looks like the goal needs to updated. The sky’s the limit on this one.
That’s amazing. I’m not sure I would have donated to MSF if I hadn’t heard about it through you, but I would have donated. I might have picked a different organization with a higher overhead, so I feel good about reading your posts and following your lead to this organization. They do such good work.
Happy Blogiversary. I just passed the 5 year mark on the 20th for my blog. I had no idea what to expect about blogging when I began…which was honestly just done to “play on the web” and I had no real idea of what I was going to write about. I have WAY fewer readers than you and I often wonder who will read each post…and does it matter? I’ve met some great people through blogging. Thought I agree with you that blogging is a weird sort of conversation like no other. I’ve shared thoughts and feelings that were both joyous and painful. I love looking back to read little snippets of thoughts that go with the thousands of pictures I have taken of my kids over the years. Thoughts and stories that without the blog would be lost.I’ve bragged on the blog and written for therapy. And while to some maintaining a blog about everything in my life, yet about nothing specific, may seem like a major waste of time, it’s important to me and why I will keep writing…regardless of who is reading.
Thanks for keeping track of our contributions to DWB. It amazes me at how a little effort from so many can add up to so much good.
The blog matters to us, too! Thank you for allowing us to share in your life. You are a joy and a blessing.
Happy blogiversary! See what a difference your blog makes? You bring people together, entertain us and raise over a MILLION dollars for charity. (I’m slightly relieved to hear you’re getting something out of this deal too!)
Thanks so much – here’s to many more blogs!
Stephanie-
1) I’m among the many who check daily (sometimes twice a day, like today, since we’re on an 5 or six hour time difference). You often lift me up, as it seems you do for so many. It’s not your job to do so, nor should you shoulder it as a responsibility, but do add the results to your positive serendipity/karma balance.
2) Hurrah for KWB! I think I’ve finally got the answer on donating through the Spanish MWF “delegation” in Portugal. You should have seen the guy at the Finances office flipping back and forth between books looking for the answer! Won’t know for sure until Monday. Talk about complicated! Someone gave fifty more euros (nearly 75 USD) to add when I finally can when I told her about KWB’s efforts. She’s a Bulgarian knitter and 50 euros represents about a third of her weekly salary here. It’s a month’s minimum wage in Bulgaria.
3) I apparently missed the bits about the mean commentor but it pains me that anyone should have used this venue to hurt you.
4)Thank you for your kindness. Only one little sentence but it meant the world to me.
Roll/knit on!!
Happy Blogiversary, Steph, and thank you so much.
I’m one of those who found you when you’d been blogging for a while and then went back and read all the archives. Then back again and read all the comments to all the archives. It’s great to belong to your blog family, Steph!
I’m so proud of being part of this incredible KWB total, and so awed by the steady stream of givers; but I broke down and cried over the woman who donated $2.
Sisters and brothers, I love you all.
I agree with everyone and could not have said it better if there are even words to describe, but thank you for being you and for being here and for sharing in everything that is you and your woolliness.
Wow! That total is amazing.
You’ve been high on my list of blog-stops ever since you renovated your bedroom a few years ago (the white paint story still makes me laugh). It’s a little weird and cool that when I read your books and get to the story about being in the cabin in the woods I know that you spent part of a day out there following deer prints and another walking all the way down the road to get beer and the shopkeeper’s daughter gave you a ride back. I feel a little stalker like sometimes (that’s the weird) but I also feel like part of a community of friends (that’s pretty cool) even though I’ve never spoken to you and would probably pretend I didn’t know you if I saw you walk into a pub (fellow Canadian here). You’d probably catch me staring a couple of times though – making sure it was really you … and checking out your sock and trying to remember what you said you were knitting it with. If I saw you in a pub could I say hello?
Happy Blogiversary 🙂
I still love frozen peas.
I should have told you at the Knot Hysteria weekend how much you’ve inspired me. I learned to knit very young as is evidenced by the fact I still have the first sweater I knit at age 6 or 7. I even wore a sweater I knit myself in my high school graduation photo. Then, there was a long drought where I knit occasionally, but yarn was expensive or it was the ugly chenille and fake fur phase so I just didn’t.
A few years ago I found your blog and I started in earnest again. I actually have stash and I no longer feel compelled to knit a pattern exactly. If one exists that meets my needs great, if not I make one up. You’ve given me that through this blog and your books. I just wish my mom had lived to see such a resurgence of the craft she loved both in her daughter and the world at large. Although secretly I’m relieved that she can’t see my stash and pay me back for all the years I teased her about hers.
Congratulations on meeting both milestones. Just remember, one stitch at a time.
Just – Thank You, Stephanie!
Happy 6th Blogiversary! Thank you for all you’ve done for knitters everywhere, and for MSF. You make my day, every day!!!
I don’t comment often, but I have read your blog almost every day for the past five years….
Thank you– thank you for the blog, your sense of humor, knit-wisdom and humanity.
Steph- Thank you for being the Voice of our community. Sometimes it is a very lonely prospect to be a knitter in our modern, technology-embedded world and having you as rallying point reminds me I am part of a larger community and having all this yarn really isn’t that odd. I am proud of my self-appointed label of “Harloteer” and look forward to following you on your adventures.
I cried over this post. In that lovely/the world is a beautiful place/I’m a lucky girl kind of way. There are many times over the past few years that reading a post, or following a link, or trying something new has carried me over a rough spot or gave me the reward I deserved for a good time. Thanks for being part of it.
Happy Anniversary. A traditional gift for a 6th anniversary would be iron – however, you already have that: it’s in your backbone when you face difficulties and foes.
Sugar is also a nominated gift – but you have a sweetness of spirit that needs no additional sugar.
Wood might be a good gift, because I know those needles are yummy, but I think you once wrote you like the slippery quality of aluminium – although I admire the stalwart oak you are in all matters ethical.
Amethyst is the final suggestion and I think I would like to give that: amethyst has calming healing properties, and we could all do with a bit of that now and then.
So amethysts and love … Happy 6th Blogiversary
x
Thank you, Stephanie. Your writing, and your life, have become an important part of mine. Also, thanks for helping me learn about Canada ahead of time…it’s been great, and now I understand a lot more of your jokes.
Oh, and blogging–being in the public eye–is such a risk. It can be so hard. You’ve been brave, and witty, and bright, and an incredibly good fundraiser for a charity that matters. You deserve every good thing.
Happy Blogiversary! I’ve laughed and cried while reading your posts. Lots of times, your writing has been a bright moment in a dreary day. Though we don’t know each other, I greatly appreciate your openness, humor, and wicked sense of fun that you share with all of us. I admire your courage and wish you, your family, friends, and community, times filled more with joy than with sorrow. (and for those who belong to the misery loves company crowd, go read something else!) Thanks ever so much!
The blog is great! I have an idea of how much work it is, and how much talent it takes to do this. My hat is off to you, and thanks for being a bright spot in the blogosphere.
Stephanie, I am delighted to know that you and I share this anniversary in the knitting community. A year ago today Boquete Knit ‘N’ Knatter held its inaugural meeting in Boquete, Panama, I started the group because I was lonely. I offered my “now, why did I buy this” yarn (there are no yarn shops in Panama) to the other knitters on the condition that they knit baby things: blankets, sweaters, caps, booties, for the Ngobe-Bugle Indians who live high in the mountains. These remarkable women have turned out dozens of beautiful items – all done with love. I am so humbled by the success of this group. And I am honored to share this anniversary with you. Knit – and blog – for a long time. Happy blogiversary!
The first time I read your blog you wrote about your daughters dropping their dirty clothes on the floor next to the hamper. I knew then that I had found a kindred spirit. There have been moments over the last year that I was so crippled by grief and sadness that I just laid on my couch and wept. I would find my way to the desk and computer and click on my bookmark for Yarn Harlot. I could always find something to brighten my day.
Stephanie, thank you so much for accompanying me through this journey. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Don’t sell yourself short. We would have given somewhere, yes (can I say, I LOVE giving money away? I should work at a foundation, or, you know, be rich) but we started giving to MSF because of you. Now we have a monthly donation on the credit card. That is totally because of you. Happy Blogiversary.
Steph,
I feel I know you a little so I’ll call you by name.I never miss reading your blog even though I don’t read very many. I love the way you write, it’s as if you are in the same room. I have been to your book signings and just reading the blog, I can hear your voice. May you have many blogiversarys.
Teach 13
Now I am curious how long I have been a reader… I have been knitting for 5 years, so I imagine I missed the first year. Thank you for sharing your talent, your ups and downs, and your humour with us.
And I agree with the frozen peas. Cook them, and she won’t touch them. She likes frozen corn too.
Happy 6th! Thank you for being in the world and creating everything that you do 🙂
Love and peace
Thank YOU, Stephanie (may I call you Stephanie? ’cause I feel like I know you well :)) for sharing your life with a whole bunch of strangers! You have brightened my day countless times and I appreciate it!
I can’t believe it’s been only six years… and my own neglected blog is four and a half! So much has changed, some for you but a lot for people around you,
Interesting that this should happen today. I just helped my friend and fellow Boulder knitter Ann Budd get her first blog post up today. Sometimes it may feel like the time of blogs has passed, but people do stuff at their own paces.
Dear Stephanie,
I just want to thank you for bringing joy into my life through your blog. It’s a comfort to know that there is a community of people out there that I feel connected to, and you, Steph, are that common thread that brings us together.
You feel like one of my closest friends, even though we’ve never met, and I thank you for always being just a click away… inspiring me and making me laugh. <3
Sending you tons of love from Iowa!
Now you’ve got me all teary eyed, and I’m not a crier.
I would never have thought to donate if it weren’t for your blog. I donate to other worthy causes regularly, but MSF wasn’t on my radar screen. Now I made monthly donations. So at least one knitter’s donations are a direct result of the blog. Good for you. You make me proud for all of us.
Congratulations on the blog and on the $1mil to DWB!
I love reading the blog and you have done so much for so many people in their knitting lives and personal lives. Just freakin’ awesome.
Happy Blogiversary! Raising more than a million for MSF is an amazing feat and without this blog, I doubt many of us would even have heard of them.
Did someone mention chocolate cake? Can I have some?
Congratulations on the blog and the total! Lady, you are the one who got us all going on this,the bloging and the MSF!I thank you for that,I check in everyday, it’s a good day when the blog is up.I miss it when it’s not.I tell myself well she has to knit sometime! Your blog opened a new world to me, the knitting world. I had just started to knit and found you at the same time. You came to Burlington,MA a few yrs ago and were a delight to meet! Enjoy your moment…!
Congrats on your blogiversary!!! One meeellion dollars – doesn’t that make you wanna laugh like Dr. Evil? Yay, for all the wonderful people who love and give to those in need! Excuse me while I do a happy dance before getting back to my knitting. 🙂
And thank YOU so much for putting yourself here on this blog as you do. I am, quite literally, a knitter today because of you and your writing (no pressure, though), and I can’t tell you how much some of your thoughts on parenting have meant to me as I’ve negotiated some tricky times with my two girls. Happy blogiversary (definitely a word, I say, and I’m a linguist), and here’s to many more. (Out of respect, I will refrain from singing “for she’s a jolly good fellow”, because no-one needs to hear that.)
Yay! Hooray! for the blog! for you – Yarn Harlot Extraordinaire! for all of us! And especially for MSF/DWB who do such vital work in a hurting world, and also motivate each of us to grow, to give, to make a difference. Thanks for bringing us together, Stephanie.((((((hugs))))))
Six years? Where does the time go?
Six years ago, I felt the lack of something creative in my life and decided to knit again (not being able to find a jumper that fit around the bust was also a factor). I was afraid to knit socks. I found (amongst others)your blog online and whilst the others have been intermittent, your blogging has become something i never miss, because of your kindness and warmth, because you share the good and the bad, and because you write so well (and the tree-hugginess is good too). It gives me hope for the world that someone I have never met, a whole ocean away, feels like a friend.
Congratulations on your blogiversary! You made me think about myself, because it was right about this time in 2004 that I started blogging, too, first on Xanga, now on Blogger. I didn’t make it big, like you, but I’m still hanging in there blogging.
Just for the record, I have contributed to Doctors without Borders. You, however, have been having so much work handling the emails that I contributed to them directly without realizing that I wasn’t contributing to your total by doing that.
So, congratulate yourself! You inspired more contributions than you realize because if I did that, others must have, too. The total you come up with should be prefixed with “more than.”
It sounds like the life of your blog is, indeed, like life itself – full of positives and negatives. Yin and yang. So long as the positives out weigh the negatives, that is A Good Thing.
And while people may have donated to MSF anyway, you were the catalyst for many who many not have known what to do, or how to help, until you gave them a direction.
Brava, my dear! May you continue your life – and your blog – in great good health.
Laura
I heart you! And … your blog. I hope to keep reading another six years (gasp!)
Happy 6th aniversary and reaching your goal of 1 mil!!!! I am so thankul for discovereing your blog! Much love to you and yours!
Wow! Congratulations on your blogiversary. You have inspired and motivated so many people in big and little ways. You have a lot to be proud of.
Happy Blog Anniversary! Thanks for always brightening my day, whatever the topic. Keep up the good work!
Well, Stephanie, this blog matters to me, too. Thank you.
Please don’t even consider stopping!!! Yes, Ravelry and the likes are fantastic, new avenues for communication. I have made several valuable friends due to them and love the community thing as a whole. But, they are an “as well”, definitely not an “instead of”. It’s a different, shorter, less personal form of communication. When I first stumbled across your blog, a year or so ago, I read every archived post. I remember rationing them, 1 month of “Yarn Harlot” archives each week, so I could prolong the enjoyment! Yes, I loved the knitting, but, I loved all the little day to day insights too. You started my ever growing affection for Canadians (I’ve since come across enough of you to know if I didn’t love Oz, I would want Canada to adopt me). It’s lovely hearing about your family, your winter writing retreats, redecorating, battles with the boiler, and guessing where the sock will be snapped next. How would we have learnt “Kinnearing” without you. I check my blogs every few days and even now, after all this time, if there’s a YH post, I pounce on it gleefully. Thanks for welcoming us (complete strangers) into your home and life and please keep tapping away on the keys. Knitting or cake. We love it all!
I have enjoyed reading your blog for several years, have enjoyed the journeys you have taken with your family and shared with us, your knitting adventures that you have shared with us, the painful and the happy stories that you shared with us. So it is absolutely no surprise to me, that when you mention Doctors w/o Borders could use some money, people are quick to jump in with what they can. You have helped create a knitting community that is millions of knitters strong. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou. oh, and happy anniversary, er.. blogiversary!!
This blog matters to me too! I read it every day and wish that I could come and visit and knit with you at your LYS. I have enjoyed your writing for many years & talk about your work with my knitting & crochet friends. Thank you – you fill a need that I look forward to every day. Here’s to six more years!
WooHoo!! The first million is accomplished!
I have very much enjoyed reading your thoughts on “life, the [knitting], and everything” over the past six years. Yours was one of the first blogs I started reading, way back before I knew about Bloglines, and popped in every day to see if there was a new post up.
Thanks, and Happy Blogiversary!
What a fabulous blogiversary present! I think all of us who blog have our doubts about relevancy in the expanding world of online knitting, but I still feel blogs are one of the best ways to make and keep connections to friends both real and virtual. I look forward to being part of your world and appreciate all you have given me and others. Keep up the good work.
Happy blogiversary and WOW!
Thank you for blogging – I have been enjoying your blog for a long time, and always enjoy your posts. I hope to continue reading it for a long time!
Happy 6!
Chocolate cake! I love chocolate cake.
Just kidding.
Thanks for your courage and great common sense as you navigate the wilds of blogging. The first post I read of yours, with an infant in my arms, was the post about breastfeeding. (The one where you talked about how crazy it is that nursing occurs in inverse proportion to income.) I’m sure you got some nasty e-mails for that one, but I loved (and still love) the way you state your opinions in a measured yet no-nonsense yet humorous way, whether its about Bohus sweaters, fluff-stealing squirrels, home improvement, parenting, or socks.
Thanks for sticking with it even through the roughness when many of us would be tempted to torch the code that allows comments and hide under the covers for a decade or so.
Well, this was actually the first place I read about Doctors Without Borders. So you should give yourself some of the credit for this accomplishment!
Stephanie, here is how you have made a difference in my life. Every time I make a stupid mistake, I remember that you, the freakin’ Yarn Harlot, make mistakes too, and I fell less bad about it. You are a brave woman! Thanks for six great years.
Wow! That is amazing and I feel so honoured to be a part of such an accomplishment. Happy blogiversary. I hope there’s cake 🙂
Well, really, I often wonder what my life would be without you, Juno, Cookie, Joan, Marianne, Ann and Kay, Victoria, Cathy, Norma, Lisa, Wendy and others I’m sure I’m forgetting. Less rich, far less funny, a bunch fewer tears and worry and far less love. You and your blogging kind make me proud to be a knitter, a woman and a person in this world. You balance out the weirdos (though weird you can be), the haters ( though there’s stuff we all hate), the mostly crabby folks (but that’s some of your charm), the nutcases (though…) and the generally nasty people we all deal with day in and day out.
We humble readers depend on you (no pressure!) to be there to see us through the tough times you don’t know about, to challenge us to be more than we thought we could be, to raise our awareness and remind us we aren’t alone on this small planet.
If you stopped tomorrow I would be sad. But like all things I love that go away – I wouldn’t have wanted to live the last six years without you.
Thank you, SP-M.
Happy Anniversary.
Don’t go away tomorrow1
Thank YOU! XOXOXOXOX (how about that? over a Million Buckeroooos! :^)
I <3 You! Thanks for being wonderful (and 6!) Six is a good age… Curious, friendly and imaginative. Have fun this year!
Years ago BBC made a series with James Burke called Connections. Ever since I watched it- he made the case about how lives and history changes because of often happenstance meetings and connections- I have thought about it when I read your blog. Because of your blog I read your books (or maybe it was the other way around). Because of your blog I went to Sock Summit (and actually got to take a class from you). Because of your blog I met you at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse…Because of you I now have friends in Virginia and England and…all about connections. Thanks for the memories and for the days ahead full of connections.
Stephanie: Congratulations and keep it up! I was struck when you were going through a tough time with the angry responder, that there were SO many people who wrote in saying they’d been reading for years and never chirped up until then. There must be many who are silent, invisible laughing, sympathising, nodding in agreement and learning from all you write. Who knows how many you really reach. It is a breath of fresh air and the first blog I ever read. Thanks again.
Congratulations, and thank you. I think about when I first stumbled on your blog, which was not long after I started knitting, and I had no idea until now that it had only recently started at that point (I guess I wasn’t paying much attention). I think you should know, that while it does not reflect well on me, I probably would not have given to MWF without the push from your blog and the reward of being part of the total, part of the community. Yes, it’s possible I would have given something at some point, but no guarantee. And I would certainly not have set up a monthly donation. So you can take at least some credit for the amazing accomplishment you have wrought!
And, breastfeeding and frozen peas were two of my main parenting tools for the first 2 or 3 years. Invaluable, both.
Happy Blogiversary! I had started knitting again a few years ago,and a friend gave me one of your books. That led me to your blog, and my knitting life has never been the same. You inspired me to become a better knitter,and to challange myself. I started knitting socks because of you, and I am hooked.Your blog is a favorite part of my day, thanks! Congrats on the MSF total,you should be proud of your inspiring words. Can it be Choclate cake?
Congratulations! And thank you.
Your post completely summed up all the reasons why I follow your blog … me, who thought I’d never follow any online anything. What you write about matters … your blog matters … and I am grateful.
: )
Stephanie
Congratulations on 6 wonderful years of blogging. You have brought laughter and tears and inspiration to so many. Keep up the great work and we’ll be right behind you.
Happy Blogiversary!
(from a knitter who *isn’t* on Ravelry)
You know you’ve made a difference in my life. Thank you for being something to look forward to every day. I’m glad you’re still here. Happy Bloggiversary!
Wow. Just, wow.
Six years and a Million dollars. (Not to mention the Knitting Olympics, Kinnearing, and a slew of other brilliant brainstorms.) I think there’s a reason we all just sit in awe…
(Oh, and even if it’s not official, I’m pretty sure “blogiversary” counts as a word these days. It’s used too often by too many people NOT to be!)
One of my favorite of your blog posts was about your book making the best seller list.
Yours is the only blog I read. I guess it matters to me as well.
Thank you for putting so much effort into this so that it has become an honest and pleasant place to hang out. I hope you soon get over whatever is bothering you and be really happy.
Greetings from Greece. Keep up the good work.
What a way to celebrate! Congratulations on your 6th anniversary, and on the milestone of reaching $1 million for MSF/DWB. You encourage us bring out the best in ourselves, and provide a ‘focus’ to magnify our impact. Thank you for your conscience, your honesty, your leadership and your warm heart.
Happy Sixth Blogiversary, o you who put the Giver in Blogiversary!
And yes, it’s a Real Word, and Wordnik (Erin McKean’s new venture) sez so: http://www.wordnik.com/words/Blogiversary
Here is CAKE: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Pound-Cake-I/Detail.aspx
and a flourless almond chocolate cake for those not eating gluten: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9624023
and here’s a song, from fellow (sororal?) Canadian, singer songwriter Connie Kaldor, to help celebrate rounding the latest lap (and BEER) (imagine she’s singing to the Blog, click and sing along):
http://www.conniekaldor.com/?page_id=646
Wow on the MSF/DWB numbers! Time to double the goal, then, eh? Think it’ll take half as long for the second million? (Syne is right, btw: someone oughtta automate the process for you. I can’t but I know it can be done fairly easily by Those Who Do.)
Thank you, Stephanie.
Thank you, thank you.
Kepp on writing, and posting pictures, and showing us your sock-in-progress’ travels…
Happy 6th Blogiversary! You are always a bright spot in my day – keep up the great work. You are an inspiration, and not only when it comes to knitting. A toast to you and the blog!
“why most food-shunning two year olds will eat frozen peas…(If you have a toddler try the pea thing. I swear it’s true.)”
I’m sorry, I’ll read the rest of the post later, but I must go try this NOW. I don’t think my Lottie has ever eaten a green thing in her life.
So fitting we reach over the $1M mark on your anniversary. Very nice celebration.
Yes – I may have donated without your work but you helped bring it to the forefront of charities and it is nice to feel a small part of the larger number of knitters to help the even larger charity.
Thanks for the sharing of your family, your ups and downs, your knitting and of yourself. Sometimes it is just a meeting in passing, a way of keeping up and the next day it may be just what I need to keep ME up and going.
Here is to many more years and many more miletones.
I think there may be something in my eye. Several somethings.
I’m so incredibly happy/proud/amazed to be part of such an amazing group of people.
Also… thank YOU! For doing the KWB thing, but also for inspiring all kinds of knitterly stuff. When I first started knitting there were things that I tried because you made them seem really cool and still doable (which, for the record, they were/are).
I’m not sure how to describe it exactly, but there’s a general “knitting vibe” that I’ve always gotten from you that was incredibly helpful when I was first starting and is now very much part of how I knit.
Yes, your blog matters, in a big way.
P.S. Thank you, Ken.
I think my favorite thing about your blog is that not only does it make me laugh out loud, I then read parts of it to my husband who also laughs out loud. Blogs can be so solitary, but yours is one my husband and I enjoy together.
Our personal favorite post was the one with the stuck truck.
Your blog is the first I started following. I can’t help but love that you write in complete sentences (unlike most Tweeters write) and you make such sense! Please don’t stop the blog. I have noticed a big slow-down of blogs I’ve followed for some time — I believe it’s because the authors/owners are now busy designing, teaching, and traveling about to meet other designers, teachers, and students. I miss those good bloggers and their “conversation” with me regarding their projects and adventures. Ravelry is great, but it doesn’t replace a well-written blog. Please don’t go away.
Fantastic and amazing news about the $1,000,110 to Doctors Without Borders. They deserve all the assistance we can muster. God bless each and every one of the people helping in the Haiti disaster.
Dear Steph…. I’ve been through several stages in how I respond to blogs. In the beginning, I commented often…. there were only a few comments, and it seemed like a personal connection could be made. Then many of my favorite blogs went viral: there were so many comments, and so many were the “Me,too” variety that it began to feel silly for me to add my “Me,too.” I began to feel a distance between most blogs and myself. But that never happened with yours…. yours always felt like it was aimed right at me, like it was such a natural (albeit one sided) conversation we were having.
I learned a lot from your posts, and I discovered Lene’s blog, and I grieved from a distance with you and your family when you lost Janine. I laughed with you when Joe got the truck stuck one cold winter night, and was grateful every time Ken fixed the blog for you. I shared your pride when your girls proved over and over, in big ways and small, that your parenting skills were top-notch. I even went to the liquor store searching for Screech during one stressful period in my life! (Only a last resort!) I came to see you at a book signing and was too shy to really speak to you, but I felt that was something we had in common, as well, although I know you’ve outgrown a lot of that shyness over the years. You have encouraged me to keep learning and growing and making mistakes and fixing them and knitting things one loving stitch at a time for the people I love. It’s an odd kind of friendship, this blog friendship of ours, but it is a very important part of my life. I’ve really enjoyed sharing…. Thanks!
Well didn’t you just go and make me all weepy!
Happy blogiversary; we love you!!
Happy Blogiversary, Stephanie! Long may you write; long may we read; even longer may we share.
Blessings!
As I was reading your latest post, I started to worry that maybe what you were tryng to say was that you weren’t going to blog anymore. I hope my worries are for nothing! I can’t tell you how much reading about your little slice of knitting heaven means to me. Happy blogiversary!
This post made me cry.
I found your blog via Interweave Knits magazine, I think there was a sidebar blurb about it, and have been hooked (so to speak – although I also crochet, I haven’t for years since I got so involved in knitting) ever since. I love your humor, your sensibility, and generosity, and I admire your knitting expertise tremendously – also the gift you have for teaching. We should all send Ken a big thank you for getting you started in this space! Through the headaches and heartaches and even the flaming trolls and stalkers I’m sure you’ve had to deal with, you’ve been a persistent light to many people. Warm blessings on you and your family and congratulations on six years of blogging! Fabulous!
Wow…just…wow. I am in awe of you Stephanie and everyone else here who helped make that number. Like you have mentioned before, I am sad too that incidents occur which make a group like MSF/DWB necessary, but I am so proud to count myself in as a “tricoteuse sans frontieres” with all of you lovely, incredible, amazing people. I often feel helpless looking at all of the tragic events that occur around the world, but knowing that my small contribution combined with all of your contributions, has made a big difference to those people stuck in the middle of these tragedies, makes me feel like I am doing something to make the world a little better. Stephanie, thank you for putting the idea of donating to MSF/DWB out there. It has definitely made me feel a little less helpless.
Happy Blogiversary! Like others before me have said, this blog always brightens my day, and I have learned so much from you. Thank you so much for your inspiration and laughter.
Cheers!
I don’t think initially I would have donated if you hadn’t introduced me to MSF. I had heard of it but not taken it any further. Your writing about it and providing links bridged the gap between my good intentions and actually doing something about them.
The first thing I thought when I read about the earthquake in Haiti was MSF, and almost simultaneously, your blog. The next thing I thought was, “She’s trained me well.” I don’t mean that in a negative way. You gave me a place to make my humble donation in such a way that I can see how each member of a community giving what they can adds up to something truly helpful. And I thank you for that.
Here is how I found your blog: googling knit poncho pattern. Yours came up. The adventure began – reading, knitting the poncho, yarn and pattern envy, sharing with knitting friends (and non-knitting family), seeing you in NYC and at Rhinebeck, and looking each and every day on my bookmark bar to see if the (1) pops up, and then spending a few minutes to myself laughing, reflecting, sometimes crying (like when I saw $1000110), and finally… being able to tell people at this time of crisis in Haiti, DWB is my group, and let me tell you about them and why they should be yours. Thank you for all of it. Happy Blogiversary!
Happy Blogiversary (what a great word)!
I started reading your blog in 2008, right after I started knitting and I realized that to truly understand where you were coming from, I had to read everything you had written since the beginning of the blog in 2004.
I was inspired.
And I laughed a lot, and cried, and got angry right along with you. And realized that this blog was not about knitting – it was about life.
Thank you for being willing to share your life with all of us out here in blogland (blogosphere?). So many people don’t connect with other people and your blog creates a connection that I often don’t have with people I see or speak to every day. Maybe that’s sad or maybe it means that they aren’t able to share their lives the way that you have shared yours. I don’t know that I could do it; share my private life with unknown people. But I’m very glad that you are able to.
Thanks and keep on keeping on. My day wouldn’t be complete without getting my “harlot” fix.
I have no idea how many of those 6 years you’ve been writing I’ve been reading. I know its a lot. Your blog has been joy, sorrow, inspiration, and a common ground for me and my 16 year old daughter. I’m so glad you blog.
Happy Blogiversary.
Thank you so much for sharing your life with us. If Montaigne had had a blog this is what it would have been like.
What to say? I LOVE your blog and our ‘conversation’, albeit sometimes I just listen. I love the way you have with words, and that sometimes its about knitting (my passion too), and sometimes its not. Sometimes its about Sir Washie, and sometimes the dirt floor and subsequent hole in the basement. But…. all the time its written by YOU, Steph, a real person that I identify with in so many ways. This blog matters to ME. Thank YOU for writing it!
Blessings to all,
Barbara xoxo
*sniff* I’m so proud to be part of your blog reader family. And if you’re ever in the armpit of Nebraska, let’s meet up for a pint. 🙂
Hey Steph. Thanks for hanging in. Blogging is a lot of work. Thanks for keeping it “real” in a world full of celluloid.
When we asked the knit world to take us to its leader, they brought us to you and although that’s a lot of power and responsibility, it’s also really cool and obviously the work is paying off in a whole bunch of ways!
If NOTHING else, you’ve helped me personally not care so much about the life crap that has clouded our judgement – like my hair! or that a washing machine and a car are just cool things that make life easier but in no way represent who I am in the world.
Right now I am alone in a new community and if I didn’t have my knit sibs and people like you to keep the lonliness at bay I might start getting my nails done or something.
You’ve got my vote. Always.
K
Happy Blogiversary!! I’m not one who can put thoughts or feelings into words very well, so I’ll just say “ditto” to every thing everyone’s already said!!! THANKS for all you have given.
My blogiversary present to you is a long-delayed thank you for your visit on Knitty Gritty a few years ago. I had made a few pair of socks, but American patterns using 3+1 dpn’s always seemed confusing and convoluted to read. When you pointed out that we could just look at what we were doing and really only had one number to remember – the # of cast-ons – and that never mind the pattern, a heel must start out as a square and can go longer to accomodate a high instep – well. It was like being reminded of something I knew in a previous life and had forgotten. A gift to me of incredible value. Also, I had heard you speak twice, once at R J Julia’s in Madison, Conn, and once at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton. I knew I could “trust” you and probably any one else who appreciated you, and so I will tell you, with great thanks, that this is the only blog I follow. Another gift to myself. You are more than welcome as an important part of my life. Mark Twain would approve of you.
Happy happy day to you and your family.
Thank you for your blog. You had me a little scared for a second in the middle there, I thought you were going to announce something crazy, like you were done blogging. Yikes!
I found your blog when I lived in a very secluded and lonely place, and you were the one I looked forward to communicating with every day. You seemed to be able to articulate my feelings, and even though I never talk to you, I felt heard. I now live in a very different place, where there are lots of people (and more yarn), but I still look forward to hearing from you every day. I don’t agree with everything you say, but what fun would that be?
I belong to Ravelry and like it very much, but your blog is so much more. Your blog is homey and comfy and I can relax here, Ravelry is like a big city where I have to keep my wits about me.
So, thank you for sharing your life, insights, wit, humor, knitting and everything else. I can imagine that it would be hard sometimes, even painful, but I for one, appreciate you more than words can express.
I think yours was the 2nd knit blog I ever read; thanks for all of the knitting info, food for thought, and fun that you’ve given me since I started reading you late in 2005. I for one hope you continue to want to blog for a long time to come; you’re a big part of my knitting life. And congratulations on the $1M mark – yay you, and yay knitters!
Many, many congratulations, Stephanie, not simply for six years of wonderfully written essays, but for inspiring a global community of knitters to such dizzying heights – $1,000,110! I knew we could do it, with your guidance and leadership.
Thank you for all that you do for knitters as a group, and thank you for six years of laughter, joy, tears and inspiration.
If you read all the comments you are a saint lol. I found the blog by accident only in the last 12 months and I caught on to the funny, witty, common sense posts, it makes good reading. I am not into the introverted personal bits but that is fine, we all go there. Blogs are weird, it is just a bit of another persons life but that makes it interesting and reassuring. I hate cleaning, I live in clutter, I love to knit, I am a fiercely protective mum and insecure. Isn’t it great to know there are many others like me out there, especially the knittinbg bit. Hope we are both around for the next anniversary
Stephanie,
For a few lines there I was worried that you were throwing in the towel on the blog. I’m sure you’ve probably considered it. But I want you to know that your blog does matter to me. I like Twitter and I am one of your followers and I enjoy your tweets. I look for you on Ravelry. But I think it is your blog that really gives you the forum to shine. I have your blog feed on my iGoogle knitting page (uh, yeah, I have several pages) and I check for your posts every day. I wish I could tell you how many times your blog was the bright spot in a crummy day. So I’m glad you will keep writing your blog and I’ll look forward to reading it.
Happy blogiversary (I do hate that word but it seems appropriate).
HG
thanks for writing! your blog’s sincere emotions help me when i’m feeling drained. humor and sincerity keep me coming back.
i still think you need to knit yourself some pants.
And your blog matters to me. Yours was the second blog I discovered immediately after I uncovered the generosity of Bonne Marie’s Chicknits. On days when I know I should be too busy to read blogs, I still sneak a peak at yours. Thanks so much for the incredible humaness you put out there.
Congratulations! And wow, over $1 million donated by knitters? You have inspired an amazing community of knitters over the years, and I hope that we will continue to hear from you for many years to come!!
Happy blogiversary! What does your blog mean to me? Well, of the 134 blogs I subscribe to, yours is one of a handful that can be counted in the 100% read category on my Google Reader stats page. And I think I can honestly say that yours is the only blog that gives me a little frisson of excitement when I see that there’s a new, unread post waiting for me. Thanks for all you do!
Whoo hoo! Congrats, both on the blogiversary and the new total! Both are awesome! I don’t comment often enough, but I always enjoy your blog posts. Here’s to many more years of wonderful essays and insightful comments on life and knitting. Cheers!
I don’t know you’ll recognize this for the honour I hope you will feel… but you are the soul mate of Stuart Mclean – with knitting needles.
Thank you for having this blog and letting me share. I’m inspired to try something besides the afghan pattern that I have been knitting (in regular, extra-long and baby size) for the past 25 years. Knitting this pattern has saved my sanity many a time. Each time another one leaves the needles it takes with it the love and thoughts about the person it was made for.
It’s nice to know that there are others in the world who get it. Thank you introducing me to them.
Thanks for sticking with us.
p.s. your site has the permanent top-right-hand spot in Top Sites on my iMac.
the harlot rules!
have a piece of chocolate cake and a beer!
OK, I got distracted by the reference to chocolate cake and I can’t figure out why we WOULDN’T like to talk about chocolate cake.
But then I got ahold of myself and noticed that the KWB total is appropriately binary. And it pleased me.
I’m glad you’ve put together this forum and shared your craziness. Because it is the same craziness we all experience and it is so nice to laugh at it! I was looking at the Sock Camp page and thinking how much I’d like to go again. And then I thought that you and Tina are so neat and I only get to interact with you in times of great insanity (first sock camp and the summit) and I thought, “I need to make an effort to hang with Tina and Steph sometime when we can just sit back and knit. I’ll bet they are fun.”
So the next time you are at the Oregon Coast…the beers are on me.
Paraphrasing Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets): You make me want to be a better person. I am so grateful to have found your blog; enjoy reading, and re-reading, your posts, and books. Keep up the good work!
Dear Stephanie,
I look for your blog entry every day ( I know you don’t enter every day, nor should you have to). For me, it’s like having a brief conversation with a good friend.
Like many friends, I feel free to give advice – time to set a new goal!. I’m so proud to be part of a community that cares about people and the world. We can’t stop now. How about $2,000,000. Lord knows the people of Haiti, as well as many other place in the world will have desperate needs for long time to come
Love, Liz
I cherish the laughs you give us but even more the times when you make us think. I cherish your insight into parenting. I cherish the skills you show coping in a world larger than mine. And I cherish the visits into your larger world that you share. Thank you. You let many of us be part of a world of knitters and people beyond our small towns.
I discovered Craftville, Blogland in about March last year, and it was like entering into a whole new exciting world. And then I discovered your blog, which was another massive eye opener. I hadn’t known about knitting blogs before! I think I joined Ravelry not long after (which I love, but reading knitting blogs is different). In that time I’ve gone from a being a beginner knitter who could only knit hats (not in the round) and a scarf, to being inspired to try stepping out of my comfort zone and volunteering to test knit a child’s cardigan pattern (not yet finished but close), and I’ve just started a scarf from Nancy Bush’s Estonian Lace book. So thank you for your entertaining inspiration. I very much appreciate it. One day soon I’m going to try knitting a sock!
Over the last little while, it seems like you may have been feeling that Ravelry has really taken over the entire knitting community, but I can easily say that it hasn’t. I adore Ravelry and spend time there every single day, but it is only one aspect of the knitting community. Yes, it has become an important aspect of the community, but it is not THE community. The community is way, way, way bigger than Ravelry.
Knitting blogs matter. What goes on in LYSes continues to matter. What classes people take matter. Without them, Ravelry would be an empty shell. Instead, it is all the external forces that make Ravelry a great place.
For example, you make A Pretty Thing. We adore said Thing. The Pretty Thing becomes available for purchase on Ravelry. We’re able to both share the experience and give something back to you by purchasing the pattern. It’s a circle and it benefits pretty much everyone involved.
So, while you may be wondering what purpose your blog serves , don’t think anyone who reads it is asking that.
In all honesty I had not heard if MSF until your blog mentioned it!
I am sorry that there are people who have made you wonder if putting yourself out there is worth it. Like so many others, I am deeply appreciative that you do. Your honesty allows me to forgive my shortcomings, to say that it’s okay to prefer knitting to cooking, cleaning, heck most everything.
I’m not eloquent with words (I’d rather knit than work on my writing) so I’ll just stop with a big ol’ thank you. And a plea that you don’t stop sharing yourself with us.
Happy 6th Blogaversary! (It’s a word now! Remember “kinnearing?”)
Your comments on life, writing and fiber have brightened my days. You’ve made me laugh out loud in very strange situations. (Reading blog on iPhone in a crowded elevator.) You’ve inspired me, challenged me and humbled me. I thank you for every word.
As for the donation total…. People who play with sticks and string are awesome. What else can be said?
Steph, although you would not recognize me if we met face to face, you have become a very important part of my life. Yes, my knitting life to a large extent, but also someone I can bring into my home whenever I feel the need to hear words of kindness from someone I’ve come to respect. Your writing sometimes makes me laugh (even at myself) and at other times causes me look at situations from different perspectives. The selfish part of me encourages you to keep it up, but on the other hand I realize that it is not an easy “job” you have taken on. While there are always those who are critical, try to remember that there are also those of us who are very appreciative of the work that you do. Please keep it up.
Stephanie, Ravelry, twitter and facebook are out there, but blogs have their unique place. Ravelry, twitter and facebook are more instantly conversational,’tis true. But you nailed it when you said that a blog allows each reader/ writer to contribute uninterrupted. It’s expected that blog writers/readers will offer thoughtful, thought-out interchanges.
The “social media” are the interchanges you have as you’re zipping from one place or thing to the next. Blogs more approximate nice dinner-table conversation, or the conversation in your living room. Blogs offer thinking, observation, and reflection, and fill a great need.
Your blog has offered me new experiences in knitting, observations about family, and lessons about life. I wouldn’t be without it.
I haven’t read the comments, yet, so I don’t know whether anyone has already pointed this out, but that number? It looks like a binary number– all ones and zeros.
Steph, I look forward to your blog every day. I read your tweets to my non-knitting husband, who finds them as amusing as I do. It’s a cliche, I know, but you’re a ray of sunshine.
And, seeing how many people read and respond to your blog, I hardly think it’s obsolete.
Happy 6th Blogiversary! Thank you for being there for me to check in with every day or so, you have become such a regular part of my little world.
And WOO-HOOOOOOOOO KWB over $1million! We so rock!
And so do you:)
Aww. That made me very, very happy. I was worried for a moment that you were going to say it had turned damaging and you were done.
I don’t remember when I discovered your blog, but it was pretty soon after I started knitting (or after I started taking knitting seriously, I guess), which was my last year of high school– about four years ago. This blog, and the online knitting community in general, has meant a whole lot to me as I’ve been dealing with transitions and feeling isolated and trying to work myself into a reasonable adult.
I think it’s terribly interesting that people come to this at all different points in their lives and still find the same posts and community meaningful.
Thank you for the blog.
Starting to read your books and your blog are both directly and indirectly responsible for some pretty valuable things and events in my past few years. My renewed interest in knitting. My further exploration of the blogosphere. Some extremely valuable new friendships. My discovery of ‘nice’ yarn. The word Kinnear. Rhinebeck, baby (and, by association, the ACI…mmmmm). I always fear a bit, when you have one of these introspecty posts, that you are going to announce that you’re closing the blog (which is, of course, your right, if/as/when you choose to do so) and I always breathe a big sigh of relief to know that you will still be there, like a present in my inbox, to be snatched up and read FIRST. Thank you, and happy blogiversary to you, and to your wonderful family. Thank you also, to Ken.
Happy Blogiversary! And that total- how inspiring, how amazing… it really brings tears to my eyes.
As for knitting blogs…while I’ve avoided twitter, hang out on facebook once in awhile, and I ADORE Ravely, there’s just something special about a blog. A knitting blog with good writing or good photography (better yet, both) is inspring to me in a way nothing else is. (and they often inspire me to part with more of my money. heh)
That amount in binary (if you think of the doller sign as a Zero) is an F! F for Friendship, Freedom, Fervo, Feat of maybe just holy F*** that’s a lot!
Others have expressed it so well, that I can only agree: your blog is a real treat, I check it out every day, and miss it when it’s not there. Please continue sharing your humor, insights and knitting education, I’ve really learned a lot; my favorite is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s baby surprise jacket, which I learned about from you. Thanks for everything, and happy blogiversary!! Hope for many more to come.
Who would have thought a blog that would generate over one million dollars for a charity!!!! You did that….has to be a world record.
It is a privilege to be a part of your life. Thanks for sharing…
Thank you, Stephanie, for this blog and uniting knitters everywhere. I for one (and I’m sure others, too) read this blog because its a lifeline for me. You offer me just few minutes of respite from a life that is sometimes really tough. Bless you…and please keep blogging!
This blog matters to me! Since I have found it in December of last year, I check every day. It has become part of my everyday life! It’s a pretty amazing thing when a blog about knitting by a woman I have never met can make me laugh and cry. Thank you!
(P.S. I cried because of the over $1 million raised by YOU. I do NOT believe that people would have given without your blog.)
You’re welcome. Your writing is a delight to read and has inspired many in the knitting community to think beyond the craft. Happy anniversary, Steph.
Happy blogiversary! I’m sure it’s an official word somewhere…after all, NYTimes recognized kinnearing.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog over the past few years, and (as someone who has had blogger’s block for 6 months now) admire how through all that time you’ve been able to share so many moments in your life with us. Thank you!
Stephanie –
Thank you for opening up your life to all of us – your blog is one of the first places I go when I want to take a break from the rest of the world!
it matters to me too. happy anniversary 🙂
Congratulations for all the fantastic good you have done for Doctors Without Borders. I always donate to charities through my church, but because of you I have donated an extra amount to Doctors Without Borders. I like the idea of knitters making a difference. And this is all because of you.
Thank you and wishing you many more happy years blogging.
oops! i hit send before i could add these words of wisdom from a.a. milne
Now We are Six (1927)
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I’m as clever as clever,
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.
happy 6th!
you are absolutely correct, a blog is weird community and moves “like a crowd”, sometimes in a way individuals would not pick seprately… I am also surprised to see how important some of the blogs I read have become to me… I started reading about knitting (yay, obsession is normal!), then about motherhood (I cannot be the only mother out there who feels that much stress!), then about hobbies and cooking and work… and… and… and now I regularly read a bunch of blogs and will actually call friends to ask if they’ve read a recent post, etc… this is a new thing for the readers too, a few years back, who would have guessed? some may claim it is voyeurism, i think of it as an incredible opportunity to meet kindred spirits in new ways enabled by technology. I have “people” friends and I have “virtual” friends and I have people I have never met and might never meet in person but that I still feel connected to on a special basis… and by sharing your life, your stories, you allow for this special bond. so thank you for your generosity. because that is what it is: taking this risk and opening up the door to your living room: it is making the first move in a “relationship” and in that, it is very generous and brave on your part. sometimes your posts make me laugh, sometimes they touch my heart, sometimes they make me feel like someone else out there “gets it” and I wouldn’t trade that. so thank you again for going out on a limb and being you.
Happy blogiversary, Steph! I’ve enjoyed reading your posts for a long time. Please keep them coming!
As I was reading this post, I started thinking about what it would be like to not have your blog in my life, and I started to cry a bit. I realize that sounds odd. But it made me appreciate how very much I enjoy and am so pleased to be the teensiest part of this community. Thank you, all of you.
Did you say cake? There’s cake? It’s a party, shouldn’t there be cake?
But seriously, I thought you were about to quit on us, and that would be a damned shame. Don’t underestimate the joy your writing brings to many people’s lives. I am happy you get the chance to diversify, although each is draining I’m sure, but you will have an audience in each medium: books, blogs, tweats, or whatever comes next.
Neither should you underestimate your part of that million dollars. I have given to the United Way through payroll deduction for years, heck I even won the good parking spot one year! But I seriously doubt that I would have given even a fraction of what you have prodded me to donate to MSF. You MADE me think of them as a member of my family, and because of you that phantom child gets a damned good Christmas present every year.
I am very sorry that some folks don’t have the mental health to understand proper social boundaries, and feel the need to latch on to a public figure in order to exorcise their private demons. Knowing that you have made thousands if not millions of good friends through this window doesn’t keep you safe if someone decides to make it personal, and we do worry about you sometimes.
Life has dealt you, like all of us, joys and hardships and you have shared many of them with us and let us tell you about ours. You have been kind enough to respond privately to so many of our stories and comments, and to be our visiting friend as you travelled on your book tours. If the hardships seem too difficult to bear in your own life, please just remember that you have helped ease the hardship of others in over a million ways. There has to be a karmic come-back for that.
We cherish you.
Now where’s my damned cake?
Oh, and: arse. We thank you for that, too.
Happy 6th blogiversary, Steph, and many more to come. Your blog does matter in many lives, including mine. I had to scroll quick to the bottom of your post just to make sure you weren’t saying this would be the end….Please continue as you do make a difference! Thank you!
I haven’t read all the comments so it’s entirely possible that I’m repeating previous sentiments but I wanted to share with you what this blog has meant to me.
I’ve been undergoing a whole bucket full of personal change in the past year which keeps bringing a question to my mind about not having a clue as to who I am. Slowly I’m starting to cling to things I enjoy, blogs that resonate with me, activities that bring me peace and kitting has been a huge part of that. I love reading your blog because I relate to it as a knitter and I get to see this huge wonderful community that I actually feel like I belong to.
When I discovered your knitting without borders tally I knew that is where I wanted my donations to be counted. Donating money by myself felt kind of lonely and being able to donate and then be counted within this group gave me immense pride in the knitting community and pride in feeling like I belonged within the group.
Thank you for blogging for the last 6 years, thank you for continuing to blog now. Thanks for making me feel connected to something bigger than myself.
Dear Stephanie
I too had a little heart flip when I started reading,
then I had a big heart flip when I finished!
Congratulations on your 6th anniversary blogging and on that totally awesome total for MSF,
I look everyday for a new post and would have a big hole in my life if you were to stop.
I think of you as a friend and you make my day brighter.
thank you
Donna
I found your blog a few months ago and started reading the archives immediately. I started knitting at 10 and had picked it up and put it down more than once. You gave me the courage to try socks, and then more complicated socks. Then you showed me Blue Moon and STR and I’ve joined the Domination Tour now too. And if I can scrape together the dough, I’m going to Sock Camp. The addiction is complete. 🙂
It was (and is) a joy seeing your daughters grow and change. I have 2 little dudes (3 and 6) who are my joy and your family shows me what I hope the future will hold. And when said little dudes are being difficult (imagine that, small children being difficult), your blog makes me laugh and knitting provides stress relief … and they both like peas (frozen, then cooked but no butter, salt or anything).
And I love that you think “this might be fun” and invent the Knitting Olympics, KWB, Sock Summit, etc. and make it come true. So thank you … a lot.
Well, it certainly matters to me too! A friend and I were just talking about you today, referring to you by first name and saying how we felt you were one of our knitting “group” and as such, a friend to rejoice with and worry about!
Congratulations and Happy Blogaversary! The last year or so has brought many personal challenges for me and I learned to knit! Since then, I’ve discovered your blog and your books. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed all that you share (at some personal cost, I can guess). Thank you. On a personal level, you make each day brighter and in the bigger picture you do make a difference every day – +$1,000,000! God bless.
Seemed like today would be the appropriate time to be less of a lurker in order to say: You have brightened many a day for me. Whether commenting on parenthood, house (dis)repair or (shock) knitting, I always look forward to finding out what you have to say. There have been times we have disagreed (and I have wisely kept my mouth shut: it is your room) and times I could have shouted “amen” (ok, so I’m pretty shy and didn’t speak up then much either). All in all, it’s been a joy to read this blog, and may you celebrate many more “blogiversaries.” I’m sure that’s a word. My husband and I celebrated our “luniversary” every month the first year we were married 🙂
Phew! (and I admit I didn’t read all the comments here) I was getting worried that that post was leading up to the dreaded “taking a blog break” that sometimes extends into the “I’m done with the blog now.” And I didn’t know how I’d deal with that!
Thank you for the blog and for bringing out the best in so many of us with your humor and earnestness and perseverance and silliness.
I’ve been a faithful reader for most of the 2 1/2 years I’ve been knitting, and like so may others, went back and read the blog from start to finish. Thanks for being you, and sharing that with us! I’ve been twitter-stalking you for updates to the KWB total, and am so happy to see us pass that $1,000,000 mark. A friend mentioned to me at garden club that she didn’t know who to donate to and she wanted to donate to help haiti. . . I immediately said MSF/DWB. . . that is your doing! So while knitters have donated a million, think about all those knitters who have encouraged non-knitters to donate!
that dollar total brought tears to my eyes. what we accomplish as a whole is always greater than as individuals. especially this blog. you’ve always made it about the collective — thanks for making room for us. through your heartache and joys you’ve stood fast and strong. you are what is best in womankind. your daughters’ smiles show that — each of them …. i can’t imagine how bright they shine in person!
BRAVA to you and to us.
Thank you for all the pleasure you’ve given me reading your blog. You are always a bright light in my day. Wish you and your family all the best.
One word. Cool!
Awesome! Congrats on making it to 1 million!
….So what was this you were saying about cake?
I rarely post comments, but I read your blog regularly. I just wanted to say that your blog matters to me.
Thanks for every word over the last 6 years.
Tee
Hi Stephanie,
I don’t comment very often. You get hundreds of comments every day. But sometimes I feel like I have something worth reading and then I will. I’ve been reading your blog since I found it by accident in 2005, and I have learned so much from it and from you. I learned about Bohus sweaters, and I knit with you in the first Knitting Olympics. I bought your first book, and I felt your stress and pain over your child going over seas. I learned that squirrels are not to be trusted around yarn, and that when the worst happens, people usually step up and show us that most of us are really generous people. I started my own blog to have a place to tell others (all 3 of them, lol) what I felt and what I knit and even if it’s nothing more than a place that my mom can keep up with me and the kids, it’s been worth it. I want to tell you that *you* matter to me, and your blog does too, and I look forward to your posts every few days to help me laugh or find something new to obsess over (knitting wise).
Happy Blogiversary
Cambria
No problem! Coming right back at you!!
Thank you for your blog, I have enjoyed it so much during the last six years. I also have to say that, at least in my case, you deserve much credit for the knitters without borders total. I remember the first time you mentioned DWB on your blog, it was near the holidays and you asked us to set aside what we didn’t need and give to DWB. I had never heard of them, and although I do give to other causes, I gave more. I always meant to give more back, but your post moved me to do so. You made me feel happy and lucky to be able to do so and I thank you for writing a blog post that could nudge me to do something gladly I always meant to do.
You’re a wonderful writer and I hope that the blog brings you as much joy as you give to us, the readers.
Back when I started reading your blog – and was such a groupie when you came to McGill U in Mtl !! – I was there due to knitting. You talked about it, shared, I even discovered Lettuce Knit (which I visit when I go to Toronto for business purpose) etc.. Then one day you wrote a note to your teenage daughter that I thought expressed some feelings that – although some of it I have already tried to say to my own daughter – made so much more sense and brought worthy words to simple feelings. So I remember asking you if I could translate that in French for my teenage daughter to read.. She and I talked about it. Shared strong emotions. So in a nutshell, I do not only come for the knitting now, I come for the simple act of sharing – you sharing your words, your thoughts, your life and us answering back when we can. Sharing with other fellow knitters, which at the end of the day, bring me closer to what is really truly great about being human: the love of everything we share. Happy Blogiversary !
Stephanie,
I have never posted a comment before but want you to know I read your blog every morning. You have carried me through the cancer diagnosis and subsequent death of my husband. Some days reading your post was the only good thing of the day. Thank you for your humor, pathos, and sensitivity.
Yours in yarn,
Margie
Yours was the first blog I found, and even tho I rarely say anything, I read your blog and reach out to you on the good days and the very hard ones, just as I do with my ‘in person’ loved friends. Ravelry’s too big, way too big; please don’t stop writing and leave us to Ravelry!!! You give so much in so many ways. Thank you, Stephanie.
Dee
Happy B-versary! I, too, was getting scared while reading this post that you were going to conclude that this was it–the end of the blog. While you, of course, need to do what you need to do for yourself and your family, I do hope that you get enough positive things out of the blogging experience to continue. I would miss reading your funny, helpful, and wise words so terribly if you ceased to blog! I really enjoy your twitter posts, too, but blog entries & tweets are so different. I don’t think one replaces the other at all. I generally don’t post comments because there are so many, but I did want to add my voice to the chorus saying thank you and (I hope) many happy returns!
Thanks for BLOGGING- yours is the blog I read first (and sometimes the only one). Yes, I used Ravelry and sometimes think that I knit more before it existed. I love your sense of humor and I like you blog better when you have time to stay home!
Oh, Stephanie, I am so glad you’re not leaving the blog — at least, not yet. I was prepared, and I was going to be brave and accept your decision, but oh how I’d miss you!
And TSF? Amazing. Such a joy to be part of this community.
Happy day!
Thank you for sharing your blog and life with us all! Yours is the only blog I ever read aloud to my (non-knitting) boyfriend. Articulate and laugh-out-loud funny.
I sort of hate to admit this, but I may not have donated if it weren’t for you. My income has lessened dramatically in the past few months, and I just need a reminder sometimes, and if it comes not from a corporation or preaching celeb, but someone who takes the time to share her knitting and life with the world — a real person who happens to have a huge reach — it just made sense and I did it without hesitation. So thank you! I so appreciate your little nudge. Maybe this is weird, but your blog made me feel bigger than my little donation. you are an inspiration.
Thank you for having the courage and the tenacity to share your life with us out in cyberspace it brings such joy as well as reflection I look forward everyday to check your blog to see your latest project,or see how your family is doing and even check what latest appliance has broken in your house 🙂 . So happy blogiversity i wish you many more years to come.
Happy 6th Anniversary! Don’t stop blogging please – you bring laughter to my life and constantly remind me of the merit in writing – not writing a facebook status, texting, or tweeting – but writing. And you are an AWESOME writer. That said, you brought more than a few tears to my eyes with that million dollar total, and made me proud that I was a part of it.
Stephanie, you have many miles to go – don’t stop. You make a difference in the world.
And thank you for writing. It matters to me. :o)
(There’s no way Ravelry groups could ever replace blogs. They’re an interesting addition to . . . but I would sorely miss my favorite bloggers.)
Oh, Happy 6th Blogoversity, Steph! Thank you so much for inviting us into your life and your knitting. You make my day many days and I love all the posters too, reading about their lives too. Thanks for letting us meet in your “living room.”
A Million Bucks!?! Knitters rock. I’m so proud of us.
I don’t think i would have left a comment if you hadn’t said you read them all. In that case, you should know that I totally enjoy reading your blog each time you post. I love the social challenge you bring and your compassion for others. It is good to be reminded that this world is about more than what it can give me. Plus I enjoy the inspiration to keep trying to improve my craft! Thanks for sharing your life…
Your blog has meant a lot in my knitting life over the years I’ve been reading – and not commenting – so at six years it is time to say thank you –
for all the laughs -I’m still smiling about the truck stuck in the snow,
for the inspiration – I’ve knit many things without winding the yarn into a ball – I’m now going to Madrona for the second time – inspired by your writing about it and the photos of all you great teachers – and I’ve become a regular donor to Doctors without Borders – even though I don’t report to you as I should
and I’m soon going to knit some socks – after 50 years of knitting it is time –
again – thanks for all your good work.
Congratulations on your 6th Blogiversary, my second was the 22nd and yours was one of the first blogs I read. It is always a treat, it is honest, it is revealing of the way other knitters think and it is a grounding or meeting point for us as people as well as knitters. The efforts of knitters in donating to MSF is amazing and would not have been acknowledged without you putting in the effort of recording the tally, that, if nothing else, helps us to quantify an aspect of the importance of the community you bring together by the presence of your blog. Good luck for the next 6 years and the 6 after that and the 6 after that.
There are numerous comments above that say what I feel but say it much more eloquently than I ever could. Please keep on keeping on for your writing and knitting are inspiration to this newbie knitter.
Happy Blogiversary!
And FWIW, I never would have given to Doctors Without Borders, had you not brought it to my attention. And I know I’m not alone in that.
Thank you.
Way to go! You deserve chocolate cake.
I don’t think I have anything to add to what has already been said, but I did want to say thank you. Thank you for writing and sharing snipits of your life so that I may be entertained. Congratulations on 6 years of harlotry!
ps: Right now, I could really go for a lemon poundcake:)
and the blog matters to me! and to us!!!
very much!
helga
Happy Anniversary and many blessings to you with heartfelt thanks for opening up the world of knitting to me. My mom taught me to knit when I was a teenager and I dabbled in it now and then (the same Christmas slippers for my family for decades). I found your blog and bought your book and am now working on my fourth pair of socks. I didn’t think it was possible to learn to knit with more than two needles at my age but I am doing it. I am trying different kinds of needles and patterns and ripping back and throwing it down in disgust – but I pick it back up again and that is because of you and your passion. You have shown by example that I CAN do this, it is worthwhile and exciting and I desperately want to try my hand at a sweater soon AND THERE ARE NO KNITTING POLICE. Thanks especially for that 🙂
I was teary-eyed by the 3rd paragraph and burst into tears when I got to the $1,000,000. If you do nothing else in the years left to you, that’s an amazing accomplishment. I’ve always put my donation dollars in Heifer’s wallet but the last couple years I’ve also contributed thru you, and to see it hit a MILLION freaking dollars is just goose-pimple-making wonderful.
You’re a modern day hero.
happy anniversary, by the way!
helga
Thank you, especially for all the belly laughs! Favorite story that comes to mind right away – your battles against the evil wool-stealing squirrel!
The other posters are right: you feel like a friend to all of us, dude.
We love you. Thank you for continuing to share your stories, thoughts and observations. You are priceless 🙂
You realize, don’t you, that you need to change the “Current goal” on your blog? How lovely!
Thanks for all the fun. Happy anniversary.
I just discovered you last year so what’s so cool is how new people are coming on board late, then reading back from the beginning and catching up. I enjoy your blog very much and it’s a bright spot on the internet. Congrats on your blog anniversary.
Congratulations, and many thanks for sharing your knitting and your life with us. I can’t imagine the blog universe (blogiverse?) without you!
Thank you for sharing it all with us. You’ve summed up, far more eloquently than I’ve ever managed, all that is good and bad about blogging. And that, in the end, the good outweighs the bad. Thank you for also being one of the inspirations to my starting my own blog lo! those 4+ years ago.
Congratulations! It occurs to me that I’ve been reading for something like four of those six years. And to be honest, not many people that blog have much of anything that’s interesting to say. How many people still read anything that’s longer than a paragraph? You are blogging in its purest sense. Anyone can blog. Only the rare few can do it successfully and still find it enlightening and uplifting in many ways. I hope you will treat yourself to a beer and some nice yarn in celebration. If not, I’ll happily do it for you…
Cheers!
Daisy
I just discovered your blog this year. Your blog is the first thing I check in the morning. I returned to knitting after an absence of about 20 years when I found out that I was going to be a grandfather. I have learned so much from your blog and your books. Thank you so much for sharing your passion for knitting and for life.
Happy Blogiversary! I am so glad that the blog is as rewarding for you as it is meaningful to me. When snafu became the only way to describe the last couple of years for me and my family your blog was always there for a laugh, some insight, knitterly advice, yarn porn, or a means of putting things in perspective. Thank you.
I just love you (in the “love a person you don’t know” sort of way) – you are a level-headed, down to earth, brilliant, funny and knitterly Canadian – and that’s just a whole lot of awesome.
Thanks for making me smile, think and knit smarter.
2 things….1) I didn’t know much about MSF before I read your blog. I wouldn’t have donated to them, nor as much, without your nudging. THANK YOU. 2) my kids much preferred to eat frozen corn, not peas. But we had to be careful, because the cat would bat the cup of frozen corn out of their hands, and _he’d_ eat them off the floor, while the child cried. The cat only did this for corn, not peas. Yes, he knew which they had.
Happy blogiversary! Thank you for sharing your good times and bad with us. Thanks for sharing what’s in your mind as it is often what is in our minds but we just don’t say it. Thanks for laughs, thanks for causing us to stop and think, thanks for encouraging us.
I’m glad that our comments mean something to you too.
I am so happy to be part of that $1,000,000 and growing total. That’s a lot of zeros by the way.
One last thing, growing up in my house, when you wanted frozen peas, you had to ask for them by name…”ice balls.” We would line up with our plastic bowls waiting for Mom to dish out ice balls.
What a lovely tribute to the blog and to us your readers. Thank you Stephanie for spending a little bit of your time with us for six wonderful years.
Happy blogiversary! And thank you for helping me to rediscover my love of knitting.
Happy Blogiversary! I’m new to knitting and to your blog and I have to tell you that going through the archives and reading up until the present day was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining reads of my life. Thank you.
Happy 6 years writing a blog. That is huge!! And major congratulations on reaching a million dollars for Doctors Without Borders. As I read your blog today I thought about community, and change. Knitting brings us together as a common strand [really, no pun intended] but we are all about life. I see this in my knitting group, we all knitting away, but talking about family, community, etc. Your community is larger because of your blog. The world connects differently today due to our technology, and this will constantly evolve [change] with each new advance. I like to think my friend base continues to grow and grow even with people I only meet on my computer through blogs and ravelry. Knowing you through your blog has been a wonderful experience. You have inspired me to try new things. Best wishes for your future postings. 6 years is an amazing accomplishment.
Happy 6th, Steph. Look at what you’ve accomplished! And really, while it took some really amazing folks to get to that total, withouth you there would be no Knitters Without Borders and we (knitters) wouldn’t have now given over a million (I can’t believe I just typed that!!!) dollars to Doctors Without Borders. You have broadened my horizons and pushed me to be a better person simply by blogging. That’s powerful! You make a difference. Thank you.
Steph, if you ever think of ceasing to blog, “the alpaca gets it!” What you’ve done via this blog is amazing. You’ve touched so many lives in so many wonderful ways. In my little corner of the world, I’ve laughed with you, cried with you, and done interpretive dances with you. I’ve knit, spun, and dyed with you. You’re like my wacky roommate from college who’ll always be my sister, and even though we never speak, I’m certain that we could always pick up right where we left off. Thanks, Steph, from the bottom of my wooly heart, for being here. A Harlotless world would be sad indeed. I hope you raised a glass or three on this, your blogiversary!
I wondered if it would be too much–the “slings and arrows” and such. I’m enriched by reading your bloggings and hope you keep on. We all have done a good job in giving! Thanks for your leadership!
Six years is amazing. Over one million donated to MSF is amazing. I give you that.
The thing that is truely amazing though, is you. You sign on, pour your thoughts and your passion into this little piece of the internet. And you know what happens?
You inspire. You have inspired many to become a better knitter. You have inspired many to give to a charity they may or may not have given to.
I know because I am one of the many that you have inspired. So please, dont thank me. It is I who owe you the thanks.
Thank you for being simply amazing.
Congratulations I was afraid youwere going to say no more blogging!
It’s great to read and be part of your knitting world and to help others in need. thank you so much!
Happy blogaversary
Stephanie–I totally admire you in so many ways: your love and pride in your family; your talent as a writer and a knitter and a teacher; your honesty in what you share with us here on your blog; your loyalty to your friends; your dedication to raising money for MSF/DWB. I know there is more, but I am glowing in the wonder of it all, so I will say Happy Blogiversary and good night!
I appreciate you. I look forward to your posts more than any other blog I follow. You make me smile, laugh out loud even. You make my husband ask me why I’m smirking. You make me KNIT. Thank you for bringing together this community. It matters.
Happy Blogiversary!
Been reading your blog for 5 of those 6 years, this is my second comment in all this time(I’m a lurker) and I’m sure I’m not the only one, but you have inspired me and more adventurous knitting. I know it’s a lot of work keeping this going whit everything else you do books etc. it is very much appreciated. I hope you’ll be part of our lives for a long time to come.
Also: Black Forest cake, Yum!
Happy blogiversary!!!!!! I really enjoy reading your blog and being a part of this wonderful community. That’s an amazing amount of donations to MSF/DWB 😀 Thank you for sharing yourself with us, Steph!
I like cake 🙂
I haven’t read through all the 353 comments which precede mine, so I’m sure what I have to say has already been said. However…… I THANK YOU for writing this blog. You are warm, witty and wonderful to read about. I couldn’t get to the Sock Summit but I read every word and looked at every picture you posted. You are a woman to be admired (and I do!). Even when some days are difficult to get through, please know that you have an immense following who wish only the best for you and your family. Blog on!!!!
On this momentous occasion I wanted to thank you for a couple of things.
Thank you for being part of the process that brought me back to knitting, something I hadn’t touched in years.
Thank you for the wonderful post about Baadeck Yarns and Fleece Artist. I now have to visit it every time I go visit my grandparents (which is not often enough, because I currently live in the US, but knowing my penchant for beautiful things I fear that if I lived any closer I would be broke).
Thank you for giving me the courage to step outside my comfort zone and cast on a lace shawl (using the aforementioned Fleece Artist SeaSilk, in “Celtic Colours” — go big or go home, as I now say!). It’s not nearly done yet, but I will send you a picture when it is.
Thank you for the story about Joe and the truck and the snow. Priceless, priceless, priceless. And for countless other posts that brightened me day.
Thank you for personally confirming that making sure that I had 5 projects of various sorts in my suitcases when I traveled was not crazy but in fact not nearly enough and I should aim for double digits.
And this last thing is probably the thing I thank you for the most. I’ve been feeling kinda cynical lately about people and their compassion and such given the political climate around here these days. Thank you for reminding me that one little drop in the bucket doesn’t go far, but when combined with one million and one hundred and nine others — well, it can go far far indeed. My donation is forthcoming.
Of course we would have anyway (to many good causes including MSF), but the occasional nudge never hurts. (By we I mean my husband and I; I don’t presume to speak for any other member of the blog.) Happy blogiversary!
Steph, I’m just glad you’re in my/our world, knitterly, canadian, human.
I guess a good blog is a little like a child. It doesn’t always go where you expect (or want), and sometimes it may be hurtful or rude. But oh, what we would all have missed if not for this space. I dragged my mother to a talk you gave a few years ago, so I didn’t have to go alone. But you were so warm and funny, she sometimes reads your blog. And she doesn’t knit. Thank you so much for sharing this piece of yourself.
Thank YOU for the blog. I used to read the old Usenet knitting group, and I’d scan through the posts looking for the ones by that Stephanie Pearl woman… I will always remember the skating story. I was thrilled when I found your blog so many years ago. It has been wonderful to watch your family grow up, to watch you try new things, to see projects come and go, and to learn so much, not just about knitting, but about life as well. Thank you for putting yourself out there for all these years – and please don’t stop!
As for the MSF donations – we may have done it anyway, but I know that I, for a fact, have donated more, since you reminded me of all that I do have, and all that others do not. Thank you for being our fearless leader.
From the very bottom of my heart, thank you. Your blog has been an incredible source of humor, inspiration, and wisdom for the past six years. You’re a wonderful friend who is always there when we need you, night or day. You may be writing about knitting, but what you’re really doing is teaching us about life. And I appreciate it. So thank you, happy blogiversary, and I hope you never stop writing!
Thank you for writing it.
Your wonderful writing has brought laughter and tears into my knitting life. You’ve shared ways of expressing ourselves about our knitting and owning that we think it’s pretty remarkable without feeling we’re boasting. I am truly sorry the blog has brought you grief and hope that the joy you send out to us knitters and that I hope we reflect back to you is worth the risk.
Thank you.
Thank You! How many times I have looked for you and you seem to be there for me. Thank You! Happy Blogiversary (I think you have made another new word).
The feeling is mutual. Thank YOU, my friend!
A MILLION amazing dollars!
As someone who’s read your blog for about half its life (and let their own knitting blog die a slow, quiet death), I have to say that you wrote a beautiful, heartfelt post. Over time I’ve become more involved in Facebook and, to a smaller extent, I’m a Twitter-lurker. But in my ever-changing Google Reader subscriptions, I look forward to reading what you have to say. It’s not easy–in fact, it can be quite soul-baring. You write so beautifully and humorously, and express what most knitters feel regarding fiber and foibles. Thanks, Stephanie, for sharing yourself and your family with us!
And yes, knitters ROCK THE WORLD when it comes to helping others. Congrats on the latest MSF total…outstanding!
Amen, Rams! and bless Ken! and THANK YOU, Stephanie – I won’t try to come up with more human/knitting/civil comments that everyone else has used – just THANK YOU for being you – and letting us “be” with you.Knitters are scary good people, yes?
Thank you for writing your blog, your books, and for being the awesome woman you are. Happy blogiversary, and holy $1 million batman.
Stephanie, thank you for inviting us into your home and for chatting with us as if we’ve been lifelong friends. I always enjoy my visit and I always look forward to the next. I love what you’ve done with this blog and with all the opportunities that you’ve earned through your efforts. Thank you for making the world a better place. In the same way that that you are proud of how your children make their way in the world. I am so very proud of you. You’ve done good!
– Denise (dlotter on ravelry)
Happy Blogiversary!! A million bucks, eh? That is awesome.
Considering the modern gift for a 6th anniversary is ‘wood’ means it’s a good excuse to go out and by some new needles.
Best from Texas,
Chris
I absolutely LOVE your blog and the funny thing is – I don’t even knit. I check your blog everyday to see what you have written. Your writing style and humor always bring a smile to my face, and of course, I am always bowled over by your honesty and zest for life. I had never heard of Doctors without Borders before I read it here on your blog – so thank you. You are amazing!! Oh yeah, and you are absolutely right about the peas. My kiddies LOVE them!! 🙂
I was going to wish you a happy (mostly) six years. But then I thought maybe all the comments should talk about peas. Lots of little green frozen peas. Which my daughter did go through a phase of eating gobs of shortly after turning 1. Now we are almost 2 1/2 and, of course, she shuns them.
Wow!!! Thank you so much for writing this blog, writing your books, teaching…I could go on forever with all that you do for the knitting community. Most of all thank you for inspiring us to give a million dollars.
Happy Blogiversary!! Here are to many, many more years of you sharing your living room with us!
Thank you 🙂
I love frozen peas. And chocolate cake. Mmmm! Cake! Happy blogiversary! Celebrate with frozen peas and chocolate cake… but not together. That would be less-than-good.
Happy Blogoversary. Thank YOU for being here, too. : )
6 years! congratulations and thank you for continuing to write it!. It is so very true how the comments often take one tangent but perversely the posts that mean the most to me and brighten up my day the most are often the ones I don’t comment on. I love the way you write about all sorts of aspects of life and your process of getting your head around it. I particularly like the way you write about your relationships with people and the ongoing types of interaction that make life so varied and interesting. (and how knitting interweaves itself in amongst that!) I went to my friend’s wedding the other day (a first for our group and a wee bit mind boggling but vv happy) and the honest and positive speech someone made about marriage and the realities of life really struck me as something that isn’t heard often enough. Most forms of media are so caught up in fairy tales and scandals that daily life is rarely celebrated. You do and it inspires and encourages me to make sure I hang on to aspects of me that are vulnerable to the ravages of deadlines and stresses. It is also fantastic to read your discussions of knitting. Rav is useful for many things but I haven’t yet seen the same detailed communication of knowledge there as on blogs- or the same discussion of decision making and design considerations of an individual project.
You’re pretty effing awesome. all of us may do small things but you have created a pool of people that can be inspired by each other and especially you to take it several levels further. It’s a bit like a cross-country running group. Seeing others get stuck in is one of the best sources of motivation. So thank you in both a massive flashing lights and a warm banana cake glow of appreciation. I hope you don’t get any hurtful rotters this year and that all the hard things improve in what ever way they can. Reading your blog has become something I really truly appreciate. THANK YOU!!!
Oh thank goodness! I keep worrying (so, so selfishly) that things are bad/progressive enough that you won’t want to blog anymore.
Reading your blog and sharing your lifeview/experiences here is a highlight in my online world. I share many of your stories with friends/family — especially the muggles. They could always convert!
I admire your honesty and your ability to rise above. It’s inspriring and motivating.
I am THRILLED to tears to see the new total and you know what? It’s higher than that. I know I give monthly and I can’t be the only one. I’ve told many people about MSF since I learned about it here. There is a cumulative effect that cannot be measured even in $ and I thank you for calling our attention to a way we can provide meaningful help to others.
And I thank all the other generous knitters and non-knitters alike who help make visits to your blog so fun and informative!
Hugs!
Thank you.
Hugs, and Love.
wow. 1 million. i am sooooo proud to be a part of that! thanks, steph, for offering this opportunity.
u rock.
My dearling friend -a community, even a fine and excellent community made up of independent, free-thinking modern people of all flavors and sorts – needs a Director, a Leader….a Sachem. Not to tell us what to do or how to do it….just to point when all of our heads are looking around so we know the direction to look. You’re our Sachem. No…..BETTER! You,my dear, are our Clan Mother. Thank you for that, and as for the rest: you’re welcome!
A lot of people might have donated without your call, but I’m betting there’s a lot of people who just wouldn’t have thought about doing it without your gentle boot to the pants. Lots of people want to help, but they need direction. Your request gives people direction. And, also, it takes the work out of figuring out *who* they should give to. so, yeah, in a lot of ways, you’re significantly responsible for raising that money 🙂
Thank YOU for sticking with it, even when it’s been hard, even when you are hurting. It’s easy to write a blog when everything is going well and there’s all sorts of fun things happening. It’s much harder when stuff is flying at you from the proverbial fan and you’re busy ducking and covering and crying in the corner. Ask me how I know this. You’ve managed that, managed to keep putting words out there for us, even when it was hard to do so. And I, for one, am grateful to you for that. You started your blog in ’04, about the time when my life blew up and I was on the road fulltime (and blogging it actually.) I finally caught up with you a year or so later when I had a chance to sit down somewhere for awhile. Since then, I’ve watched just how much you have brought people together, how many your words, your philosophies and your fabulous humor have affected in positive ways. Laughter really is the best medicine!
One of the neat things about a blogiversary is that it belongs to all of us: authors, commenters, linkers, and lurkers. Another is the opportunity to use newly-coined words such as “blogiversary” and “commenters!” LOL (oops, another one!) Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing your stories with persistent generosity.
Happy blogiversary! I love your blog and your books. You made me excited about knitting again. Ravelry has it’s place, but I hope you keep writing, if you do I’ll keep reading! Thanks again.
HAPPY BLOGIVERSERY!!! And thank you. Thank you for including all of us in your life. For letting us laugh and cry with you. For sharing with us the moments you are proud of as well as the moments you are not. Yeah it’s a knitting blog, but really it’s so much more. It’s so personal, and you let us all take a peek. Here’s to the next six years!!
Happy Blogiversary! I love reading all about your knitting and your great sense of humor. Long live your blog.
I check your blog everyday.
Thank you for writing it.
I don’t know you but I love you <3
Stephanie, Congrats on this 6th blogiversary! Thanks for inviting us into your “living room”, and creating a place where we can check in, feel at home, and be surrounded by our peeps. It’s good to know that here, we can find others who understand the complex notion of “Stash”, and the strange relationship we have with it. :o) Thanks also for sharing yourself, your stories, and your journey through life as both a knitter and a fellow human being. It’s that honesty that draws me back each day to read each new post. (Well, that and the many ways you find to make us laugh!)
Thanks for sending up the knit signal once again, and calling us to help “as we are able”. About that Million+ dollars…there are no words. Wow…just…Wow! Makes one proud to be a knitter. (without borders)
Blessings to you & to all whom you hold dear,
Thank you for not saying that you were going to stop writing the blog. I was dreading that that was what you were going to announce. I read you faithfully every day and I feel connected to you even though I’ve only met you in person once (in Victoria). You are honest, inspiring, caring, articulate, smart, funny and so wonderful. It is a pleasure to read your blog each day, and I hope we have another six years at least! I sincerely thank you for you make the world a much better place.
Cake! The thing is, knitters love cake! Yesterday, we had a tea party with lots and lots of cake (because knitters are great bakers too) and I don’t know the official total yet, but we raised a LOT of money for MSF. So cake can be a real force for good as well as a yummy treat 😉
Thank you for focusing our natural attraction for giving to people who can do what we can’t – actually help on the ground when and where it’s needed. I think giving up a couple skeins of sock yarn is a small enough sacrifice compared with what so many others are lacking.
I love having your blog in my life; I may not have time to check the latest news, or do my laundry (ahem) but I read you faithfully and feel part of a community of like-minded folk every time I do.
And I’m grateful to your girls and Joe, for letting you give us a bigger window on your family; to the folks at Lettuce Knit for the Tulip sweater and so much else; for all the great yarn I’ve got in my stash thanks to your ravings, I have you to blame in large part!
It’s a joy and a privilege to be part of it all – thanks for giving it a place to grow… kind of like that mold at the back of the sink cabinet, maybe?
Blessed be, dear Stephanie!
Thank you for blogging! Ravelry is wonderful for research, but I don’t really get into the forums. I think Twitter’s a neat idea, too, but it doesn’t appeal to me that much. I think there’s something special about the longer form of blogging, and I truly appreciate that you do it. Because of you, I’ve knit socks, fixed things I didn’t think I could, ached to spin (though I’m not doing it – yet) and just tonight felted some of those too cute French Press slippers. Reading your posts is a joy. Thank you for that!
Your blog matters, not because it is about knitting, but because you are such a great example of how to put your values into daily action. I admire the thinking that goes into your decision.
Your blog matters because it gives those of us in the US a chance to step away from our smugness and view the world through different lenses. (And we really need to do that!)
Your blog matters because you struggle with the issues most women deal with of juggling parenting, partnering, and personal interests (i.e. career).
Your blog matters because you really like Port Ludlow and THAT is my part of the world. Ok, that is a little shallow, but I love to read your comments about a place that I also consider pretty awesome.
Keep the tally for MSF running. I hope to contribute throughout the year as the need will be great for a LONG time.
P.S. I also like your Twitters
Your blog has added so much to my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Really, you rock. Xoxoxo
And we are grateful for you taking the time to write for us. You make us laugh with your memories, and cry with the touching stories. You challenge us to try something new or to give something away. You make us stronger and you make us examine things agian. You brighten our days, and when there is no update even the twittering can make us smile. We thank you for writting and are glad you get something out of all this too. Raise a beer to more years with just as much laughter, challenges, and triumphs as these years have given us!
I really love your blog, and I often share it with my husband, who doesn’t knit at all. Just last week I found our little 3″ plastic Rudolph deer who is supposed to ride as the conductor on our Christmas train under the tree. He’s been missing for 3 years, and he was at the bottom of a closet full of boxes and yarn that I finally organized. I ran to find my husband and tossed little Rudolph to him in triumph. He said, with no prompting, “It’s almost like Tiny Blue Baby reappearing!”
Oh, and frozen blueberries work, too. So that’s peas, grapes, and blueberries, if anyone’s making a list. =)
I too started reading about two years ago. It was a bad time in my life (my husband was going through a liver transplant) and to laugh and feel that there is something still good in the world is no small gift. I started from the beginning and read parts of it to my husband. We shared smiles together literally across his hospital bed. I wasn’t a knitter when I accidently ran across your blog but I most certainly am now. You taught me to knit (or at least to seek out how) and you taught me to laugh again. I realize this is a note from a stranger but it is very important to me to tell you that you have touched many lives. Thank you. Happy Anniversary. Here’s to many more.
I believe that just about every great big, important, really good deed can be tracked back to one person who said, “What would happen if we….?” And in this case, that’s you. You may not think you did anything important, but through the power of your words, you encouraged so many of us who might have found other places for our dollars to send them instead where they can help shine light in darkness.
Thank you for being you. Thank you for your blog for these six years, for your words that are full of life and love and frustration and craziness and fear and just everything that a complex human feels. Thank you for sharing all of that with us. I’ve never met you, but I can honestly say you are one of the *most real* people I have ever encountered.
That is your gift to us, the knitters who read your words and laugh and cry along with you. You may not think you’ve done much….but trust me, you have. And if you ever doubt it, just look at that number:
1 000 110
And maybe you’ll be able to believe that you’re one of the world’s special people. Because you are.
Congratulations, and jubilations. You’re a diamond, keep on shining, Steph. Cheers for lighting the candle, instead of cursing the darkness.
Thanks so much. You cannot possibly know all the positive effects of what you do. I love reading your posts, and I miss you terribly when you’re not posting for awhile.
Congratulations on the KWB effort.
Dear Hazel at – I think it was 4:56 pm Saturday – just wait a few months!
Dear Stephanie
Happy Blogaversary! I found your blog a little over a year and a half ago (I had been enjoying your books immensely) and it led me to Ravelry. A place where I found I was not alone in my knitting obsession. I found my home among the many sock knitters there. And Ravelry (and you) led me to BMFA and Tina, and to Sock Summit-and that was a totally and completely life-changing experience for me. I got to see you in “real life”, took an amazing class with CookieA, was gobsmacked about seeing/hearing the luminary panel, and found out that Portland Oregon totally rocked! I had never planned something so wonderful for myself and it went beyond my expectations. I met so many creative and talented knitters, designers, spinners and dyers- from stay at home moms to vasccular surgeons-who knit socks! I was in total heaven and didn’t want to come home.
Your blog has opened up a whole new world for me. I remember feeling I just had to share with you (tired and harried at SS) that I had rediscovered that I am creative(!) and could actually design my own sock. I hadn’t felt that happy since I was 7. Funny how we see others who seem to do it “better”, and we tell ourselves, “I’m not that good.” And some, like me, give up creating. Now I take time to work on my own little designs and it feeds my soul.
And now I am a part of the amazing thing that is the generosity of knitters. Your blog gave me a chance to do something positive when I saw the devastation in Haiti and wanted to knit a blanket to cover every hurting and homeless person there, and couldn’t. Thank you. For this blog. For helping me connect with my fellow knitters. And for helping me to find my soul again. For your humor and candor-I have laughed and inhaled my coffee, I have cried, and felt sadness at some of the things you endured, and I felt less alone with the curves life throws at us. You’ve been there, you understand.
I know this is long, but I needed to tell you how very much this you, and this blog have meant to me.
Hey Stephanie?
Could you get Ken to post a map showing the geographic range and number of your commenters?
Then we could all band together and elect you president of the world, and it would be a better place.
(I’m just kidding – you don’t need that kind of burden. It’s enough for you to be the world’s favorite knitter!)
While I love Ravelry and use it almost every day. I truly hope it doesn’t replace the blog as I think they both have a place. For me blogs show the place knitting has in peoples lives and the ways we love it and struggle with it. They do so much to create the feeling of community in the virtual world. So thank you.
Happy blogiversity and I hope there are many more.
Congratulations from not-much-of-a-knitter, who is glad you still principally blog rather than Ravel or Tweet. I do look forward to reading!
As for the total – what an achievement!
Sincere congratulations on your blogiversary (which must be a word because now it’s been used again!) …
As one who reads daily without commenting, I just wanted to (finally) let you know that your blog — not you on Ravelry, nor you on Twitter, nor you on Facebook — matters to me.
** There are lots of us out here. What happens next is that we tell you so and encourage you to press on with all that is positive in blog-dom. **
(“Blog-dom” may or may not be a word, of course, but what matters is that I know that you know that we all know what it means!)
I’ve loved this blog for 2 years (just a little less time than I have been knitting). I’m a pretty shy person and going out and meeting actual knitters was simply more than I could…Anyway
I discovered this blog after your appearance at Maker Faire, and this blog was my first real connection to any kind of knitting community. I lurked here for quite a long time, maybe a year, before I made my first comment. But having a connection to other knitters, like the one provided here, has really meant something to me. And I’m glad you have the blog, and take the time to sit down and write for it regularly, and that other people are also able to share here.
And also–I do think that maybe some people who might not have donated to MSF (or to any charity at all) have certainly done so because of your influence and suggestion–so you should take pride, and a bit of credit, when looking at that very impressive tally.
Happy Blogiversary – and that total is wonderful to see!
thank you for being there… thank you for making my day.
by the way… today’s my son 7th anniversary… 🙂
Happy Blogiversary- 6 years is a long relationship in this modern world, the blog’s surpassed oodles of celebrity marriages, several knitting trends and through your blog there will be hundreds of people who have grown in their knitting skills and converted to the dark side of spinning (and possibly flirted with weaving too!). Here’s to another six years at least.
And the tally? Wow – just wow!! I did my giving to Haiti through another way (partly because MSF kept crashing on me), but I’m mega mega impressed with the generosity of knittersd everywhere. 🙂
I read fewer and fewer blogs as I have fitted into Ravelry but I never miss yours and life would be the poorer without you. Thank you.
Readership well over 200 per day!
Contributions to MSF over $1,000,000.00
Yes your blog matters…to you, to me, to MSF to knitters and to humanity.
My day begins with you every day.
Happy 6th Blogiversary.
Jackie
Your blog is the first one I always check – why? It is inspiring to me , encouraging and makes me smile bacause whenn I read it I say to myself ” I think and feel the same way ” – ha I never think to write it though – and then I say other things – wow – this is amazing – I never thought that – a new way for me to view something. I always learn something . Happy blogiversary – and many many more!
Congratulations on 6 years blogging. Your blog matters to me too, it makes me laugh, sometimes cry, but it always urges me to think about things and not pass them by thoughtlessly. And Dokters Zonder Grenzen(aka MSF) is a worthy and, thankfully, to be trusted fund, not spilling any money on things beside the goal. I sympathize with everyone who knew and loved the staff at Haiti.When hell breaks loose as in Haiti it is comforting to learn there are people who care and want to help with no regards to religion, race or politics. There were people critisizing reporters helping victims in Haiti. They should have left them to die and gone on reporting? Last year tere was a song popular with in it the sentende: “Are we human or are we dancing?” Those reporters were human, their critisizers dancing for money. Maybe knitting give us more time to think about things and ponder over them. Your blog and the comments gives me many items to make up my mind for. Thank you for giving me an almost daily restfull moment. Really hope things in your life and inner circle will turn out for the best. Things material can be costly and mindboggling and throw life over for a while (like a fundament of your house that partly no longer existed) after all, it is just money, as long as you can think for instance laceyear, you will survive. But loosing a familymember or friend or seeing their life getting topsyturvy is heartbreaking and no, the pain does not lessen, you only learn to better deal with it in time. On chocolatecakeitems: For Sylvester in our country we make oliebollen, kind of pancake without eggs that has to rise and is then baked astennisball sized balls in deep fat. They are then sprinkled with snowsugar and eaten hot. They rise due to yeast or BEER, beer being a yeasty liquid. They are delicious, I think, sometimes raisins or nuts or applepieces are added to the batter. Spoken about off-item comments.
I’ve been with you for 5 of the 6 years. Your blog is a community for me, not just knitting but thoughtfulness, decency, humanity. It is not that I always agree with everything or experience everything the same way (e.g. showers vs. bath) but you are a very good friend I never met face to face. Keep writing–the absence of your blog would leave a hole in my day. And Ravelry is fine for patterns and seeing how others do projects, but not for this. Thanks, Steph–you inspire us all.
Happy Bloggiversary. Thanks for continuing to write. Especially about cake.
I read your tweets about being able to get pizza, yarn and beer delivered to your house to my husband and the poor thing said “You can’t get yarn delivered!” and I thought Bwahahaha. Little does he know I have someone dying yarn and hand delivering it to my house! We live too far out in the country to get pizza delivery and I don’t know of any beer delivery. That sounds like the perfect set up.But yarn !!!We live out in sheep and alpaca country!!!!
Happy Blogiversary! I really love your blog and hope that it continues to be a fulfilling part of your life, professionally as well as personally. I know a lot of the knitting and fiber world has moved to Ravelry… I was one of the first to sign up… but at this point I barely go there anymore. It’s the equivalent of going to a mall for me. It’s just too big. I go in with purpose and then get out as soon as I can. It’s blogs like yours that really keep me interested. It’s a much more personal connection. And yours is one of the blogs that actually inspired me to begin blogging! We will enjoy our connection as long as it’s working for you. Cheers!
Stephanie, there have been days in the last 2-3 years that your blog was the one thing that made me smile that particular day. My son and husband love hearing me read aloud your stories, especially the home improvement odysseys. Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.
Happy 6th Blogiversary!!! Congratulations!!!! As I read your post today, I kept thinking I’m not sure that you realize how much your readers love and appreciate your writing. I don’t read many blogs because I’m a slow reader and time for me is very precious, but I always start my day with a cup of coffee while I read your blog. Frankly, without your blog my coffee just wouldn’t taste the same! Well, maybe it would, but I wouldn’t enjoy it as much LOL! I can always count on your blog to either be informative, thought provoking, encouraging, insightful, and almost always funny. I’m a slow knitter who loves the craft, but has to work hard on it. Knowing that even a very accomplished knitter such as yourself sometimes spends more time in the Frog Pond than you care to, and even you struggle and get frustrated sometimes is a huge relief. Granted, the things you get frustrated about in your knitting are way more advanced than what I do, but for me it’s still encouraging. I’m not the only one. My mom started knitting several years ago and she was very discouraged about always having to rip things out. I encouraged her to visit your blog and told her that even though you are an expert knitter, you still had the same problems that we did sometimes. You taught us that ripping things out, changing things, and starting over were part of knitting and best of all, normal. We weren’t totally inept, we were just knitters. Well, that really encouraged my mom and now the things she loves to knit most are small things for charity knitting. She hung in there and now knits for charities because you were willing to share a bit of your life with us. How cool is that.
The Doctors without Borders total is simply amazing. Really amazing. You should be very proud. I know you think that people would have donated anyways with out you, but by the same token, they might not have too. Personally, I had heard about DWB, but I didn’t fully understand what they did until you talked about it. Now I get it and I’ll be contributing later today. That’s $20 that wouldn’t have been donated to that charity if it hadn’t been for your blog.
I’m sorry that the blog has brought a few bad apples into your cart, but it seems like everything worth doing, or anytime you put yourself out there, that can happen. I know only you can decide about this but it seems to me that the good definitely outweighs the bad, and the good that you can do for others is definitely bigger because of the blog. And finally, yes I’m a member of Ravelry, but I don’t do Twitter, Facebook or anything like that. I have a few blogs I read and I check up on my Ravelry friends. That’s it. I would really miss your blog and yes, blogging matters! So Happy Blogiversary. I hope you have many, many more!
Steph, I have only just found your blog, directed here by a friend, and I love it, you say what so much of us think but find hard to put into words.
I am a very early stages knitting beginner so a lot is still urdu to me, but one day i’ll get there.
I didnt quite understand how to add what i donated to your tally, but I sent a paltry 20 brit pounds to MSF after reading you post, I would have done anyway but it really was your post that reminded me to click the right buttons.
oh and by the way, did you know that a couple of frozsen peas dropped into the fish tank of a goldfish is like manna from heaven for them.
Thanks again and here’s to another six years!
A huge Thanks to Ken actually, who pushed you over the edge (so to speak!), thus birthing this incredible community (OK, probably conceiving is a better word–the work and growth you’ve put into it since then much better fits birth!). Over $1,000,000 for MSF is really beyond words–but you’ve also become a significant part of our individual lives too (no matter how wierd that may be!). Truth be told, yours is the only blog I always read and anticipate–and I’m hard-pressed to say why. I think it is because it always feels as if you are really writing to *us*, as if we were friends of yours–important things, funny things, what are you making, how do you feel, what’s going on in the world just in case we didn’t notice–and all of us should be blessed with friends who share that way! Thanks So Much for risking our devotion (after all, the result is starstruck people with the chutzpah to make you totally wierd geek socks because they want to do *something!* to say thanks!!!), best wishes always, and may there be many more years o’ Blog!!
Happy Blogoversary! Your blog was the first blog I started reading as I looked for other knitters when I picked up needles trying to put myself back together through infertility. Your words helped me be brave and strong …both in the knitting and non-knitting world. Your tales of adventurous travel, household trauma and the like remind me that we all have to laugh, cry, celebrate the victories, rip back the mistakes, and grab an occasional beer to get through it all. Thank you for all you do.
Dearest Woman, You were my first blog – now I have my own (writing, chickens, knitting and living the complicated simple life) and I love the practice and the community. I just went downstairs to tell my guy about the million. Holy God – he said. He doesn’t understand much about my blogging life but he will concede that there is a lot of goodness in it. I am happy I found you through a scarf pattern (a stich I still use – the one you invented for your lovely handspun dyed autumn scarf -series of four plus two) and I read all the way through this post dry eyed until I got to the MSF stuff AND I had already checked the total so why it caused me to weep I don’t know. So, too much talking, and I just wanted you to know that I think you ROCK!
I don’t usually comment, but I need to say Please keep going with this great blog! I’m the person who discovers a fad as it is going out of style, or starts working at a place just at the end of its hayday, or takes one class from that fabulous professor just before he retires…in other words, I’m always a tad too late. I just started reading your blog about a year ago…I check on it daily…and I would be a bit lost at sea if I’d found you just as you were wrapping up this adventure on-line. So please, keep blogging! Thanks.
Steph, Thank you for your blog, it’s so inspiring and congratulation’s!! Don’t ever change, love you!
I expect the total is really a lot higher than that.
I started donating to MSF after reading about your brother in law, and have continued to do so, but haven’t been adding myself to your tally.
Raising this kind of money is unimaginably great.
Good on ya. 🙂
This makes over $400,000 in the last ten days. I’ve been reading about Big Law Fims that have donated money to Haiti relief. Most have not donated more than $100,000. Some was directed to MSF, but rarely more than $50,000 at most – so the total is LESS THAN we wee knitters have done.
When we knitters can put together more than big moneyed law firms, I guess we are not so wee anymore, are we? Wheee!!!!!!
Knitters are a force, whether for good or bad or just yarn is up to themselves, but a force none the less.
Happy blogiversary! I’m happy that you blog, and love reading your posts and following your adventures… I guess it makes me a sort of stalker, but in the blogging world, it seems ok.
While Ravelry and twitter (though I’m not on the last) have other means of communications, I believe that there is still room for blogging. It’s somehow more personal, a place for reflection (let’s face it, reflection is hard to do in 140 characters) and show-off (hey, we all like praise for our knitting) and communal sharing. I think blogging fits right in with the rest. And yes, we are (or at least I am) still out here.
Best wishes and many thanks for spreading joy and humour across the internet.
I was directed to your Blog about 5 years ago by a yarn shop lady in Unionville (I didn’t have a LYS at the time). Since that day, you have made me spout tea, laugh out loud, and cry about the beautiful and the painful. You have also taught me that I’m a much better knitter than I thought I was. You encouraged me to bring new knitters into the fold by giving them good yarn and needles. (Your post about teaching Hank how to knit is among my favourites.) You’ve affirmed my joy in the ordinary beauty of my family by sharing that same beauty about yours. You’ve put yourself out there, time and again, and nearly always I can easily relate. Thank you for it all. Happy, happy Blogiversary, Miss.
And, yes, thanks, I think I will have some cake.
Hello and HOORAY! Good job you use your powers for good.
Happy Blogoversary! Thank you so much for continuing to share your life, humor, and knitting with us. Your blog is a wonderful thing, and I’m glad it matters to you, because as so many said above, it matters to us too.
Stephanie,
In my books groups and with my colleagues (librarians) we have often discussed how a book is a conversation between the author and reader, albeit one way. Blogging now gives you a chance to hear your readers side of the conversation. Which is really kinda cool.
And from what I’ve seen here, except for the occasional idiot or deranged individual, we are a heck of a lot nicer than book reviewers and critics.
I think that must be because of who you are, (would JD Salinger raise over a million dollars for Haiti?)and the quality of your writing. You (or your mum, at least!) should be very proud.
Happy Blogaversary
Janet
Well done Steph, you deserve all the success in the world! Your humour and wisdom have made your blog grow into what it is.
That’s wonderful! Hooray for our mutual effort to make the world a better place, and here’s to many more blogiversaries.
What a wonderful read. Thanks for inspiring us, making us laugh, and, sometimes, cry, but we’ll still come back for more of the Yarn Harlot.
Wow, 6 years ! Great! I am so thankful to have found you, through Stephen (Hizknits) and feel like I’ve just gotten off the phone with you every time I read your blog. Since the sock camps I’ve attended, I can hear your voice and see you. I, like others, have laughed and cried with you, and learned so much. Thanx for being you and giving so much to us. Can’t wait til April at Port Ludlow.
I love reading your blog. It’s one of the ones that I actually stop to read, and not just skim through. I love the passion you put into your knitting and the fact that you are just like the rest of us and never hide your mistakes. Thank you for this blog. And thanks for tallying to donations. It is amazing to see what the power of people really is.
Don’t sell yourself short! While I’m fairly certain I would have been donating anyway, it’s been your writing that’s kept MSF at the top of my “to give” list. Thanks.
Also, thanks for letting us share your life. It’s a little unfair that I feel like I know you so well, at least in terms of appliances, furnaces and all things knitting, yet you don’t have a clue who I am. It takes a certain amount of courage to put yourself out there like you do. We appreciate that.
And what about the cake, someone said there’d be cake!
I so enjoy your blog, I come here every day to see what you have to say now. You are a great knitter, writer of books, and blogs, and a great person. I hope your blog has been a boon to you, because it has brought lots of humor and color into my life.
I rarely post a comment, but I always read!
HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY STEPHANIE PEARL-MC PHEE! Hope there are many more!
Stephanie, it is only through your leadership that this goal was reached. I would not have made my donation to MSF & this effort if I hadn’t read about it on your blog. And I’ll bet that’s true of many others. You have also changed my life and I’m glad you’re in it.
The interesting thing – reading your blog & occasionally reading the comments (like today) provides us all with other knitters prospective on this rather wild planet of ours. It gives us a chance to sit in our kitchens, dens, wherever, and think about knitting (that we love,hate,depend on) & lots of other matters as they affect our world. We’re all in “it” together – like it or not, we’re all connected to one another. This blog (and others) just reminds us that each of us is important and part of the “great whole”…………….
Knit on friends . . . .
I had a horrible sinking feeling as I was reading this post that you were going to end it with the words…”so I’ve decided to stop blogging”. Thank you for not doing that.
I derive much information, inspiration and joy from reading your blog. And although it may be a selfish hope on my part, I wish you many MANY blogversaries to come! You do wonderful work on so many levels and show so much generosity to others. It has been a priviledge getting to know you, Stephanie….even if it is only in that weird parallel universe of cyberspace. Many happy returns of the day!
Happy sixth! It has been a great pleasure to read what you have to say here for the past – well, not quite six years on my part, as I forget when I first found your blog. Congratulations on it all!
There once was a writer and knitter,
Who turned the blog world a twitter,
Raising a million clear,
(And the occasional beer)
She taught us to never be a quitter!
Happy Blogiversary, Stephanie, and “thank you” is insufficient words for allowing us to be a part of your life, raising our knitting knowledge and our collective consciousness, and bringing smiles to so many faces.
As Tiny Tim so aptly put it: “God bless us, every one!” Knitters are an exceptional bunch! A million good wishes to you…
As for the blog; after booting up each morning, I read my mail, read your blog and proceed with my day. So many times you have inspired me to 1) Start something, cast on 2) Call one of the kids 3) Make a nice dessert for dinner. You have a profound effect on us out here….Keep it rolling!
I haven’t been reading your blog as long as everyone else, but I LOVE IT! You give me a laugh, teach me things, and make me feel like I’m not alone in my knitting geekiness. THANK YOU!
They’re round. Peas. Round is fun.
Happy blogiversary. I found your blog (and you) in 2005 when I was just learning to knit. It has been a great pleasure to read about your adventures and to watch as you grow and stretch and share your knowledge and humor with us. Your work on behalf of MSF has been amazing – I met one of their nurses and she was very appreciative of “the knitters”. I hope the blog continues to be fulfilling for you.
Umm…I didn’t post about it before, but you can add another $10 to your total. I sent it in the day you posted the “Knit Signal”. I didn’t think it was enough to mention, but I see now that all these little donations add up to a surprising number of dollars. WOW! What a great community we belong to!
Happy 6th! May you have a hundred more.
I realized I was holding my breath with fear that you might be telling us that you were no longer going to blog when I saw the 1 million+ tally and exhaled with amazement. Thank you for your blog; thank you for sharing and inspiring. I know I’m not the only person who appreciates how generously you share your thoughts, your time and your knitting!
Happy 6th Blogiversary! Yeah Knitters! WOW!! A million!! Sending a big woo-hoo!!! Next goal: world peace.
For me, the knitting has almost become secondary to the writing. There are time I gaze dumbfounded at the eloquence and ease of the phrases you write. Wondering how you found the concise and simple way to say the unsayable. Marveling at the combination of words and word choices that make a phrase perfect. Mystified at how what I was feeling ended up in your words. And opening up my smallish world to bigger worlds of ideas I’d never been exposed to. It’s a journey and it is inspirational.
When you share the other parts of your life, it’s immensely satisfying and enjoyable (one of my favorites was the skating trip on the canal in Ottowa) and makes me feel like I’m chatting with a friend. When you share the painful, I want to reach out with tea and caring and I want to help, because I feel you’ve helped me so many times. Of course, then I have to realize that what you really need is not tea nor hugs nor help, but privacy. And so…..
Thanks for continuing to think that the blog – and by extension, we – are important enough to continue. Because you’re important, and you make a huge difference.
Congratulations! It has been a wonderful privilege to follow your story. Thank you for letting us in to your home and your knitting.
I have been a lurker for years but I’m finally coming out! I just wanted you to know how much I’ve enjoyed this blog. As the mother of 2 teens and a school nurse that works with pregnant teens, I’ve especially enjoyed your posts about this strange species. It’s amazing how timely some of your posts have been. Thank You for sharing yourself with the world.
Congrats & Happy Anniversary Steph. I love your blog. You are such an incredible knitter- I love to see the pictures of your knitting projects.
Keep it up Steph, you are an inspiration!
Thank you for inviting us 🙂
Happy Blogiversary!
Hi, Stephanie– I’ve never posted before, but I am a faithful reader. I’m also a high school English teacher. I don’t know what the banned-from-you-blog reader did or said, but your hurt resonated with me.
When I go into my classroom, my heart is open wide. I send out bucketfuls of love, and expect nothing less in return. Rarely, but still sometimes, a student will throw a bucket of ice-cold hurt back at me and I’m not prepared. I have no rain gear, I have no protective wall, and I get soaked.
When this happens, I find myself wondering why I do what I do. Either, why be in this profession where I am so public and can be so easily targeted, or why try as hard as I do to love them and be generous with my spirit?
It’s hard not to be rocked to the core and changed by the cold, and I’ve never understood how ONE of those people seems to have more power over me than a thousand lovely ones.
So I guess the moral of the story is I feel you. I’m sorry that someone threw a bucket of ice-cold hurt on your heart, because your heart is beautiful and you don’t deserve it. And now that this has happened, please don’t don rain gear, or build up a wall. Instead, know all of us, known and unknown to you, are your protective wall. We love you. We are your army of knitters, here to protect you even as you lead. (Okay, now my extended metaphor is branching off into worlds unknown. I’d best stop now.) 😉
Thanks for everything.
(Oh, and my daughter is only 10-months-old, but I will remember the peas.)
Happy Blogiversary! I’m so glad for your blog every time you post. You make me feel like the world is a bigger place.
So how do I get a toddler to eat peas???
Ha. Ha. Just kidding!
Happy blogiversary to my favorite blogger ever !!
And a hearty congratulations to hitting that million dollar mark. Wow.
Happy 6th! You are an amazing force! Thank you for inviting us into your life, and for making us a little better for it.
Happy Blogiversary!
Wow. Just wow.
P.S. Can we have more Lorne pictures please?
You inspire all of us. Sharing your thoughts, your fears, your conquests, your mistakes, etc. makes us all realize that we aren’t the only ones going through good times and bad. Most of us aren’t eloquent writers like you are, so you are often our voice. Keep it up. We love you.
You are an inspiration, whether you choose to be or not. 2009 was an emotionally draining year for me. At my lowest points, I would turn to your blog for “humor” and “the struggle” with life and why we endure it. Occasionally I would set my 20 year down in my office and read bits of your wisdom/humor aloud to him. His comments, “your right, mum, she is funny. Too bad, she doesn’t live closer, you two could be friends.” My comments, “what do you mean, could be friends, we are friends…we are connected through knitting, womanhood, motherhood, humor and life…we are comrades, friends, women and we are mighty. We are the glue to this world.” Keep up the great works…the struggle will always be.
Give more than we receive, if only the world would comply.
Bonjour Madame Harlot!
Joyeux anniversaire à votre blogue! It saddens me to see some of my favorite blogs shutting down…Ravelry is not the same as a blog…there is a place for both. I read you faithfully, you are part of my knitting family!
I’m 52 years old. I’m a knitter. My oldest is 26 years old. She’s a knitter. She doesn’t read blogs. For about 4 years I’ve been talking to her about you and your blog. I sometimes want to start the sentence with, “My friend Stephanie said..” Now, make no mistake, my grip on reality is such that I KNOW we’re not friends, but as you let me, us, the blog, into your life, you have made me laugh, made my cry, and inspired me, and I’ve come to care about you and your family. So no, we’re not friends, but we are definitely something – something sweet and rich and undefinable. Thank you.
Congrats! Your blog is the firs thing I look for (after pouring a cup of coffee) in the morning. I appreciate your humor and knowledge and compassion. Thank you!
Happy Blogiversary!
Thanks sooooooooooooooo much for sharing your adventures with us. I would have given up knitting all together this past year had your blog not existed. Reading your successes/mishaps in both life & knitting encourages and not intimidates me, which is a rare (and much appreciated) combination for someone with < than average self-esteem.
Congratulations!! (and now I’m curious to try frozen peas myself) 🙂
Congratulations on the anniversary and thank you. I have only been reading the blog for a short time now, but it always makes me happy to see a new entry when I refresh my feeds. You inspire me to get better with the knitting and I’m not so embarrassed to find it taking over more and more of my time (I REALLY LIKE to knit–my husband is thinking we may have to put on another room for all the yarn). Thanks for helping me realize that addiction to yarn is not a bad thing!
thank you so much for trusting us with your stories and knitting. i think of you a a dear imaginary friend who really does talk to me.
Thank you, too. I still really appreciate the people who are blogging – who tell me a longer story than I get on Ravelry, who are willing to share a little bit more about themselves. I especially appreciate your blog. I literally can’t tell you how many times you’ve brightened my day. I started reading your blog when I was in a job I didn’t like, but I always knew my internet break would have a bright knitting spot because you post every week day. For that and many other reasons, my most sincere thanks.
You are a remarkable woman! Ken was very wise to set up this blog for you.
The Knitters without Borders total is mind-boggling. My gift seems so small, yet this shows what we can achieve together.
Thank you.
Stephanie,
While I’ve been reading your blog (and going through the archives) for about a year, I’m a silent reader. One of the quiet people in your living room who just sits back and lets everyone else speak their mind instead.
Your blog got me through the last two months of a long distance relationship, until I could finally be with the man I love. It gets me through the early mornings when I’m getting ready to continue my education (needles in hand, through the blog, through the bus ride, through the class I can’t take notes in.) It is because of your blog that I got interested in all of the types of yarn out there–a fact which has gotten me knitting projects I never expected, and gotten me to stop buying novelty yarns I’ll never use. I brag about your blog, and what you have helped knitters to accomplish over the last several years. Today, your post brought tears to my eyes. So thank you, for waking me up, getting me through, posting regularly, and encouraging knitters to dig a little deeper and give to someone besides their next sock recipient.
Same to you and more of it!
Steff,
Sorry I missed the big day yesterday. Was away from the computer…anyway, I wanted to add my best anniversary wishes and to tell you that you bring smiles to me everytime I read your blog — some full of silly giggles and some sort of sad ‘yeah, I’ve been there’ smiles but always something. Don’t you dare think about stopping. I really enjoy slipping into your living room for a cuppa tea regularly and would love to get another chance to see you in person (was at your book signing in Jacksonville, FL, USA a while back).
Barb
I’m so glad you still consider this endeavor worth doing and continuing. For where would we be without you? Not that we wouldn’t eventually deal, mind you – this is not a life sentence! But there would be a big hole in our lives (or at least mine, and I know I’m not alone). All the Ravelry forums in the world could not make up for the loss of your blog – witty, thoughtful, funny, absurd, sad, sincere, and most of all, so very human. And, to set the record straight, you are very much responsible for that amazing MSF total! I, for one, would not have donated to that particular cause without your urging, your reminders and information. We have written the checks, but you are the catalyst, my dear, and I think you deserve a lot of the credit. Thanks for making us part of an amazing feat!
Thank you for continuing to blog, I look forward to your new posts so much and enjoy reading every one. The $1 000 000 for MSF is just amazing, here’s to $2 000 000!!
Happy Blogiversary (totally a word, I’m sure it will make the OED soon enough!)
Stephanie – I read your blog almost every day – it brightens my day. I thought you were about to tell us that you were quitting – please don’t – you are truly awesome. Because of you, my family have donated a total of £200 to Medecins sans Frontieres in memory of a loved grandmother. Because of you, I am knitting things that are well outside my comfort zone. So – although I will probably never meet you – I think of you as my Canadian friend. You are awesome.
I look forward to reading your blog. You have such a way with words. I have learned to be a better person due to your blog. Thank-you, Happy Aniversary and congratulations!
Bravo!
Happy Sixth! Thank you for writing honestly here. This was the 1st blog I read along with Knitty’s. You both opened my eyes to what we have here in the GTA, and let me into your community. That’s a huge role. Just this year you showed me that they sell fleece at the Royal! A lot of us knit in isolation until we find the Harlot. Thank you for that & I hope the good outweighs the bad & the ugly.
Your blog has made a tremendous difference, for the better, in my life. It’s impossible for me to ennumerate the hows and whys because I’m not a writer. Just know that you and your writing matter – a lot. Thank you for taking the risks and sharing so much of your life and what goes on in your head.
Aww, happy anniversary. I only started knitting 2 years ago (well, started again, after about 15 years not), and somehow I came across your blog fairly early on. Do I really need to say I’ve been reading it ever since? Ravelry, to me, seems like a “knitters’ club” — you have to be cool enough to join. (Just to be clear, I am now a member, and am not dissing Ravelry. But it’s a little intimidating for a newbie.) Since this is a blog, it’s open to anyone who stumbles across it, no matter how dedicated or not they are to knitting. And that’s a really great thing. Thanks — love, one of The Blog.
Happy Blogiversary! I’m a relative newcomer to the fold and am still reading forward from the beginning – I’m now in June of ’05. Congratulations on the million+!!! You motivated me to make MSF one of my small group of “causes”. Thank you for everything, especially not kicking me out because I’ve yet to finish my first pair of knitted socks. Crochet is my haven, well, as are spinning, beading….and on. Too little time!
C|_| <- *toasts you with all-important coffee*
Happy Blogiversary.
And over a million. Hot shit. Rock on, Stephanie; rock on, knitters; rock on, world.
P.S. And, after reading The Harlot Blog start-to-finish, straight, thank you for inspiring me to make socks again. I’ll blame you (quite vehemently) every time my feet are warm. *waves from prairie*
Cake? Did I see something about cake? Oh, it was *chocolate* cake. I don’t like chocolate cake. How about a nice carrot cake with cream cheese icing? That is a yummy cake. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.
Oh yeah.
Congratulations on your 6th anniversary! Six years of blogging is about enough content for 2 or 3 novels. That’s a lot of writing, a lot of sweating, and a lot of wool! Your fingers must be tired. I hope you sat down yesterday with a nice drink and a large piece of cake (you know, the size of half the cake?) and toasted yourself. You are remarkable. Add my name to the many who love you.
Congratulations on turning six! And very big congratulations to all of us for reaching such a milestone of generosity with msf/dwb. I love reading this blog.
Congratulations to you on turning six.
Congratulations to us for turning one million.
Thanks to MSF/DWB for doiing work were it is needed most.
The thing is, you don’t know what will come from an action until you actually do it. I look at blogging as my conversation with the Universe. What I will get out of this discussion time will tell, but you know now. Congratulations on the blog, the process, and what it produced.
Happy Blogiversary! I think that your blog, more than any other part of the knitterly internet community, is responsible for me continuing with knitting. You’ve entertained and amused me too, provoked new trains of thought, and on a couple of occasions I think I’ve even been a better person because of your example. Thanks so much, and here’s to the next six years!
Stephanie, a blog is more personal and can encompass more of a person’s life if they want it to than something like Ravelry which is good in itself for what it sets out to do. We are grateful of the things in your life that you choose to share with us. I love reading your blog, have been for years but have only commented once or twice before. You are a marvelous and honest person, very funny, too. Thank you for letting us peek into your life!
Thank you for fostering a community that lets me be part of raising $1+ million dollars for those less fortunate.
Thank you for all your stories – funny and sad and inbetween. I so enjoy reading them.
Namaste,
Susan
Happy Blogiversary! I really do enjoy reading your blog so much, especially seeing projects that you’ve made from your own handspun. As a fairly new spinner, I’ve been trying to challenge myself to spin a whole sweater. Reading about both the ups and downs of your similar projects has definitely inspired me. Thanks so much for all you do, and for sharing it with us!
(And I wouldn’t mind some chocolate cake.)
Happy 6th anniversary!
Although I have been reading your blog for the past year, this is my first time to post a comment. I am a mother, knitter, and a busy doctor all at the same time. Sometimes knitting has to fall by the wayside. Your funny, touching, and personal comments always resonate with me, and on many occasions have been a wonderful pick-me-up on difficult nights on call. Thank you so much for sharing your life with us! Happy blogging! I look forward to reading your future posts.
Dear Stephanie,
the love in the comments is pretty overwhelming. You and the work you do, the writing you do, the sharing you do are all greatly appreciated.
Another thing your blog has done for many of us: educated us about Canada, its politics, its ice skating, and its poutine. And arse. If you’d take $$ from Harper, he could do MUCH worse than appointing you as Canada’s emissary to the world 🙂
And I want beer delivery, dammit.
Hi Stephanie, I have followed and admired you for years now. I remember printing out all your emails to (I think) the knitting list, just before you started writing your books. I have all of them. I’ve never met you, but you have encouraged me to go further in my knitting. I feel like I know your family. And you should be very proud of them. I know you are. I read your blog everyday, even if it’s not a new entry. I would miss you terribly. I really consider you a friend, even though, as I said, I have not met you. We don’t live that far apart either. I’m in Oshawa and you’re in Toronto. That’s another point that makes you special to me. I don’t me to gush or be mushy either, but that’s the truth. I will always continue to follow you and your knitting and buy your calendars and books. Thanks so much for what you do and who you are.
I so appreciate your courage to put yourself out there and share your family and thoughts with us. Having heard your voice on Podcasts, I sometimes think I can hear how you would sound if you were saying these things.
Your blog is the first one I look for in bloglines, the first one I will read, and one of the only ones I care about. When you don’t blog, I wonder what is happening in your life to keep you from us. That sounds rather stalkeresque but it is the nature of blogs.
It is wonderful how you have been able to use this platform to create good. A million and more to come.
Thank you.
I’ll keep it simple — your blog matters to us too! Your tremendous goodness, your great humor and your lovely writing are truly special, and I am glad to have this opportunity to thank you for your efforts to continue it, along with all of the other amazing things you do.
I’ve learned so much about knitting from you. I’m not afraid of steeks, though I still haven’t knit anything with a steek. And your sock recipe is my go-to knitting project. I’ve laughed and cried with you in this blog, and thank you for it.
Many thanks.
You have inspired my knitting, made me more aware of the patterns, tools and yarns that I want to use. You have made me laugh when I most needed it. Your struggles with everyday life have given me the opportunity to look at my own struggles in a different perspective. Thank you.
your thoughts in this post really resonate with me, as I have had similar thoughts about my own blog recently… I think knowing why we blog is so important to being authentic, swimming against the current of conformity…You have such a gift with words. Your candid honesty, and humor are what really set your blog apart from the others for me.
The way you have used your blog as an tool to mobilize knitters into action to make the world better truly shows your heart.
Thankyou, friend.
Heidi
and CHEERS to Ken !!!!!!!!!!
The number of comments speaks to how important your blog is. Stephanie – you have touched many people with your words, with being real, and with knitting. Thank you for sharing yourself, your time, and your family. Oh yeah – and your knitting. You have made me laugh on days when i really needed it. The strength of gathering a community of knitters for a great cause or just for fun is just amazing! (Not to mention Sock Summitt . . . So, keep writing – we will keep reading!
Happy Blogiversary — turns out you started this blog on my birthday and also that your blog inspired me to start one of my own. I enjoy your posts immensely and am delighted to hear that blogging still brings you joy. Blog on!
thank you for all the laughs and the few tears, and the inspirational way you have with words. i check everyday and am always happy when there is one waiting for me. you have such a positive presence in so many people’s lives. thank you for allowing us in just a little.
I look forward to reading your posts and feel as though I know you. And FYI the MSF total is higher than you think-especially if other readers did as I did and just went to the MSF site and sent money without going through the knitters without borders website.
I also thought you were announcing the end of the blog…and a little voice inside me said, “No, please, what will I read when I need a little pick-me-up?” Many, many thanks. You have enriched small moments in my life more than I thought a blog could.
Also – I STILL eat frozen peas, 30 years after my mom fed them to me as a “treat.”
I love your blog! Thanks so much for sharing your life with me, a total stranger! Ok, I have a couple pictures of you and I together at a book signing –one with you fondling my scarf — so it’s sort of like I know you.
I have all your books and love reading them over and over. (And I’ve given away multiple copies of Knitting Rules.) I love reading a little bit of your writing 2 or 3 times every week!
I’m so glad you’re using your power for good in Knitters Without Borders.
When I got to the end of the post and saw the total, I cried. I check your blog daily, in part because I want to be inspired to somehow fit knitting into my busy weekdays, but mostly because your writing style makes me feel like I’m hearing from a friend I don’t get to see. It’s so amazing to see how many people feel the same way and even more amazing to see how they’re channeling that feeling outwards to help other people.
Maybe I will rethinking knitting socks in the Doctors Without Borders colorway for my dad and his ridiculously large feet.
I am so trying the frozen peas thing with my 3yr. old son! I’ll let you know how it goes.
By the way, I would have never donated to Doctors Without Borders without having read your blog. Yes, I would have done something.. but probably not quite as much. So you do make a huge difference where that’s concerned. When you put it in such a way that makes us all more a part of something, it does make more of a difference in how much we donate and to what organization.
Thank you for making your blog and for sharing and for stories and for smiles. Thanks for making me feel that my love for knitting was something bigger than just a hobby. Because of you and this blog I feel that I make a difference with what I do, and my little hobby has value. Thank you for encouraging all of us to be better people and giving us the opportunity to show that we can be bigger than ourselves.
Thanks for being you.
Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing this little corner of your life with all of us. It was through your blog that I first found the knitting community, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be the knitter I am today without that. So thanks.
Thank you for your blog.
Thank you for Knitters Without Borders. I was so happy to hear we’d gone over a million dollars. It’s wonderful to be part of a community such as this one.
Thank you, too. For all of it.
I don’t usually comment, but this post made me think that I have some things that I really need to say. I started reading your blog in March 2004, shortly after you started writing it. Since then, I’ve gone through everything from graduating high school, moving between countries, getting married and having a child (this year will make the second child). I’ve been through a lot in the last six years and I have stuck with you through all of it – I check your blog every day and every day I am excited to see a new post, or sad if there isn’t one. I feel like I’ve gotten to know you, even though I’ve never met you (I did see you coming out of a bathroom once at MD sheep and wool though, I grinned like a maniac and waved but I’m sure you thought I was being weird).
Your blog has been a huge part of my life these last six years, a constant force in a time of great change for me. It’s usually a happy force, sometimes it’s sad, most times I agree with what you say and sometimes I don’t, but every single day that I read your blog I am so thankful that you take the time to write it.
I follow you on twitter and I sometimes wish you were more active on ravelry, but it’s not because I feel like the blog is done with. On the contrary, it’s because I love the blog and I feel like the blog isn’t enough, and I want more of you! However I realize that you share a lot of yourself through the blog, and that some things need to be kept private and you need some space to be yourself, so maybe me wishing you spent as many hours a day on ravelry as I do really wouldn’t be the best thing for you. But it would sure be great for me!
I don’t read anyone else’s blogs. I’ve found a few that I really enjoyed but to be honest I always forget to go back and check on them and eventually I forget all about them. That’s not the case with your blog – your blog has been a huge part of my life, and there’s no way that I could forget about it. You have a very special gift and I think it’s best shared through the blog (and the books – but if I had to wait a year between every single bit of writing from you I’d go crazy). Even if the entire rest of the blogging world shut down, I would still read your blog because it’s special, and it’s different.
On the KWB front – to be honest, without your encouragement, I probably never would have donated. I would have thought about it, made plans to do it, really regretted not getting around to it later but without you reminding me that it is time to do something NOW I would not have done it. The money that I donated this past week (and in the past, a couple of times) is really entirely due to you and my respect for you. You can and should take credit for that.
Also I’ll be trying the frozen peas thing soon. I remember I used to LOVE chewing on frozen corn 🙂
Thank you for writing, giving us things to think and laugh over! Six years, over a million dollars…how many posts, how many comments? Blogging may have taken on a different role in the knitting world, but I can’t see it going anywhere anytime soon.
Happy Blogiversary! (It’s probably show up as a new word in Webster’s any day now.) Thanks for sharing- I’ll continue to read as long as you continue to post.
Good job!
Steph —
I remember way back when, back before the blog even, in the glory days of the knitlist when you first started telling stories that made me laugh.
You still make me laugh. I suspect that somedays you wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into, with this whole blogging diva/knitting humorist thing. So from someone on the other side of the screen, thanks for making me laugh, for reminding me of the power of community, and for occasionally making me cry.
So, what is our next goal with Doctors Without Borders? Do I hear $2,000,000? Let’s keep this thing going!!!
And, Stephanie, the blog matters to us, too. You’ve brought a lot of people together and made us a strong community. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!!
You have made such a difference to so many of us! Thank you for all that you do and that you are. Because I talked about your blog to a friend, she also has contributed to the Haiti effort of MSF/DWB. So please add another $300 to your total!!
I haven’t ready any of the comments before me, which I usually do when I decide to post. I’m sure many of them say exactly what I want to say, often more well written. I will say though, that while reading this blog entry I was fearing the worst – will Stephanie retire the blog??? (That would be utter devastation – okay not really, but it would be very very sad) I’ve been a fan for years, and have lately directed more knitters your way. We were just saying last night how absolutely amazing it is that a “bunch of crazy knitters” could do so much. Yes, some of us would have donated, but Stephanie; you have brought us together in a way no one else has. It is with this in mind that I say “THANK YOU” to you, for being you and all that you are.
Big hugs from New Brunswick.
Congratulations!! I love the blog, and your books. Please don’t ever stop because of a few nuts!!
Congratulations! I really enjoy reading your blog and those of other knitters. In my crazy, busy, work filled world, the knitting blogs bring grace, humor, and knitterly friendship into my life. Twitter is too short and fleeting. Happy New Blogging Year!
Well, you had me a bit scared for a moment ~ I thought you were going to say that you had decided to stop doing the blog. I cannot express very well how much reading your blog has meant to me…I check it everyday and read each one, and very often, I forward the ones that really hit home to my two adult children who are not knitters, who “get it” just the same. You talk about what matters ~ human kindness and dignity, the joys and sorrows each one of us goes through, relationships, and yes, knitting. My world would be less if your blog were not here. Thank you for sharing your life and experiences with all of us ~ for shining the lights of humor and wisdom on a world that is often so confusing and sometimes terrifying. Thank you!
This is my first time commenting. I felt compelled to comment today because I wanted to add my voice to all the others saying how grateful I am to you and all you do through the blog, your books and KWB/MSF. Thank you SO MUCH for your wonderful blog. The very first time I tried to check out your blog was the time the server crashed. I thought maybe the blog no longer existed, before I’d even been able to read it! And today I, like others, had that sinking feeling again. I’m so glad you have decided to continue blogging for the meantime.
My sentiments are echoed in the other posts. I too have laughed out loud (poor Joe and the stuck truck, your hike through the woods, the recent haircut/knitting experience). And I’ve felt touched by the heartfelt ode to Tina and your family’s stuggles. And seethed with anger when you told us about the mean person in the comments; you didn’t deserve to be treated that way.
You are so cool, so down to earth, so humble, and I so appreciate how you share your life and astute insights about life and knitting with all of us. Even my crocheting friend enjoyed your talk here in St Paul a couple of years ago. You have sound values and you do inspire me to try to walk better in the world. I thought of MSF and you right away when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti. Though I knew about MSF, it was because of you that I decided to donate to them now. And I will continue to do so in the future.
What you write about knitting and about life make a difference, your writing matters and my life is so enriched by your blog. You put into words things I’ve thought, felt and experienced. We need people like you who can do this well. Who give us courage to keep on keeping on when the knitting is hard and frustrating, when work sucks or life is just downright hard, and when things are good and we want to celebrate. Because of you I shyly occasionally try knitting in public, just sometimes! (wow this is way longer than I’d intended!)
So a very happy 6th blogiversary and many more!
Leslita
And as a member of The Blog (I almost typed The Borg), I thank you for your writings, and your inspiration. One million dollars raised – dollar by dollar. Like stitch by stitch, creating a warm fabric of caring and love to the people who so desperately need our help. Awesome work, fellow knitters.
Stephanie, you are such a bright spot in the lives of countless people. I admire your sense of humor, talent, and down-to-earth self – cannot imagine your blog not existing; hope you never leave us blog-less. Thanks for making us laugh/smile and raising our awareness on so many important issues. Happy blogiversary!
This blog matters to me. Thank you.
You know what? It’s not true. You DID make that million dollars happen. It was your impassioned plea, your eloquence, and your information about what DWOB was doing and how they were doing it that made me donate. I bet that’s pretty true for a lot of other folks too. I’m proud. Proud of us-and proud of you too, for the heights you’ve inspired us to reach. That total is a really beautiful thing to see.
I think your observations about the blog are true of anything really worthwhile in Life. It gives some pain, and it gives some joy. Without some pain and risk, you wouldn’t fully appreciate the joys.
It’s us, “the blog”, who needs to thank you. Over the years, you have given us much to think about, much to rejoice in and much to laugh at (with, whatever). Your blog, books and calendars are a bright spot in my day!
Thank you for being a catalyst. Your healthy humility makes it impossible to be otherwise.
Hi: I am new to the knit blogs but I really enjoy them and when I have the time I visit – as often as possible. When there isn’t a new entry, I am disappointed because it is like missing a friend. Your blog and others have encouraged me to be creative again. When my dad passed away, for some reason, I lost interest in crafts and doing any knitting, cross-stitch and sewing. Then my husband developed Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and this disease has captured most of our life. Finding the knit and cross-stitch blogs has rekindled my interest and allowed me the possibility of dreaming to create. I thank you for this and hope that you continue for a very, very long time. It may just be a blog but it can be a life-changing intervention.
Wow. We hit a million and counting! Go, Blog! (and Steph, and Rachel H)
And you DID have something to do with that. You set it up. You organized a place for random world-wide knitters to contribute to an extremely worthy cause. That has to be harder than herding cats, especially when only a hint of a fiber reward was given and none of us really contributed for the reward.
And as for the sixth blogiversary… sure that’s a word! In the kidney transplant recipient world, we call the anniversary of our transplants our “kidneyversaries” which is a lot clunkier a word than “blogiversary”!
And thank you for making every day a little bit like Christmas. Even on days when the world rejects me, but I’ll always find your blog the go-to place for a little warmth, a little calm (even when you’re not!) and always full of surprises.
I pull up your blog just after I boot up the computer. Before the weather, the financial info I need and before I read my e-mails. Thanks for sharing. Try frozen green beans for a teething child – works great.
Stephanie
Molly Wolf intoduced me to your writings almost 4 yrs. ago and I am grateful that she did. We’ve all learned so much from you as you have shared your life with us. We’ve watched your lovely daughters grow up, we celerated your wedding miles away, we’ve laughed at your kinnearing, airport mishaps and home repairs and through it all there has been knitting. The always present knitting as a way to calm us and help us focus on our blessings. Thank you for what you mean to so many of us and for the incredible work with Doctors Without Borders. We all feel parts of that incredible organization now, thanks to you. Here is to 6 more….
Happy Blogiversary Stephanie! I started reading your blog because I was getting back in to knitting and stayed because it really is about life and how we get through it together.
Over $1,000,000 donated is amazing and you do have something to do with that. Because you asked, I gave (even though I had already given to another relief organization). I feel a part of a community of knitters through your blog. Together we can do amazing things. Thank you
By way of your blog, I became aware of Franklin (and Dolores – hee!); from Franklin I became aware of Dave Daniels; from Dave I became aware of Sheila, a fabulous purveyor of lovely yarn. In the process I became aware of Ravelry, and I’ve made wonderful connections there. From there, I started dyeing my own yarn, which lead to me opening an Etsy shop. Oh my yes, your blog has had a tremendous influence on me. And I thank you.
Dear Stephanie,
Thanks for blogging.
I started as a reader of your books (can’t wait for the next one) and they are among the volumes I keep. I’ll lend them, but I love going back when I need a laugh or a little life perspective.
The choice to blog or not and when is a personal decision. When you choose to, it is a gift you give to the world. It brightens my life.
I start my day with coffee or tea. I check my daughter’s blog and then I look to see what you have to say.
On a recent flight from Memphis to New Orleans I noticed a woman in the row ahead of me working on a beautiful pair of socks. Another woman across the aisle from that row engaged her in a conversation about knitting. I don’t know how the sock knitter knew (really, I am a throw knitter but my elbows don’t fly around THAT much), but she swiveled around, eyed what was in my lap, and asked, “Are you knitting too?”
Then, I swear, she asked, “Do you know the Yarn Harlot?” Notice she didn’t say “have you heard of” but “do you know.” You will probably never meet most of us but we gather a little human warmth feeling that we know you.
Thanks for blogging. Thanks for sharing your warmth, wisdom, family and joy.
A simple heartfelt thanks. Your writing always makes me smile,and a smile is an amazing and powerful gift to give.
No. Thank _you_ for the blog. The knitting stuff is great. The evidence that there are still decent folks out there, as shown by yourself, is fantastic.
/now returning to lurk mode
thank you.
I first learned about your writing from a friend and love your books; I got the next one as I finished one. I love the stories and life lessons you tell; I learned not to take things too seriously when I messed up — except for one recent project where I proclaimed I was a failure at knitting : ) — anyway, the blog has been a pleasure to read since I learned about it and I’m glad you’re still able to keep it up. Thanks for all your hard work on this; thanks for introducing me to doctors without borders – I didn’t know much about that organization but they sure fill an urgent need – I was so saddened for the injured in Haiti and was so happy to see all the medical help get there and do what they could! You’ve done a lot to get money to a good organization!
Thank you — we love you too.
Steph,
Your blog matters to me. I have been a faithful reader for about 4 years (and have caught up on the ones I missed) and would miss this blog if you decided to stop blogging. Your knitting is an inspiration to me and your humor brightens my day. I appreciate that you share your family’s trials and tribulations as well as their accomplishments and joys. I know the time it takes to write a regular blog and I hope you will continue to blog for a long time. Happy Blogversary!
You are indeed a star in the blogging world and have brought much joy — not to mention common sense — to your readers. Bless you.
One qy: Can you tell us how much has been raised for MSF since January 12, when the earthquake hit Haiti? (I can’t say I’m surprised that you hit the million mark. Knitters have proven themselves more than generous in many areas over the few years I’ve been involved. We know knitters truly rock!)
Many thanks, and keep on trucking.
Who would have thought?
Certainly not you or I on that Labor Day Monday in 2006 (blog: Sep 6, 2006). Remember? (blog: Dec 28, 2006).
Thank you for inspiring us to be generous and allowing us all to participate.
What’s the new goal?
Thank you. Thank you for six years of laughter and tears and commiseration. Thank you for six years where I felt like you were challenging me to try new things with my knitting. Thank you for sharing yourself and your family and friends with us. Just, thanks for being here.
The first time I was entertained by your blog, that I can recall (old age sucks), is the photos of your sock on a rock when you were taking a family trip.
Your humanity and wit are part of my life now. Thank you!!!
BTW, you and your lovely friends made Sock Summit for us, and it was good. Thanks for that, too.
Holy cow! What an achievement… and I agree with some of the other commenters who’ve said they might not have donated, actually, without a little nudge. I like to think that I would have, but the fact is that I didn’t until I read your post.
I’ve only been reading the blog for about six months, but after reading just a few posts I was compelled to go read the whole darn thing (it took a while). I can’t think of another blogger – or author, to be honest – whose writing has ever sucked me in to that level. It’s a gift, and I’m so glad you continue to share it with us. Of course, I’m sure some of that is attributable to your wonderful personality and the great people that seem to surround you, not to mention the wacky mishaps that come along with parenting three teenage girls and owning an old house, but you really do have a knack for transforming that raw material into a gorgeous story. (Not unlike knitting, in a way?)
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, both for inspiring me to tackle knitting projects that were way beyond the skill level I thought I had, and for sharing so much of yourself with all of us. I hate that it hasn’t always been easy or pleasant, but I am happy that you feel it’s still worthwhile! 🙂
Steph,
I read precious few blogs these days and agree that other venues take time from being able to read many blogs. If I could read only one, it would without a doubt be yours. I am a better me because I read it. It inspires and motivates me in so many ways, it reminds me to appreciate things we each take for granted, and it brings a moment of humor and relaxation to my day. Thanks for sharing the blog with us.
Congratulations on a wonderful six years full of stories that have moved me to laughter and tears, to grow as a knitter and a citizen of the world. You are a wise, wonderful and witty woman, and an inspiration for us all.
Thanks for all you do. Keep on keeping on!
Thanks for the gift that your blog has been to me. It has taken me back into knitting after decades without ever picking up needles and the knitting has kept me balanced while I’ve been launching kids into their adult lives (which is more draining in some ways than the toddler years were.)
Your honesty, your love of family and your passions about the womanly art of knitting comes through in every post, and you have made me laugh, cry and nod my head in agreement. Thank you.
Thank you for starting it. My life and the lives of many others would be the lesser for it. It brightens my day and connects me with a world of knitters I would never have found had it not been for you. Thank you Steph – you’re a star xx
Steph,
Congratulations on the 6th anniversary of your blog. I think I’ve been here since early on, having read and laughed and begged for more when you were “just another poster” on the Knit List. Many happy returns!
Thanks for letting us into your life and for making mine brighter. There have been times when you’ve made me laugh until tears ran down my face. My husband will say “What’s so funny” And I can’t read thru the post, I’m laughing so hard. And there have been times (like today) that you’ve made me sniffle, too. (That’s also good:).
Like many others, I would not have thought about giving to MSF without your prompting. We’ve been set in the charities we give to for a long time, but after your initial challenge, we looked into MSF and added it. Many other knitters I know (and several friends who’ve never read your blog, but who love us) have done the same. I think you can count yourself one of their best advertisements. In a very real sense, that $1M is due in large part to you and your commitment.
Congratulations again on both accomplishments!
Mary
Without knowing it, Ken gave you a gift that has enabled you to change the lives of many people. Anyone who has read your blog or your books has to have been inspired to be kinder to the those around them every day. For that I thank Ken. For your continued inspiration I thank you.
$1 million – proof that 1 voice can inspire thousands.
I’m out here, mostly lurking because you get 80 bazillion comments per post. This time though I’m going to say happy blogiversary, keep ’em coming. I get something out of each and every one. Thank you for being who you are and letting me be a part of it all.
Mazel Tov on your 6th Blogiversary and all of us contributing in one way or another as readers, writers and commenters. Three cheers for the $1,000,000+ raised. I am glad that you are here, too.
Steph, I only came into this 2-3 years ago, as I only began to knit again and a co-worker put me on to you! The two of us were one of the first to visit with you when you came to Baily’s Crossroads Borders about 2 years ago (she was wearing her “tiptoe” socks! and they ended up on the blog!). I have thoroughly enjoyed every entry and check everyday for the next installment. Thank you!
So the Blog-sled you mentioned, would that be a tobloggan? 🙂
Seriously though, thanks for keeping the blog going. It is one of the very few I check regularly and is always worth it. When the earthquake hit, MSF was the first organization I thought of. I never would have thought of them at all if you had not posted about them ages ago, so again thanks.
Also thanks for posting about your prolific cherry tree a couple years back. It was quite helpful when I wound up with 7 pounds of tart cherries and no idea what to do with them. Thanks to the blog, we stuffed ourselves silly with cherry upside down cake and cherry clafouti. Nice work and happy blogiversary.
As I was reading this post, about 2 paragraphs in I got this horrible sense of forboding that you were going to say that you were going to use this anniversary to stop blogging. I’m so glad I was wrong. I started knitting about 8 months ago and quickly became obsessed with perfecting the craft (as I often do with anything I start–it’s a curse–or OCD, not quite sure which). I happened upon your blog while googling knitting one day and I’ve read every post and most of the archives since. I’m also planning an order of all of your books (can’t just start with one, then buy another–must have them all at once stacked by my reading chair–it’s that OCD thing again). Since I’ve started knitting and reading about knitting and others who knit and joined some groups on Ravelry, I feel like I’m a part of a secret underworld that I never knew existed before and that those non-knitters out there are missing out on. Enough sop about “what knitting means to me.” You are a funny, talented woman. Don’t let stupid people who can be cut out of your life as easily as hitting a block sender button give you a bad time. Hit that button and don’t let them exist in your world any more (I have some ex-boyfriends who no longer exist in my world–if only there were a button for that!).
Happy, happy blogiversary! Many thanks for sharing your life and craft and compassion and fabulous sense of humor with us. (So are you going to raise the goal to $2 million??)
‘Zann
Steph,
I think you were born to knit and meant to blog.
You make a difference in many ways. Thank you!
Steph,
Over at our Rav group, cake is considered one of the highest prized commodities. We celebrate with cake, offer cake in congratulations, and ask for it when life is beating us down. It didn’t surprise me that the Blog went down that road. If you think about when you are growing up, the only time you get cake is to celebrate birthdays. Once you are an adult you realize.. hey.. I can have cake whenever I want, even if it’s for breakfast. So in honor of your blogiversary, and the $1,000,000 milestone being met and passed, I offer you and the Blog some cake. Made from scratch with my own love of course. Thank you for the blog, it has touched my life in ways you will never know.
Um, so I just tried the frozen peas w/ my 19-month-old, who is not super picky but HATES peas. The verdict? MORE! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
You rock on!
thank you. thank you thank you.
Happy Blogiversary and I hope the million mark makes you realize how much you are appreciated, that what you say is brilliant, and that you are wonderful.
Thanks for being a part of our lives, as much as we are a part of yours. 🙂
(The part where you wrote about you and Joe confessing your marriage made me tear up.)
Now I’m off to find cake…although I can’t for the life of me figure out why.
Happy Blogiversary! I am an avid reader and I just love your blog. Let’s hear it for 6 more years of fun!
Happy Blogiversary! There is something to be said for being able to speak without being interupted. I feel blessed to be able to share your life thru your words- more personal than a book which may have been written long ago. I find blogs provide a one on many connection- after all I can read the other comments too! Forums on Ravelry are good for specific topics but very different. Thank you for sharing.
You are a remarkable person, and that comes through on your blog. Without the blog I am sure you would still be remarkable, but you would not be able to touch so many lives for the better. You have no idea of the good you do. Raising a million dollars in six years —!!!!–is just one form of that. Think of it as an indicator of the comparable amount of good sense, humor, wisdom and (yes) knitting know-how that you have been spreading at the same time.
Like some others, I have read a couple of your recent posts with bated breath, fearing you were announcing it was your last. Please, carry on! We love you!
Wow!! Maybe your blog is like life. Wonderful, painful, blessed, beautiful, frustrating, stressful, warm, joyful, life in general, that stuff you do when you breath and walk. Any way happy blogaversery! 1 mill on your blog, amazing!
Hi Stephanie,Congratulations on 6 years and thanks for helping me turn to the “knitting dark side” :-)I have enjoyed the woven scarf you gave me but everyone wants to know about the fiber and who dyed it. Life got in the way and we didn’t get to visit more at SOAR. Can you send me the information so I can pass it along? Thanks xoxo
Thank YOU! for all the ideas and enthousiasm you share.
Your book, Knitting Rules, has a permanent place on the table beside my knitting chair. Without you, I wouldn’t have learned how to graft shut the toe of a sock. Lots of other knitting books give instructions, but yours were the clearest. Without you, my scarves would have a rightside up end and an upside down end. I now know how to fix that problem, and when my hubby asks,”Why are you knitting your scarf in two pieces?” I tell him, “I learned this trick from the Yarn Harlot.” My hats would not fit nearly so well if I hadn’t found your instructions for when to start the crown of the hat.And I could go on. Thank you for not ending your post by telling us you’re not going to blog anymore. Please keep inspiring us. And thank you!
Youpiiiie!! This is so great! I was waiting for this moment and it is perfect for a blogiversary. I love the lengthy posts made posible by the blog format (and I thing it suits you very well.) So I am smiling at the idea that you seem to want to keep going. (ew: weird english, sorry)
Big XOs from Switzerland, (thanks to Ken for his great idea…)
Manuèle
Your blog is great, I laughed til I cried when you told about Joe getting his truck stuck (sorry Joe),and from that point on I check every entry. I have read all your books too and can’t thank you enough for all the laughter. My oldest son told me that the internet brings out all kinds of crazy people, hmm I am sure he doesn’t mean me.:) Thanks for leading the over one million dollars to Doctors Without Borders, just think of the good it will do and thanks to your blog ,it will get done. In a rapidly changing world it is so heartening to see there still good that gets done.
Hooray, congratulations and most of all Thank You!! Now let’s show the world we can make it TWO million. I know we can do it.
Stephanie,
You have inspired me to try things with my knitting that I never would have otherwise. I so enjoy your writing. You make me laugh and you make me cry. Thank you for the willingness to give so much of yourself to others.
Eat more cake!
Jen
I’m sure it is your willingness to show your humanity that draws people to you, just as much as your humor, creativity, and brilliance. I appreciate your honesty about your life, your willingness to share, and the way you’ve connected us all. Your blog matters. The donations show just what a community can do when they are mobilized. Thanks so much for that!
Your blog means such a lot to me.
I check every day to see if you have added an entry.
I remember the entries about the girls, and the wedding shawl entries. I remember about the moths,Sir Washie,and the knitting on the bus.
We have history, you and me ( even if it is a little one sided )
I’m sure all your readers feel a little bit like distant relatives, I know I do 🙂
Stephanie, I could never blog. It seems to me like walking around naked in public, ya know? But I do certainly enjoy YOUR blog and a few others, too. It takes nerve and an uncommon honesty and you’re madly appreciated. Just wanted to say.
Steph,
This blog matters to me. Thank you for making it.
Judy
Oh thank goodness. I was afraid when I reached the end you were going to be signing off. Instead, $1m – fantastic – and that you find meaning in your blog. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, so I would miss it dreadfully should you have decided to end it. Thank you for continuing!
I love your blog. I have been reading it I think for about 5 years now. You and your blog are. Huge part of my life. I feel I know you so well that if I saw you on the street, that it would be perfectly normal for me to run up and hug you. You bring a bright spot on my little life that sometimes I just don’t have. Even my husband knows all about you and thinks you are a riot. Thank you for letting me look into you world through the blog you have.
Not sure where you find the time to read all the comments…
But truly, without your blog, DWB would not be on my radar. Sure, I donate, mostly to UNICEF, but with your push, that donation got duplicated to DWB. You make a difference.
As I started reading your blog, I had a feeling you were going to say that you were going to stop blogging. Aagh! I was relieved that you didn’t say that, and I want to congratulate you on your success in blogging, writing, mothering and knitting, and in encouraging so many knitters to donate to Medecins Sans Frontier.
Chocolate cake is really good with cream cheese frosting. I’m wishing you a nice big piece with six candles on it. Happy Blogiversary!
As Greg Kinnear told Conan O’Briean, you’re the Michael Jordan of knitting. You’re a knitting rock star. I’m proud to be among your readers.
One Million Dollars is just the FIRST goal.
Let’s hear it for $2 million. We must not stop contributing to Doctors Without Borders (or all relief agencies) just ’cause we met this goal. The work continues and the knitting goes on.
Happy 6th Blogiversary and what an awe-inspiring achievement – $1MM for DWB/MSF. Knitters are amazing. You are amazing.
Many happy returns. 🙂
Thanks for every single post- you have made my day more than once, and helped me through some tough times with your sense of humor. I have been inspired to become a better knitter because of you. Thank you for sharing your life with all of us!
Steph, you totally rock, we rock, Doctors w/o Borders rock. I’m so proud to be a part of this sorority/fraternity! And your blog is one of only two that I read that continue to inspire me, make me laugh, connect me with my heart. Happy Blogaversary!
You are such a generous, honest, humorous, creative and caring person. I have so much respect for you. Thank you for sharing with us!
Yes, the blog matters to me. I belong to Ravelry but I don’t do much on it. Your blog posts are better and longer than anything there. Happy blogiversary and I hope you keep it up for at least another six years.
Steph, thank you for the blog. It means a lot to me and I think of you as someone who is important to me although we have never met. Thank you for raising all that money for Haiti. I was proud to leave a little donation thru your page. The bonds between knitters are important and valuable. Thank you for helping make that so. L.
Stephanie, thank you for all you bring to us.
It seems a bit strange, but I am increasingly *proud* to be a knitter. I mean, I’m happy to be a knitter and all that, but pride was never in my viewfinder. Because of all you have done and all we have done for MSF/DWB, now I wear my TSF/KWB pin proudly and cheerfully explain to any who will listen what it represents.
Hurrah for all of us!
Thanks, Steph, for 6 wonderful years of your blog! You’ll never know how many knitters you have inspired (although the book signings may hold a clue)! Over a million bucks to MSF – don’t really think that would have happened without a little nudge from you. I learned about the group from you. Happy Blog Birthday, wishing you many more!
Oh, for a minute I thought it was a farewell post – don’t scare me like that!
Anyway. We love you too. Weird, isn’t it?
As I was reading your entry I got a little scared there for a minute as I thought you might be saying good-bye. Thank goodness you weren’t. Even though I rarely comment and have never met you in person, I love the way I can feel connected to you through your blog, your knitting and your trials and tribulations. Congrats on the $1M..what an awesome accomplishment. I’ll be contributing as soon as the budget allows. Thanks for the past 6 years.
Thank you – you matter a great deal to us! I am embarrassed to admit how often I check your blog for an update. It’s pathetic, really. Thanks for being there and being a bright spot in my life.
I spent about 3/4 of that blog post holding my breath and hoping that you weren’t going to announce that this was your last blog post or something like that.
Congratulations on the KWB effort and for six years of blogging. I would most certainly miss you if you decided to hang it up.
Happy Blogiversary baby, got you on my mind.
Congrats on reaching such a milestone. Yes, communicating knitting has changed, but please continue to blog. Much of what you write resonates with me. I want you to know that I am a charitable person and will donate lots (time and money) – but until I started reading your blog – only locally. You deserve a big pat on the back for that total. I wouldn’t have donated without you.
Your blog was my first connection to the knitting world. I loved to knit, but was the only person I knew who had the passion/obsession. You gave me knowledge, inspiration, and incoragement. You seem like a normal person.
Please keep doing it!
I have met you twice and would love to see you again. I have been knitting for years and it is great to know that other people love it also. On Wednesday 2 more young girls were brought into the knitting community at their middle school. I love that young teens are taking it up. Thank you for some great laughs and great tears. Keep it up.
Wow.
That’s something.
I for one am very very thankful for this and other knitting blogs (but mostly this one!). I have learned so much and have been so inspired by it and my life is much richer for it.
And your reach is beyond KWB; I gave to Relief Boxes after purchasing yarn for an ungodly sum (in our household) for a Ravelry KAL. I told my best friend, “Stephanie told me I should do it–especially now that I’ve spent all that money on yarn.”
Thank you for six years.
I’m so glad that post ended the way it did. I really thought you were leading up to saying you were calling it quits, and thought would have been very sad.
Thank you for all you do, and as for blogs being passe…not one bit. I love that they let me get frequent installments from writers/artists/thinkers who I respect and enjoy. Discussion boards have their place, but they don’t allow for the depth and creativity that a blog does. And don’t get me started on all I don’t understand about Twitter.
So thank you one again and congratulations on almost having your house back together again.
How cool!
Blogiversary (Steph’s sixth!)
Then there’s
Blog[ad]versity – when someone gets mean
and
BlogIversity – Steph’s college of knitting and life from which we can learn something almost every day…about ourselves, each other, kindness, and sharing, and tying it all together – knitting!
Echoing so many others, your blog is a ray of sunshine in my day. Because of you, I’m starting to re-think my priorities – do I really “need” that new pair of shoes? Couldn’t that money do more good for more people somewhere else? Thank you for standing tall and shining a light in the right direction. Oh, and I’m in awe of what a community of knitters can accomplish, $1 at a time!
I’ve loved reading your blog. I started reading your blog when you set up the speech in the fiber district in NYC and had a Central Park thing going. I remember you had over 600 comments and I was so amazed… I had never seen anything like this for anything – let alone knitting, which I love so much! I’ve read every blog since and love them. (My all time favorite was the one where the squirrels were getting your wool – still makes me chuckle!) Thank you for doing this – it’s a really nice way to see that I’m not the only one out there who loves knitting in line or waiting in an airport! Take care!
You said cake. And Penis. How very Seepag of you.
You are very inspiring, you’re dedication & hard work make other people want to help. Thank *you*!
Congratulations on both achievements. I’ve been reading you now for nearly as long as you’ve blogged and you’ve become a part of my life, not just on line but as a knitting group junkie.
You make me laugh and cry and know that others struggle with the everyday mechanisms of life, not to mention the shared vagaries of knitting!
One day I plan to visit Canada – it’s on my bucket list
BTW I donate my annual giving to MSF because of you and I’m sure many others do too.
Congrats on your blogiversary! I just recently found you and can say I am enjoying every minute of reading I have done. Hell, you have even made my husband laugh and he tries to stay away from anything about knitting (me having sharp needles makes him nervous). Please keep up the good work and keep sharing your crazy life with us because at least for me it makes me feel that I am not compleatly insane or at least if I am, I’m in good company.
Shannan in South Carolina
Insane mother of three homeschooled children
You know, I’ve never liked peas for as long as I can remember, but now you’ve got me wondering if I liked them as a toddler.
I’m auctioning off my jewelry making stuff on eBay (http://shop.ebay.com/riing/m.html if anyone’s interested) and donating 10% of the total to Doctors without Borders. I’ll let you know how much that ends up being after all the auctions close.
Happy Blogiversary to you, and thanks for being you.
Having you via blog is like having a witty and charming friend that I can’t quite get annoyed with even when we don’t agree. You’ve helped me through a few rough times in that way that friends do, by quietly being themselves. And, I’m ashamed to admit this, but you’ve made me think more about Canada and her people. I try not to let it happen, but when you live in the midst of a vast country surrounded by tons of open land, you can forget to think about some of the other folks out there that you have little contact with. And since Canada tends to quietly and dependably be a good neighbor, you’re not in the news regularly here. I suppose if you all took up lobbing bombs at us or sending the media hate mail about the US then we’d think about you more, but let’s not go there. Instead, let me say, “Thanks.”, and wish you more of the good stuff in 2010.
and don’t forget about those people like me who rarely, rarely comment, but still feel like they have a cool friend in Toronto even though we realize that we’ve never met. Blogs are funny that way.
Stephanie, I was so afraid that you were going to quit the blog. That would be so sad for me. I do not comment very often, but reading your blog is part of my daily morning routine. I have see you in person 3 times in Seattle with friends and have loved each time. I am so glad you will continue with the blog that I love. I love your sense of humor and your humanity. I think it is awesome that the donations for Doctors without Borders have reached over $1,000,000. That is awesome and it would not have happened without you letting us know about it and keeping us aware of what is going on.
Knitter’s are awesome!! I work at my LYS and I love it and I love promoting knitting and knitting in public.
Thanks for all you do and here is to another year!
Diana
I left the blogging world because of some similar personal politics that arose at the Twin Towers were hit, so I greatly admire your thoughtfulness around how to handle when disagreement gets rabid.
On the whole, what you bring to the world is a large part of why I’m a Knitter now, because you have the words for what some of us (a lot of us) feel about this craft.
Plus you’re funny, Canadian, and part of my personal culture (Skydiggers, generational experiences, breastfeeding, world view, et cetera).
I would enjoy your humour and insights without those other bits in common, but they add layers to my enjoyment!
You’re a fantastic ambassador for knitting (especially socks), for finding the better path instead of the easier path, for finding the humour in the twists and turns of life, and for living our principles.
Thank you! And happy anniversary.
(I read you before I started knitting, btw. I just like the way you see the world.)
The thing that I think is almost amusing (or I would if it wasn’t, like, charity and Haiti and everything), is that I see other pop charity fundraising going on through Twitter and such and there are groups who are posting things like ‘yay! we made 30,000 dollars, guys! keep it up’.
ASK THE KNITTERS. KNITTERS WILL GET SHIT DONE.
We can get to 2 Million, man, we’ll get there faster than we got the first Million.
Happy blogiversary and congratulations on your 6 years! And all the best for things to come.
Robert Browning said “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”. My high school motto is “Aim High”. Both seem appropriate! Thanks for organizing, and motivating, and cheering us on, and letting us cheer you.
Hello,
Must tell you I am a new knitter and writings have vastly increased my pleasure in my new hobby-lifestyle. Have some pretty serious spine problems and have just had 3rd major sine surgery. I can’t knit, can’t hardly type. Having your books and blog is as close to knitting as I’ll get in many weeks and I can’t thank you enough. I love your talent and I am so glad you take the risks to share yourself. From my heart I thank you. Susan
This blog matters to me, too! Thank you for writing it.
I found this blog a few years back when I was stricken with chronic bronchitis that left me sitting on my couch trying to breathe for about three months. My oxygen deprived brain picked up some needles and yarn and grappled with making a sock for ages. In seeking out instructions on the web, I found this blog. It became my one connection with the world that didn’t include doctors and limitations.
Eventually I got pretty good at socks and scarves and such, and I’m just starting to learn about sweaters. I made “Sam’s Blanket” for the next generation and wrapped a sweet new baby up in it last weekend.
Recently I got off of the 24/7 oxygen supplement. I can walk and run and work full time again. But the knitting is keeping a special place in my heart. Thanks to you and all the others on Our Blog for the generousity of spirit and the real deal stories.
I found your blog early on and never stopped following except during those periods when I had no internet access…….. from Florida to Maine, North Carolina and now South Carolina…. I can tell you what your blog has meant to this knitter.
It helped me OWN myself as a knitter/stasher – even helped me impress my snotty (now grown, and even snottier) sons with my internet savvy and prove to those little creeps that having a knitter for a mom can be pretty cool.
Thanks Harlot!!
I am always so tickled to read about your blogiversary on my very own anniversary of coming into life. It is indeed a wonderful day to have a birthday, being 1/23 and all.
thanks for all your posts and insight throughout the years.
I stumbled into your living room nearly 6 years ago when I was netsurfing, trying to find out what in the world a “blog” was. Initially you hooked me with your wit and charm, but within a week I was thrashing about at the back of a closet looking for yarn and needles so I could start knitting again. After a 12 year hiatus. Your inspiration relit the fire, and its still burning. I live in a wool house. I visit you as often as I can. Thank you Stephanie for all the wonderful techniques, photos, stories and most of all for giving some of yourself to us in the knitting world. I hope you never go away. Peace.
Is anybody out there? Well, I am posting your 635th comment to this post, so there’s your answer there. I know you said you read all the comments, but really, all 600-something?!? my.
Well, if you get this far, I have to say my mom and I wouldn’t have donated to MSF without your blog. And I truly believe you are the reason so many designers on Rav are doing MSF donations. You are an example and an inspiration. Knitters rock, but we do better with such a Fearless Leader.
Lead on, Knit on, Blog on!
We love you.
<3 Thanks for everything, Stephanie!
Happy Blogiversary! Over $1,00,000 for Doctors Without Borders, how awesome is that!
Thank you for sharing a part of yourself through your blog. It’s given me a laugh when I needed one and has given me pause to stop and think when I needed that too, not to mention the very real information on knitting & spinning I’ve gotten from you.
And one last thought, Ravelry as opposed to blog is kind of like chocolate cake as opposed to beer. Call me greedy, but I want both!
Sometimes my character fails me. I come here to revisit some of the heartwrenching decisions you have had to make in the past, large and small. Your character encourages me to grow a spine and do the right thing no matter how inconvenient that may be for me. You matter, the blog matters in more ways than you probably are aware of. Congratulations on the total for MSF/DWB. Take a bow and thank the goddess.
I love your blog because it connects me to the people who give over $1 million to Doctors without Borders. I love it most because you write interesting things about knitting and about life. Thank you
unlike you, i don’t read all the posts. therefore i risk repeating someone else’s comment. my thought is–this community that has coalesced around you and your blog lives up to your name. you are a grain of sand, the same stuff of which diamonds are made, a little scratchy irritant, a reminder to so many…your million tally is evidence of the pearl that has formed around you–stephanie pearl-macphee
Hi Stephanie. I just donated to MSF as a knitter without borders. Thanks for inspiring us knitters to come together and help the people of Haiti in some small way which is really in a bigger way when we all do it together. Also, happy 6 yr blogiversary.
Happy blogiversary!
I only started reading your blog shortly before Christmas (although I had read most of your books), and am going back through your archives from the beginning.
Your blog and books have changed my life. I read your thoughts to my husband, who allowed it at first because you’re Canadian, and now because you’re so funny; and to my 10-year-old daughter, who has finally asked me to teach her to knit and crochet. My husband–who used to complain about my “stringy stuff”–now always steers us towards the yarn section in department stores, and offers to buy me random yarn that I like “because I know you need it”. He even gave in and let me knit him a hoodie (which he now wears everyday as a jacket, and has asked when he’s getting another 5 in different colours).
Congratulations on 6 years of inspiring knitters and non-knitters alike, with your humour, warm heart, and insights on everything from knitting to parenting to all-around being a better person. Thank you!
Whew!!! I thought you were going to say you were forsaking the blog!
wow…just wow…(sniff)
Happy Blogiversary, and here’s to many more. As for the tally, I am over the moon happy about it…and while it’s been running since 2004, at least $400K of came in the last few weeks, in response to the crisi in Haiti. For all the crap in the world, it’s good to come here and experience some love, some hope and yarny goodness.
A million dollars is a damn fine legacy for a blog, even without all of the knitting and yarn talk, and the knitting and yarn talk was a pretty darn good legacy all on it’s own.
Frozen peas are following me today – in your blog, and in this great recipe I tried tonight – Pea Pesto Crostini
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pea-pesto-crostini-recipe/index.html
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt
… happy blog-birthday. your risk has enriched us.
Happy Blogiversary!!!
Dear Stephanie,
You are a perspective on knitting and on life that puts into words things that are only fuzzy thoughts until they are caught and tamed and made real by your words. You provide that warm fuzzy anticipatory feeling that I get when some event I am looking forward to is about to happen. You are a real person who I have come to feel is a friend but one I don’t really know (which gives me a slightly voyeuristic feeling). Your blog is a gift to all of us, full of wisdom, compassion, humor, inspiration and real life and I, for one, thank you letting us into your life. Oh yes, it helps sell your books too. :>) Thank you!
As this blog is really the only one I spend precious moments reading, I can only express MY thanks to your precious moments writing. I have loved being a part of your life (twisted and strange as it may be) as you have been in mine, and I look forward to every post and picture. That said, your post about ‘finally’ getting hitched was one of my favs, and we are still waiting for more pictures/story about said day. And I have a two year old. The only veggie he eats are ‘geen ballws’.
It is astounding to me the number of donations for MSF that have come in over such a short amount of time. While it is not just your accomplishment as you say, you are the catlyst, for which you should feel very proud.
I’m glad your using your powers for good, and not for evil.
mmmm…cake.
Happy blogiversary Stephanie, Tell Ken thanks for all of us! When you wrote about frozen peas, I remembered an image of a beautiful 3 year old peeking over the top of a green freezer door (it was on the bottom), with a big grin when I told her, “To get out of the peas and shut the door.”
What’s left to say, but to say again, congratulations and thank you! Congratulations to you and all the people you inspired to contribute more than a million dollars for MSF/Doctors Without Borders, and to you on the sixth anniversary of your blog. And thank you for sharing so much of your life, your family, your humor, your inspiration, your time, and, oh yes, your knitting, with us. I look forward to reading every post! You are loved by so many, Stephanie, including me, and I haven’t even met you in person yet! And thanks to Ken, too!
Look at all those loving comments! You have brought together a wonderful community of caring people, who (mostly) also knit. I have a feeling that this is how the world gets better. Hugs and congratulations on six years of sharing.
Stephanie, without you, Medecins Sans Frontieres would be much poorer. It is your passion about knitting, life, familly, the world, peace and so many other notions, that gives the readers the impression that we can make a difference, that we can go from word to action, and that many individuals inclined to do the same thing can be such a powerful force for change and good.
So I say, though full of humility, as you are, you are a force of nature, and you do powerful good. Can you feel my pat on your back?
Keep up your powerful and unique charm, Stephanie!
Love,
John in Portland (GoatBoy on Ravelry)
Every person in the hours-long lines who comes to listen to you and have you sign their book, you give your complete and undivided attention to for that moment you have together. You give freely of yourself to them. I just want to say that publicly.
Just as you give your undivided attention, here in this space, to all of us collectively. You teach generosity by how you live and by what you write.
There are so many ways I want to say thank you. The best way I could think of was to help up your numbers in the sidebar a tad, to give back: to bless the world, to thank you for blessing mine.
ps.: even with the funny nose, the “twins” photo with ken and the amazing river sweaters may be my favourite of yours. (Ok, I haven’t seen many of your private photos.)
Congratulations! Both on the MSF total and your blogiversary. Your blog matters a lot to so many people, including me.
Happy Blogiversary! You’re my blog crush (like yours for Rachel). I’m sure you’re that for many. It must be difficult, to be a celebrity–for so many to feel like they know you, and even in the nicest way, to want a piece of you. I met you once, at a talk/signing in Atlanta this past year. I was struck, while standing in line with my/your book, how quietly generous you were, with everyone. I watched you give out smiles, funny commentary, do pics, be patient with nervous babble, and leave people with a memory of warmth and kindness–and humor! I appreciate your degree of openness here, and I wish I could protect you from its hazards and difficulties. From all difficulties in life. I cannot. I can’t even protect myself, I’m discovering. But I have tried to pass on your lessons in quiet humor, generosity, and love. Hope you won’t freak, if I say: love you, Stephanie.
Congratulations on your blog’o’versary. I really enjoy reading your blog; I’m so glad you write!
Hoorah for the power of goodwill!
Hi Stephanie
Just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your blog and how good it feels to be part of a knitting community. You have contributed immeasurably to my enjoyment of knitting and given me enormous pleasure and countless “laugh-out-loud” moments.
All the very best to you and yours.
Carol
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
PS Half way through knitting first ever sock. I’m hopeful I will manage to complete a pair!
Hi Stephanie,
I rarely comment, because you already get so many comments, and I don’t think I have anything earthshattering to add. Today, however, I just need to say congratulations on the blogoversary and congratulations on the KWB total.
Your blog is one of the first that I started reading regularly and I really enjoy it and am happy when I see there is a new post. Thanks for everything.
Dawn
If I could only have one blog, I would choose yours. And I love reading your comments, too.
Happy six years!! I’ve been reading almost that long, and have laughed, smiled, and been moved to action (whether knitting or donating) so many times during that span. Your blog brightens my day. Thanks for writing it.
Happy Blogiversary (what a great word!) from me too! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and I just love it. I love the way you write and I really enjoy your stories and everything.
All the best to you and your blog!
Krista from Finland
Congratulations on the anniversary! I have been a faithful reader since 2005, and I wanted to tell you what an inspiration you are. Even when you write about how many times you had to start over on that lace shawl, you still produce amazing finished objects (and blog posts), which makes me feel like I can do so as well.
Thank you for writing. Thank you for sharing. And here’s to a better 2010 than 2009.
Thank you for being an inspiration for us all. It all matters, even when sometimes it feels like it doesn’t. The conversation matters. And the donations matter.
Ravelry and Twitter are great but they are different. I don’t write on Twitter and Ravelry. I write on my blog. If you stopped blogging and just tweeted and wrote notes for patterns on Rav, it wouldn’t be the same, for you or for us. So thanks Steph!
I am ver klempt! Once again your blog (you) have brought tears to my eyes. Thanks. Your blog is the first thing I go to when I open up my computer and when you have no entry for that day, I’m disappointed. (No pressure – you have a life and a family!) But, oh what a good way to begin my day when you’re there and you make me laugh, as you usually do. Blog on yarn harlot – blog on!!
Congratulations! And thank you! I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: reading you is always a pleasure, a little break I look forward to. Looking at the pictures and reading the words has inspired me so many times to go make stuff. And that’s only the knitting bit. Your knitters without borders initiative is awesome and it’s one of those things that actually make the world a better place. The stories of your life (and the way you tell them!) so often make me laugh out loud (stuck in the truck, to name just one). So please, blog on, and thanks again. J.
Thank-you and congratulations on 6 years.
You know it works kinda the same way on my end you’re the first blog I started to read and you sort of sit there going OK so you can make comments, do they really want to hear from me? does what I think really matter? It appears it does. Cool.
I backed up and started from the beginning and you’re a truly interesting read. What blogging has done for your life is impressive and it’s influenced my life too. To discover the size of the knitting community out there was surprising but it also made you feel like you belonged somewhere and finding out that it seems a proportion of us are somewhat geeky and Sci Fi fans also seemed reassuring somehow. Reading what your inner voice is constantly pestering you about has made me feel better about mine (Thanks) and to top it off you made me knit socks. I avoided DPNS like the plague and you got me so intrigued that I decided to go for it and although all I’ve done is 4 pair of plain vanilla socks I’m hooked. Oh look it doesn’t take long, they fit! and are incredibly comfy, this is a lot more than I can say of at least a 3rd of my sweaters.
Thanks again, carry on please as I’d truly miss you if you decided to stop.
I’m Back
The MSN total, I’m so proud of the Knitters I tell everyone I know about it. Take a bow Harlot you’re the start of it.
I thoroughly enjoy your blog, and I’ve read the whole thing. Happy Blogiversary! Because of you, I now donate monthly to Doctors Without Borders, so you can add a year’s worth of $20 donations to your total. I plan to continue the donations for as long as I can.
Money has been tight at my house lately…for the last decade or so. But we always (usually) have a roof and lights and heat – and a computer! Your posts totally gave me the push I needed to donate what little bit I could. I likely wouldn’t have given if you didn’t write so eloquently about the haves and have-nots. I gave and felt richer.
And Jan 23, 2004 (01-23-04, love that sequence) is one of my favourite days ever because that was the day my son was born! I must find our copy of “Now we are Six.”
Does that pea thing work for tweens too?
I just had to add my voice to the crowd thanking you for your blog! I do learn some things about knitting, but to be truthful, there are many other places to meet that need. The unique thing about your blog is all the other things you share, what you think/feel about knitting, your family, the world in general. And the absolutely hilarious way that you communicate your ideas!
You also have the singular honor of being the only author whose book signing I have ever attended! I love books, read a ton, have written a few letters over the years to thank authors for the joy that their books have brought me. I don’t generally feel the need to meet them and get their signature! But I really wanted to do that when I started reading your blog and your books!
Thank you, for everything.
Well, have fun reading all these comments!
I am proud of you and so glad you write this blog. Your blog has opened my eyes to the community around me, introduced me to Ravelry, encouraged me to attend sheep and wool festivals, and given me the confidence to try anything in my knitting.
Great job.
two words…. YOU ROCK!!!
Cheers, Steph. You (and your blog) matter to a lot of people. You have made the world a better place, no question. Whatever you have to say about the blog a year from now doesn’t matter. Today in this instant there is a great deal to be proud of. Congrats. And thank you.
I look forward every day to reading this blog.
Thanks for the hours of entertainment.
Martha
Wow. I’m a couple of days late to the party, and just saw your updated $$ tally. Knitters are an amazing bunch and YOU should feel proud to have been the catalyst for this outpouring of generosity. Thank you for this blog, Stephanie. You’ve had the wisdom to write with honesty, humility, wonderful humor and occasionally poignant clarity over the years. I feel lucky to have found your perspective here and learned from it. Thank you for creating this fishbowl and having the courage to swim around in it, even when the creepy people started tapping on the glass. Happy blogiversary. Have fun at Madrona this year. I’m taking a year off. Maybe see you in ’11.
Over one million dollars: Stephanie, you must promise to use this power only for good. Congratulations. You are amazing.
Thanks for helping me feel like I’m not the only knitter out there, especially when people say “oh no-one knits socks anymore”!
As I was reading your post, I began to have the sick feeling you may have decided to end the blog. Imagine my relief when I realized it was just the opposite!
You rock, Steph, and we’re all so glad you’re here. Chocolate cake for all!!
(The MSF total is amazing!)
thank you for everything. what a great blog, what a great story, what a great community.
Every day, I look forward to reading your posts. I am both inspired and cheered by your transparency. Thank you for continuing in spite of the hardships.
Cake is nice, but maybe we’d all rather have some beer. I raise my bottle to you!
Happy Blogaversary!
After reading this humble “letter” I had so many things I wanted to thank you for – then I read all the comments and it has all been said. But for my part, reading your blog connected me to so many knitters both virtually and real. It has given me a much needed sence of humor about my knitting mistakes, my stash and what not. In general it has made me realize I am not the lone knitter that I thought I was. I look forward to reading this every day. Thank you so much – so much for sharing your life with us. I can’t imagine doing it daily myself!
Thanks to for encouraging us to “do the good thing” by donating.
Happy (belated) blogiversary, Stephanie! You’re a real inspiration, whether through knitting or parenting or helping to changing the world.
Your blog is like a sweet gift that makes my world a nicer place, like spring flowers or a beautiful summer day. Sometimes I take it for granted and forget that you put a tremendous amount of heart and soul, not to mention just plain work, into producing it. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world. And thank you for being the driving force behind the incredible money raised for Doctors Without Borders. I didn’t know they existed until I read about them in your blog. Now I’m a proud supporter. Happy Blogaversary.
I got about halfway through the post and my heart nearly stopped – I was afraid you were going to announce you were giving up the blog! Many thanks to you (and your family) for allowing us to share in your joys and triumphs, pain and sorrow, over these last six years. I’ve learned a lot about knitting, and life, from reading this, and look forward to reading it for many, many more!
Happy Blogiversary! I’ve come to really enjoy your blog, and look forward to each new post. To be honest (and I haven’ said this “out loud” yet): I want to write. Your blog and your books give me hope that I will be able to accomplish that goal. I have no idea why, but it does. So thank you for each quietly inspiring blog post that somehow keep prodding me in that direction.
And congratulations on over – OVER – $1 million to DWB! Woot!
Stephanie, I just saw an article on cnn.com about how the big telethon raised $58 million.
That’s with dozens of celebrities trying to convince people to call in and donate.
I think that makes it all the more impressive that you’ve helped raise one million dollars, sans celebrities. (Well except for a little Kinnear.) They had over 100 celebrities, from what I read, and only raised 58 times what you did.
You, and the community you have fostered, are amazing.
Your blog is about so much more than knitting. I describe you to muggles as a philosopher/humorist who knits a lot. I enjoy it it so very much and a couple of pages from you calendar have been deemed ‘refrigorator worthy’.
Thank you for sharing your views, your life and your family with us.
Happy Anniversary to a million-dollar lady! Congrats on all of it, including MSF/DWB…..
Congratulations on the blogiversary and congratulations for pulling us folks together to do something awesome.
I admit I was a bit afraid with the tone of the post that you’d be saying that you were quitting the blog. I know for myself that would be heart breaking since you are such a funny and positive voice out there and you make great things possible. Thank you for being awesome and sharing it with us all. 🙂
Congratulations. I start every working day checking up on what’s going on and I’ve found here honesty, fun, pain shared, humor, wisdom, vulnerability, adventure, laughter and so much more. I’ve enjoyed and appreciated not only you (it’s your blog afterall) but also the commenters. You’ve done this good thing for 6 years, may it continue as long as it gives you joy.
I also wanted to thank you for your daring to put yourself out there in spite of the pain it has caused you. I hope it has also healed you. I’ve really appreciated sharing your life for the past six years. It has made my knitting better and my life sunnier. Wow, dude, six years!!
One more dedicated reader, but tongue, uh, finger-tied, lurker coming out of the woodwork to say Oh please Stephanie, feel appreciated and loved. I can’t imagine how awful it must be to have nasty dreadful issues arrive from the blog, but when they do, go to the archives and read your massive response posts. Surely 700+ notes of shy support can balance a poison key-board. You would be amazed at how often what you say resonates with so many of us who don’t want to waste your time chiming in “me too, me too”. You are a positive role-model for so many of us in so many ways. Yes, blogging seems to be falling by the wayside, but it is because it is hard work not easy to do well. Six years without being boring is quite an accomplishment, as is totally the one million. Thank you.
Congratulations. And thank you for being there.
Amazing. I am happy you blog, you are a talented writer who really brightens my day. Thank you and happy day!
I was curious about your winter running routine, treadmill? running break? or braving it outside? I grew up in Wisconsin and my Dad loved running in the winter the best, insisting it improved his immunity to run in the sub zero…
I am so happy for you! Congratulations on your 6th blog anniversary, and congratulations for reaching and your goal of one million for MSF/DWB. Knitters United! I have so enjoyed your blog. I confess, I look every day, and am happy when you’ve posted, and disappointed when you haven’t. Keep up the great work!
Yarn Harlot,
I enjoy the post regularly. You’ve taught me knitting – attitude (probably the most important thing to think about), techniques, given me patterns, and inspiration to push myself as a knitter.
I’ve enjoyed your perspectives on how knitting can broaden and excite the world – to charity, happiness and (though you didn’t intend it!) anger. Sorry you’ve had to suffer some of the slings and arrows here, but this shows the power of writing.
Thanks for some great reading, thinking and laughter. Happy Blogiversary!
Cath
Harlot,
Wow! When you celebrate you celebrate big!
Six… as in six zeroes following the 1 (1 000 000!).
Amazing what you have provoked us knitters to do.
Whoo hoo!
Your blog means something to me. Happy Blogiversary!
I couldn’t be the same person without what you have contributed to the knitting community. Here is a picture in honor of your long, lost washing machine!
wow. its amazing to see a MILLION dollars at work all out of one ‘source’.
now where was that cake?
Dang the picture didn’t come out so you will just have to check the Yarn Harlot Fans group for the picture of Sir Washee 2 under the Felted Slippers and Rampant Curiousity!
I love your blog, and all your knitting, your stories, your wit, and willingness to share with the world. I can’t imagine anyone posting a mean comment. (If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything!) Forge on Stephanie. We do love you!
You’re a great writer, you’re funny, you’re kind, you love your family & friends, you don’t mind letting us in on your infrequent knitting disasters, and you’re brave enough to allude that parenting (and life in general) is not all giggles and making cookies in a sparkling kitchen.
I’m proud of being a knitter. And proud to be part of the $1,000,000+ effort we-the-Blog-and-Stephanie have done for KWB … and that number is just going up as you all must still be tallying since I’ve not yet received a “you’ve been tallied now” email yet.
Blessings on you and yours. You are a rare gem.
You’ve been a part of my life through: a stroke (and recovery), 2 deaths, another baby, lots of knitting, lots of time not knitting, starting 2 kids in elementary school, gall bladder operation, a new car, and on and on. I can’t imagine not having your blog! I have been priveleged to “know” you. Thank you!
Congratulations. And thank you for sharing so much of your life with all of us. You don’t know me, but I feel like you are my friend. Weird, I know. But there aren’t that many people who understand my knitting obsession – they all just humor me. But reading your books and your blog, and all the comments from all the other “wierd knitting people”, makes me feel like I am not alone in this. I check for new posts everyday, though I don’t comment. I have five small children, so my spare time is limited, and frankly, I’d rather knit than type! But I am here, and I am reading, laughing, crying with you. Thank you.
Congratulations on your blogiversary (if it wasn’t a word before, it will be now!)
Thank you for sharing yourself with us for six years. You’ve given us humor, insights, the feeling of belonging to an extended family and lots and lots of knitting inspiration. You’ve shown us what knitters can accomplish together and what we can each accomplish individually.
I hope that the blog-love you’re being shown today fills you up and chases away any negative thoughts caused by the incredibly small minority of readers who don’t appreciate you.
Hug Joe & the girls for us and enjoy that chocolate cake!
*sniffle* I should have shut my office door before reading this. Maybe I can claim allergies. *sniffle*
I admint that I read the first part of your post holding my breath. “My God! She’s quitting the blog!” This blog is important to us as well, even if we digress into a discussion of cake sometimes. It isn’t just that you are funny and thoughful and a damn good writer. Through this blog we have come to care about you and your family and feel part of your joys and sadnesses. We’ve become blog-family.
As for the $1M+ for KWB – I’m gobsmacked!
Barbara L in MA
I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t already been said in the hundreds of other posts, but thank you for your blog. I always look forward to it and it is so reassuring to know there are others out there who “get it” about knitting and what it means to us. Keep up the good work and know that there are lots of us who love you!
Hi! First, I have to warm up and go get the cake…
Now you will have to imagine me singing “Happy blogiversary to you, happy blogiversary to you, happy blogiversary dear Stephanie, happy blogiversary to you!”. You will have to take my word for it that I can carry a tune, so this would not have been painful, just amusing, and that I can bake like crazy, so the cake would have been yummy (and I take requests so it is the right kind).
Thanks so much for all your thinking and writing and especially fund raising. We’ve met a few times at book signings; someday I hope to spend some class time (or maybe some “glass time”, even though I am not crazy about beer).
I hope you see your way to blogging for a good while yet. Now I ought to go post something new on my sadly out of date blog…
You are, in so many ways, an inspiration.
Oh, and I have to admit to a double take when I saw the title of today’s post. For just a minute, I was wondering how you would ever have heard of my husband’s rock band…
You matter to me. I have been reading you for perhaps three years. I was in the upstairs – overflow – room at the Ann Arbor Public Library when you came here two years ago the week of my birthday – and what a great birthday present you were! You are a few years younger but many years wiser than I am. You have helped me to rediscover knitting and also to try spinning and perhaps, some day soon, take up weaving. I have become a braver crafter because of you and other bloggers such as Melody Johnson (Fibermania). I love your books; I loved your talk (about how the brain works!); and I love the insights you’ve given me into motherhood (an experience I didn’t get). Thank you for all you’ve done. The MSF number is wonderful until you think of the amount of sadness that makes it necessary.
Happy Blog-aversary! Thank you for inspiring me, making me laugh, making me think, making me smile and most of all, making me knit : ) You are awesome, and I look forward to every new post you make.
Happy Anniversary to you and the blog. For a second there I was afraid you’d decided to stop, but I am so glad you will keep it up. There are many many blog-children and grandchildren out there who owe their existence to you!
Personally, you matter to me. I don’t know you, haven’t met you once (though I would love to change that fact) and I am invested in you, in your family, your career, and your knitting. I love this blog. It’s one of my favorites and while I haven’t been reading since you started, I did go back and read all the archives so I feel like I know you in some small way despite never having seen you in person.
As for the $1M raised, I think you are responsible for more of that than you’ll take credit for, and I think you are a rock star for it. Happy Blogiversary, and thank you for sharing so much with us. Thank you.
I just proudly told my husband that knitters gave over a million dollars to MSF. You are a generous knitter who inspires me to be a more generous, forgiving, all around better person. Your authenticity resonates with every word.
My kids are difficult, they will not/would not eat the frozen peas. Green foods are regarded with deep suspicion.
Stephanie,
I just wanted you to know that your blog is usually the first blog I check each day. You are great to post frequently, and your posts are quite interesting and often amusing. Thanks for sticking with it. You make my day.
it matters to me as well! yours was the 1st blog i started to read after learning how to knit 5 or so years ago…it connected me to the knitting world, and what a world it is.
thank you for continuing to blog your life and knitting journey with us!
I just added $100 to that fantastic total. It was a collection from my teams at work. They all agreed that it was probably the best way to ‘spend’ out money
It matters to me also. I’ve been sort of busy the past several days so I decided that to save a little time, I would just single click the link in my “bookmarks” to see whether there was a new blog rather than double click to actually enter the blog. If there was a new one, I would then enter and read it…. Well, days went by and every time I single clicked the link, I saw a little picture of your friend’s hat. Disappointed, I went about my day. Well….. today, I finally figured out that the single click only shows what was there the last time you actually opened the blog. I therefore missed several days of pleasure reading the latest blogs, and,,, I feel like an idiot. The good news is that I got such a gift today when I got to read all 3!! of the newest entries. Thank you so much for the gift you give every time you write.
On another note, reading your blog is one of the highlights of my day. I have loved knitting since I started over 50 years ago. While I don’t knit as much as you do, it seems that it provides something to my life that I would miss terribly if I had to give it up.
When I first ‘discovered’ you, I read every entry from day one forward. Thank you for sharing.
This blog matters to me, too. Thank YOU for making it.
Much like the birth of a child, your blog has enlarged hearts with love, wool, laughter and the kindness of sharing life. I read ONLY your blog and I don’t knit. But the blog brings me fun, clarity, tears, humility and socks from my knitting girlfriend. You, SPMc, change the world. You.
Happy blog-versary, and congratulations on making the one million mark with MSF! (I intend to be adding to that total as soon as I wake up a little bit here. Yes, waking up is good.) I only just started reading the blog this year, but I have spent many a pleasant lazy afternoon archive-diving, and I feel like you’re my witty, compassionate next-door neighbor. Even my non-knitting, sardonic husband thinks you rock- now that’s amazing. Oooh, and rather awesomely (that’s a word now), your blog-versary is my birthday! No kidding at all- (and you even mentioned cake in passing, yay!) The day the blog started, back in 2004, was the day I became an adult. Perhaps there is spiritual funkiness going on and I was destined to become a Knitter… or maybe it’s just a cool factoid, eh? 😉 Anyway, congrats again- we’re out here, and we’re on your side!
Thank you from another reader. I am also a spinner and weaver and have enjoyed your ventures into weaving and been inspired to sit on tuesdays at my wheel (that lasts for a while before life creeps in). I have knitted before and used my handspun but you blog has brought knitting to a higher level. Years ago if you told me I would wear handknit socks all winter I would have laughed. Please realize how you have touched so many with you words and life.
I can’t help it… That whole Chocolate cake thing got me! I really want some now!!! (6 months pregnant, and now craving!!!)
(By the way… the blog matters to a lot of us, too!)
A belated Happy Blogiversary! You know it’s only because this is your blogiversary post and we have such admiration for you that the comments haven’t turned into a discussion on either toddlers and frozen peas or spam offering penis enhancement. You are part of my daily life, I miss you when you don’t post, and when you go off the radar screen for more than a couple days, worry that someone/something is not well. (Twitter now helps!) Knitting blogs in general may become passe, but I hope yours will be around for years to come! Don’t be so sure you didn’t help increase overall donations for relief. I think you certainly have led to additional donations to MFS without your influence some of those donations would have gone to other organizations also doing good work. But I think you may also have gotten some of us, with good intentions, but sometimes limited follow-through, off our arses with credit cards in hand! Thanks for all you do!
Oops, that’s MSF…..can you tell I’m from US?
Happy Blogiversary! Thank you for writing; you always have something to say that makes me laugh, or think, or both. The world would be a sadder and darker place without your blog, and I’m glad you’re here writing.
When I started reading this post I was starting to wonder if you were telling us that you had decided to stop blogging. I hope you continue. I only read about half a dozen blogs of any sort. Yours is the one I check everday and look forward to reading. I speak about you as if I know you personally to my friends and family. I do know the difference between reality and fantasy so I know that we are not in fact friends but it only feels that way. You and your blog matter to me and gives me something that a site like Ravelry cannot. I hope you continue blogging but like any good friend, I will understand if you decide that you no longer wish to continue.
Thank you! Words fail me to tell you how much your blog means to me. I was introduced to it just as I began knitting again after many years of no knitting at a time when my life was at a low ebb.. I’ve laughed and I’ve cried as I have gotten to know your family and friends. Enjoyed your daughters as they are growing into delightful young women. Enjoy all of your family. Remembering Hank’s antics when he was a little fellow. Please continue to be our friend through your blog. Cheers. Naomi
Wow, I actually got chills when I reached the amount of donations! Be proud. We did it together, but it wouldn’t have happended without you.
Congrats on the blogiversary! And what a way to celebrate — image the Dr. Evil voice and pinky — $1 million dollars! And yes, you deserve credit for motivating us to open our hearts and wallets. I definitely enjoy reading your blog, thank you for doing it.
I realize that someday you may be done with the blog and I’ll only be left to read your books over and over again. But I hope that day doesn’t come for a long time.
Especially since I had your episode of knitty gritty saved on my DVR but we just switched cable providers and had to get a new box…so it’s gone. 🙁 I know how to make socks, I just liked watching you teach whenever I wanted. 😉
Stephanie,
Wow, I can’t believe it has been six years! I have been reading you for most of that time. When I found your blog, I didn’t know what a blog was…I did and still do, liken it to a newspaper column. As in a newspaper, you don’t pick your audience. And you know there are crazies and idiots in the world and the more successful you are, the more you will likely hear from them, but know this….there are far, far more readers who enjoy your blog. I can’t imagine the hurt you must feel, but you should definitely delete those comments and also block when necessary. I enjoy your blog because you so humourously hit the nail on the head on many issues…sometimes I’ve not enjoyed your opinion, however, you make me think about stuff too….that’s always a good thing. Keep on bloggin’, Stephanie Pearl McPhee….you’re really good at it!
Just donated $100
as I started to read this latest post, I felt fear…fear you were going to stop writing! I wanted to skip to the end to see how the story ended but forced myself to read in order (yes, I sometimes read the last chapter of the book before I finish the rest). You are such an inspiration and give me courage…thank you for taking the risks..
We love your blog too! I look forward to reading your stories and adventures. You have a wonderful way with words. The idea that a person would leave a mean or hurtful comment is disgusting to me. Don’t hesitate to delete any comments you don’t like. Remember this is YOUR BLOG.
And if you keeping writing it, I’ll keep reading it.
-Francine
Happy blogiversary Harlot. In a way, I’m no too surprised at the total raised so far. Knitters are all about the small parts adding up into a big, huge whole. If you ever thought about how many stitches go into making a sweater, you’d probably never start one, right? Knitters don’t think like that. We know all we have to do is just keep working and it will get done.
Your blog means a lot to all of us. Thanks for giving us so much of your time, inspiration, and (not to be forgotten!) knitting knowledge! You’ve made knitting way cool!
Please see all of the above.
Steph, your blog got me through a lot of long days back when I was still working an office job. It helped to ignite a passion for knitting and yarn that I never knew was there.
You are down to earth, funny and smart, and reading your blog has always been a humongous pleasure. Thank you for creating this community. 🙂
I’d say it’s pretty obvious that this blog matters to us too. Thank YOU for making it!
Just. Much. Love.
Thank you so much for writing – it has inspired my knitting and my life! You always manage to bring a smile to my face.
This blog matters to me, too — it’s made an amazing difference in my life. I was just a little baby knitter when I stumbled upon it and have enjoyed every single post and learned so much about the world of knitting since then. I wish you an amazing blogiversary and hope that the future of the blog becomes clearer to you. You know my vote would be to keep going, but, whatever you do, it will be amazing. I think you are awesome, Steph — thanks for all that you do in the lives of so many others.
Having lately seen what someone who blogs without concern for the feelings of the family and friends she blogs about can do to hurt and infuriate those around her, I am again amazed by your ability to write so well, so wittily, and yet so sensitively so that your family, friends and children will enjoy what you posted about. Your blogging has truly given a gift to all of your readers as well as those closest to you. May the joys and benefits continue to outweigh the (hopefully) occasional detriments.
Keep up the blog!
I considered starting one 4 – 5 years ago – members of my knit group suggested it as a result of my regular, long, missives to our mailing list. But I felt it was a commitment, if I actually somehow got a following, and didn’t feel I could make that.
Besides, you were already there 😉
I really appreciate the commitment and work this blog takes. Thank you.
Happy Blogiversary and Thank you so much for giving us the blog. It’s bigger than all of us and we’re pretty freakin’, $1M+ big!
I love your blogs and I love knitting blogs in general. I love knitting blogs more than I love community-based websites/craft-centered social networking sites because I feel like the blog connects more to the reader. It’s the writer forming his or her identity in a space they create for themselves to share with the world. I love taking peeks into others’ lives through their passions (like knitting, cooking, or baking). I love learning about different cultures through knitting blogs from other countries. I’m sad that so many people have shut down their knitblogs–I love the photography, the analysis, and the amazing techniques and patterns about which I learn. Again, I love your site!
Stephanie, happy blogiversary and thank you for 6 years of sharing. You have inspired many of us in ways that are beyond yarny goodness.
There was no doubt in my mind that this community would reach $1M+ for such a worthy cause.
Cheers to you!
Hi Stephanie, Happy Blogiversary to you. I started reading you about three years ago and your blog has truly enriched my life. We are the same age and the wisdom you have astounds me. If your blog was just about knitting, then sure, that could probably be got on Rav. But it’s not. You treat us like welcome guests to your life and your family. You treat us with respect and fairness and that’s wonderful. Please don’t give up, but remember, sometimes cake really IS the most important thing before knitting. 😉
It matters to me too. Thank you for sharing with all of us.
You’ve raised over a million dollars for Knitters Without Borders because you have impeccable integrity, Stephanie. Your recommendations carry weight because I (we) trust you.
So, congratulations on your 6th, and when weighing the pros and cons of the next six, remember, you have a quality I (we) greatly appreciate. A quality that is in short supply these days.
May 2010 bring you the best of everything!
Nancy
Stephanie,
I’m echoing the sentiments of some 700 other readers who have posted before me. Somehow you have become a part of my daily life. I read your blog most days during my lunch hour. You often make me laugh, usually give me something to think about and almost always make me wish I were at home knitting.
I’ve been reading for about a year and a half and only wish I’d found your blog earlier.
I’m very proud to be a part of the knitting community. I’ve been a knitter for years, but before the Internet, I was a solitary knitter boring my husband with knitting references. Now I read your blog and I go onto Ravelry; I’ve even taken a couple of courses at my LYS. I’m especially proud to be a part of a community that raised $400,000.00 in less than 2 weeks to help those who are hurting.
Stand tall, Harlot! You’ve brought knitters everywhere out of their closets. We are knitters ~ hear us roar!
May you have many more blogiversaries!
Happy Blogiversary!
Happy blogiversary! I look forward to reading your posts and sometimes we’re on the exact same wavelength (I started a log cabin blanket the same time you did). Your knitting and then your spinning encouraged me as a new knitter and spinner, and your generous and practical nature inspire me as a person. Thank you for blogging!
Congrats on the MSF/DWB total so far. That’s awesome! Also, Happy Blogiversary! Thanks for sharing the past 5 plus years with me. I started reading a little while after you started the blog. Thanks especially to Ken for wanting to foist you off on the rest of us. Here’s to many more of those years.
HOORAW HUZZAH and YIPPEE!!
I hope to be reading your blog for at least another six years. Thanks for the inspirations.
Happy blogiversary! The few minutes I spend with you on the blog are like meetings with a friend. Thank you for posting and I hope you have many more blogiversaries!
Happy Blogiversary! Yours is a must-read even if you don’t post every day and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, even the tough days. Makes me feel less alone as a mom and knitter. And congrats on the MSF/DWB total – amazing!!!!! Now that’s something to be proud of. 🙂
You are an amazing writer, an amazing knitter and most definitely an amazzing person. Thank you for such an amazing blog!
Congratulations. I would never have learned about MSF/DWB if it was not for you and your wonderful blog. I am mainly a lurker but I take it all in and think you are exceptionable. You and Joe have done a wonderful job with your girls. They are just as caring as yourself. Keep up the wonderful work both for your family, your friends and all the strangers you inspire. Happy Knitting! Margaret
Yes indeed, I knit. Therefore I am. And you have helped make that a worthy puruit, even in the age of knitting machines. Thank you Stephanie for being. (And for living in Toronto!!)
“pursuit”… dang I hate typos!
Cheers,
Nancy
What a lovely post. And $1M!! What an incredible milestone!
Hi Steph –
What more can I add? You have enriched my life so much. I, like so many others, feel we could be friends or maybe sisters. You have a wonderful gift – thank you for sharing. Congratulations!
Many many many happy returns. I look forward to reading your blog every time it’s up. Thanks for many hours of happy reading, laughs and excitement.
Yah, and almost half a mil since you put up the Knit Signal. No one knows what kind of mark they make until everybody get together and starts making marks at once.
I love reading your blog. And how could you know that my toddler suddenly went crazy for peas this weekend? I was all out of fresh veggies and just said, “I’m tired, I’m making frozen peas” and suddenly he is downing them by the handful, and saying “Peas!” in his sleep. BTW, just to be clear, when people say “toddlers (or any other group of eaters) eat frozen peas” do they mean they eat them frozen, or the eat the kind that are frozen but you cook them first? Because I know people who like to eat them frozen (my DH is one of them) but mostly I think they mean cooked first. Okay, a long tangent on peas. =)
Blogiversary sure is a word, regardless of what spellcheck says.
I celebrate my very own sliceversary, the anniversary of a big and probably lifesaving surgery. It was during the recovery from this that I was first turned onto your blog, which definitely contributed to maintaining my sanity and keeping my crankipantsiness to a minimum.
I guess that makes us all millionaires!!!
Thank you for all the insight, wisdom, entertainment, inspiration and information you have shared with us for 6, count them, 6 years.
And your blog matters to us. Trends do shift but what comes from the heart will always be special.
To verify your point in paragraph 3….the only vegetable my little brother would eat for at least a year was peas. They’re still his favorite.
Congrats on the six year blogiversary!
Before I started reading your blog 4 years ago, I had a lot of books.
Now I have a lot of books, a lot of yarn, a lot of needles, a drop spindle, and a Cricket loom. And when my dogs die, I’m going to buy a couple of sheep.
It’s a comfort knowing that obsession is normal.
Congratulations, and thanks.
Simply…Thank you!
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you (one for each year). I could never have guessed when I took up knitting what an important part of my life it would become. It keeps me sane, keeps my brain from rotting when I watch too much TV, gives me a myriad of new ways to express my love to friends and family. And one of the great inspirations of my knitting has been reading your blog. I laugh, I cry, I follow the links to some great patterns and yarns. So, my most heartfelt congratulations on your blogiversary (or whatever the grammatically correct word might be)! Knit on!
Oh, Stephanie. Thank you so much for all you add to our lives. Your humor, grace, love, generosity, and ability to get me to cry the happy tears is amazing and a huge to gift to me and to many who read your blog. I am stunned at the courage it takes to write a blog, to put so much of yourself out there where, as you said, anyone can see.
I am glad every day that you are that brave, because your blog adds a lot to my life. You have written posts that have helped me be a better mom to my own challenging child, and to appreciate all the ways in which he is wonderful, when I sometimes have trouble seeing it on the day to day basis. (You know, when his ability to think outside the box is making me tear my hair out and run around in little circles and think about running away to join the circus.)
Your family is brave, too, and I appreciate them letting you share them with us (the blog readers). Tell them thank you from me, too.
And thanks for your brilliant ideas like the knitting Olympics and donating to Doctors Without Borders and Sock Summit and and and…I can hardly wait to see what’s next!
Congrats! Thank YOU! Rock on Steph!
Ravelry is great and I really love it. I use it for help, advice, to find a pattern, to find a discontinued yarn, to find a knit-night in whatever neighbourhood I happen to be in at the time – especially as I’ve moved continents and provinces twice in the last three years.
BUT – it’s not your blog, or Tina’s blog, or Physicsknits blog, or any of the other blogs out there that I follow. Reading your blog and vicariously following your life for the past four years now – well, I feel like you’re a friend. And I know we’ve never met and you’d maybe think I was a bit odd if you ever did meet me – never mind that, I know you. Kind of. A bit. Through the blog.
It’s weird of course, because as readers we don’t really know you, but we kind of know you, and that certainly feels a lot different from Ravelry.
I hope that you continue to blog, even though it exposes you a bit and it can be scary at times. I have to say, I love your blog. Thanks very much for doing it. It really has made a difference in my life, and lots of days it’s given me a good laugh and something to think about.
I read this a couple of hours ago and have been thinking about it. I am truly sorry there have been a few nuts who have been rude, dangerous or whatever. It is true that there are nuts out there whenever we give of ourselves whether it be in person, on a blog, at a workplace or elsewhere. But your blog is so full of humour and community, kindness and real life that I and so many others continue to turn to it even though there are other outlets that weren’t here 6 years ago. Podcasts came – some of them are now gone – a few will, I believe, stick around for a long time as you have. Well, I consider 6 years a long time in the tech age. Ravelry is fun and a wealth of information and a great organizational tool. But your blog and a few other knitting blogs remain touchstones and I’m sure I join many others who thank you for sharing your life and thoughts with us in grand knitterly fashion. Many hugs.
Happy Blogiversary! Wishing you many many more!
I’m new to your site, and I’ve been going through the archives trying to catch up for about a week now. (This a pretty dense blog, so I’m only up to 2005 at this point.) Anyway, I came here looking for suggestions for an online yarn store that is donating a percentage to Haiti disaster relief (or any relief, for that matter) when I saw this post. I sure hope you don’t stop before I catch up with you! This is one of the best blogs I’ve ever read, and as a new knitter I am inspired and encouraged to continue through all of knitting’s frustrations. But we all do what we gotta do…whatever you do, know that you have made a difference to at least one knitter out here. Thanks.
Congratulations on your blogiversary and thank you. I read your blog regularly (almost never comment back). I don’t really enjoy the networking forums such as twitter and ravelry. I like the thoughtful reflection that you put into your blog posts and one doesn’t get that on ravelry. So I just wanted to say that I don’t think the blog format has become passe. I’ll keep reading and appreciating. Thank you.
Just so you know, blogs are a bit weird from this side, too. I feel like I know you and your family, but you know nothing about me (except I like to read knitting blogs!). Thanks for sharing your life with us and an opportunity to help people around the world (with or without a major disaster). Tears came to my eyes when I saw the million mark — do I hear two?
As we’re approaching comment 800 on this one(1) blog post, I thought I’d check back to the beginning in 2004(again). It was hilarious. The first 2 posts got 16 and 19 comments and one was a demented comment from refinance about mortgages. You even replied to people through the blog comment page. Look how far you’ve come! You can’t doubt your influence on the knitting community. You may revere Elizabeth Zimmerman; we do too, but we also revere YOU. Actually, when I first read EZ’s writings, I truly felt you had her sense of humour. Blog on!!! Cheers and red wine, Hazel.
You matter. I would profoundly miss you if your blog was not here anymore. Thank you for being a force – of nature, of knitters, of action.
Stephanie – you always make my day when you post. Congratulations on your blogiversary!!!! You are the rock star of the knitting world 🙂 🙂 🙂
Stephanie,
I learned one of the most important lessons in my life from a movie: It’s a Wonderful Life. That lesson was that showing up matters. It matters to the person who shows up (your blog is works as a dialogue of love and history for your family) and to the people that you touch (almost every one of your readers can likely say that they look at life a little differently or learn something or appreciate something more from reading your blog. I, personally, appreciate the fact that you are a very good writer and regardless of the content, I know that I can visit your blog and read a well-written story. This is rare.). You get to choose if you keep it. It is yours, afterall. I hope that you do keep it and I hope that you realize how much it really does make a difference in the world around us. Because it does.
Your blogiversary is my wedding anniversary (but we’ve got about thirteen years on you), so now I will always randomly remember when you started blogging. I feel much closer to you now. 😀
On your sixth blogiversary, I want to tell you thank you. I am a stronger, funnier, kinder and more empathetic person because you were brave enough to open up your heart and let all of us into your life.
From one beer drinking, stash hording, change abhoring knitter to another…THANK YOU. Your posts are one of the highlights of my day, the other being when my toddler eats something other than frozen peas. Rock on Yarn Harlot!
Superslobgobvios our dear Harlot!! SIX years I’ve been reading this blog and have enjoyed every one of them. When I had the pleasure of seeing you with my dearest one ( now deceased ) that you referred to as the paaparazzi because he was so busy taking pics of you we both enjoyed the evening immmensly. When we left he said “She sure has the gift of the gab BUT GOOD gab” and he enjoyed it too. Following that evening he got me to read all your blogging out loud to him each time you posted and we laughed a great deal.He even bought me all your books and had me read some of them outload to him. I thank you so very much for all you added to our life through this blog and hope you keep having the “”gift for the writting ” Most sincerly–ALL the best for whatever lies ahead for you .
As a Mom and a knitter I have truly enjoyed reading your blog. It has been wonderful to get to know you. You brighten my world. Thanks for keeping on!
Thanks for keepin’ on blogging.
six years and i am still here reading
the blog tis an amazement bliss to you
Thank you! You bring brightness and laugther and great knitting to my life on a daily basis. You are a true storyteller and whether you are sharing your knitting or your family or your passion for what you feel is important, it is compelling reading and makes us all come back for more. We share your pain and happiness as your life is a reflection of all of ours… only you have the gift to put it into words and share it with the rest of us. Happy Blogiversary!! And many many more.
Please don’t think that Ravelry, twitter, etc. can ever take the place of your thoughtful, funny, literate writing about a knitter’s life. I’m not an obsessive knitter (just a casual one, as so many other ways to create distract me), so for me, the knitting is just one nice part of your chronicle of life. Where else would a Yank learn that women can take their shirts off on a hot day in Canada, without the purity police showing up! I did join Rav, but I seldom go there, partly because I hate all the navigating required to get to something I want to read. I come to YarnHarlot and I find ideas, thoughts, jokes, insights, an occasional right-on rant, all spiced up with lovely pictures of yarny things.
I’ve always thought that creative people find it harder than other people to bear the slings and arrows of those insensitive, nasty creatures who live among us and pretend to be human, and I’m truly grateful to you for bearing that pain in order to share with us (me). You’re a gem.
Thank you for the blog. Many, many of us read without commenting much. Knowing that you’re a real person with bad hair days, lost bras, and a torn up house seems to help me realize that my life, while completely different from a distance, is very similar. And it makes me feel normal in a sea of toddler tantrums and thrown food.
Thank you!
Thanks, Stephanie, for sharing with us yourself, your life, your knitting, and your family. The world is a better place because of your writing. In case all of that is not enough, over $1 million to MSF/DWB, often because of little old you, is wonderfully AMAZING!
Here’s to another good 6 years!
Happy Blogiversary! I know it’s exhausting (and exhilarating) to keep a blog up-to-date and interesting, but we really appreciate you for doing it!
P.S. Being a total geek, I did check it out. Blogiversary is totally a word: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blogiversary
Well, in slang, anyway 🙂
Thank you Stephanie. I learn so much because of your blog and the yarnish things I find myself investigating as a result. Some days your blog gives me the first (or only) true laugh out loud moment of the day. I agree with cloudykate; Ravelry is a different thing entirely. I don’t go there to read or find community; I use it for stash organization and project planning, and appreciate it greatly for that. It is to your blog that I go to read and connect.
Thanks again.
I would like to share one of my favorite poems. I think it’s from Whinnie the Pooh. (Excuse any paraphrasing.)
When I was one, I was merely begun.
When I was two, I was still quite new.
When I was three, I was hardly me.
When I was four, I was scarcely more.
When I was five, I was barely alive.
But now I’m six, and I’m as clever as clever,
I think I’ll stay six for ever and ever!
Happy 6th Blogiversary!
I just started reading your blog this past summer!
Even though I got off to a late start I am a total geek and read almost all the archives, up to 2008 now!
I have to tell you it is amazing how much it has meant to me to share a little of your life! Your are a truly inspiring person.
Here’s to your best year yet!
Happy Blogiversary. Your blog has touched my life and without it I’m not sure I would have discovered your books. Your accounts are so much fun to read and that is what intrigued me and I’m sure many others to buy your books, they are just as entertaining as your blog. Some of what you wrote has made me laugh, some made me cry and some even made me wonder at the crazed people that live in this world. Thank you so much for inspiring me to start my own little blog (no where near as popular as yours though and that’s fine with me)
Four and a half years ago, I had a brand new baby girl, and she was in the hospital for a little bit, and I wasn’t feeling so great, and I started knitting her a baby blanket and also found your blog at the same time. The baby blanket was truly awful– I mean, it is really so, so bad — but the baby girl is now four and a half and completely delightful, (healthy), perfect.
I’m still a really terrible knitter and you are still a wonderful blogger and writer.
I enjoy reading your blog so much. Sometimes I feel like reading it will improve my knitting skills by osmosis. That hasn’t happened (yet). But what I really love about http://www.yarnharlot.ca, and the reason I read it even when I’m not knitting anything, is the warmth, and genuine-ness and passion for creative, excellent knitting, and good sense of humor in the face of it all that you are so good at bringing to the blog.
Life is tough sometimes, and you make doing all these incredible things look possible and even easy, or easy-ish, in the ways that you do things you love and bring your skill at knitting, at writing, at making friends and building community at the virtual dining room table you have created here.
Happy Anniversary.
Ditto Rams and Presbytera. You are a gem, indeed.
Yours is the one blog that I have never dropped from my favorites list. Partially, I think, because you are Canadian and I love your Canada day blogs and your cliff notes for Americans on what the heck we do up here, things like prorogue. I also love it because you are always fair and balanced in your assessment of things, though I suppose occassionally not with some of your knitting adventures, but we must all have our achilles heels. I think if I ever met you, I’d really like you and want to drink beer with you. Thank you for sharing parts of your life with us. It has helped me to be brave and laugh at myself.
Baby, you, personally, have made an incredible difference in MY life–and all through your blog. Thank you. I know it’s painful–personally, I know it’s painful for many of the same reasons you do. (It doesn’t help that I’m not as diplomatic and not as kind and my temper and my ‘blog mouth’ have landed me in hot water on a number of occasions and I STILL haven’t learned my lesson.) But you have made me feel like a part of a community, and like speaking my own mind can make a difference and like my thoughts and my family history and my inner psychosis is not mine alone but belongs to friends.
I’m sitting here wearing a scarf knit by a total stranger–and one of my closest friends–and I’m thinking that by sharing your passion and your wonder and your humor, you, one person, have made an incredible difference in the world.
I’m in awe. I shall strive to do the same–but I have my doubts I will ever, ever, ever, accomplish what you have. That’s okay. A little woman with pointy sticks changed my world. And then she changed THE world. And I love that. It’s everything that I believe in.
Thanks for the six years, Steph. You have no idea how much I owe you.
I have only been reading for about 3 months now. At first I only read about 5 entries back, but reading those made me want to read the ones at the beginging of the year and well if you give a mouse a cookie….
After 3 months have finally caught up to the present and I can tell you that for about 5 seconds when I thought you were going to say that you just couldn’t blog anymore I thought my heart was going to break.
I know it sounds weird but it’s true. Reading about your knitting has inspired me. Since reading your blog and your books I have improved my knitting in 3 months more than I have when I started 4 years ago. I knit in the round now. I started my first pair of socks reading the blog. I made my daughter A Very Harlot Pancho I started designing my own patterns and thinking about all the things I could do with my yarn. I started aquiring a yarn stash and I found my LYS, where I got to knit on what will be the biggest sock ever knit. I finally gave my mom a hand made gift that I was proud to give.
If I was having a bad day all I had to do was go to your blog and read one of your posts and all of a sudden I was laughing instead of crying. So I guess what I really wanted to say was thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your life with us.
P.S. Kinnearing didn’t use to be a word either.
I can understand if you need to live more than to share your life with us. Sometimes things are for a season, and that’s cool (sad but OK).
Your blog makes a difference on many levels. I would miss it if you stopped. I apologize for the folks that are rude and hurtful, either intentionally or self-centeredly. I am on Ravelry but don’t really “get it” yet. It is not a communication tool and I do not feel connected. So my vote would be for you to keep on blogging on, but do what is best for you.
I’ve loved reading your blog since I discovered it when I discovered knitting, over 3 years ago at this point. Happy blogiversary, you are a wonderful writer who expresses so well what is humanity. I’ve enjoyed the ride, and hope to keep being a priveleged spectator for a long while.
Happy Anniversary!
Thank you. Thank you for sharing your ups and downs, your successes and failures, your family and your love of knitting. Like so many others who have commented today, yours is the only blog I read on a regular basis – I have lots bookmarked but there’s only one I check daily.
Thanks, as well, to your wonderful husband and beautiful daughters for allowing you to share their lives.
6 years, eh?! Happy blogiversary. Here’s to many more.
One more thing – DWB was always on my list of charities and now, when there is a desperate need, they are first on the list – thanks to you.
Laura
Hi Stephanie,
I’ve never commented before but I wanted to let you know that I always get excited checking your blog. I read “Free Range Knitter” first and it reignited my passion for the art. Now, I’m addicted and I love reading your stuff.
Thankyou for being so selfless in sharing your thoughts, time and life with all your readers. It’s a blessing to check online or open one of your books and know that I’ll laugh.
You’re my new favorite 🙂
Rachel
I kept coming back to this, thinking I should say “something”…something special, something clever, something memorable…when all I really want to say is “Thanks and well done.” So…thanks and well done. With best wishes, admiration, and real affection…
totally awesome; happy blogiversary, happy million dollar mark!
Must add my congratulations for your 6th, and thank you for letting me sit at your blog-table and participate in your journey. And thanks to Ken, who started it all.
Stephanie
You are a rock. Your actions spread like ripples through a pond. Kindness begets kindness. Ethical behavior inspires us all.
Thank you for bringing more light into the world.
…and this blog matters to me. It matters to a whole BUNCH of us out here, and I am glad it continues to matter to you enough to keep showing up and inviting us in to visit.
Thanks so very, very much, and, Happy 6th Blogiversary.
alfalfacats
[btw – EVERY Comment? How do you have time to do that?? …although that might explain the laundry, har har}
Happy Blogiversary Steph, I have enjoyed your blog for almost all of those 6 years, and I still look forward to reading it, you must be doing something right! 🙂 You’re a great Canadian, and you earned a well deserved pat on the back for that total on your sidebar. I now realize what I love so much about you, it’s your go big attitude. Instead of a knitting community, you want a knitting world, (freaks out the muggles!). Instead of $100,000 goal you strive for $1,000,000. And least we forget sock summit, ‘nough said! You’re good people!
and how did Zoe do THIS???
♥
[Posted by: Zoe at January 23, 2010 4:27 PM]
Note of interest, I was watching a rerun of House yesterday (an episode called “97 Seconds”), and one of the fellowship doctors trying to get onto House’s new team stated that he had worked for Doctors Without Borders for eight years (as a qualification for working for House).
Having just found the blog about a month and a half ago, and starting to reread from the beginning, I note that the first mention of MSF was on January 3, 2005. That means over $1,000,000 in 5 years, 20 days. And, being new to the blog, I know that the total on the side when I started reading was just over $600,000 ($600,071, I think) and didn’t move. That means from the time Stephanie sent up the Knit-Signal to the time of this post (10 DAYS!), about $400,000 was donated. That’s $40,000 a day, and if that isn’t an acknowledgement of how much this blog means to its readers and the world at large, I don’t know what is. Knitters rock!
Happy Blogiversary! You’re simply the greatest.
$1 million and almost 1000 comments today!
Congratulations and thank you.
Happy blogiversary Stephanie. Thank you for being you.
I first read your blog when you were sending one of your daughters off on a violin trip. I had so much fun I went thru the whole archives. You showed me, for the first time, that the errors and struggles I had with knitting were entirely normal. Blew my mind. I love your personal style, too, natural hair, the green hand dyes you keep picking, the backsplash in your kitchen. I even agree with your politics. My trouble is to avoid too much messy gushing. Happy Blogiversary!
Congratulations on having a 6 year old knitting blog, it’s quite an achievement. I love reading your gentle humour and your values shine through. Thank you for reminding us about the essential things in life. Here’s to many more years of successful blogging for you, and I look forward to reading every post.
Thank you for giving the fiber-obsessed a voice!!!!
Congratulations on your blogiversary! It gets better and better, and the MSF fund raising achievement is amazing.
For a few terrifying moments as I was reading your post I thought you were leading up to announcing that you were going to quit the blog. Much relief when I got to the end and found that wasn’t the case! Thanks for all the inspiration and entertainment, and here’s to the next 6 years!
Stephanie: Because of you and your blog I got started making socks. I made several pairs for my husband (good heavy work socks) and then, because he loved my husband’s socks so much, 2 pairs for my Dad. He had been very unwell over the past year and I finally finished a pair of self patterning socks knit on 2.5mm needles. He had size 13 feet and liked a long upper for the calf. I got them finished in time for him to wear for the last 2 weeks of his life and made sure when they took him away from his house for the last time that his socks were on his feet where they belonged. They kept him warm in his last days and made him happy because I had made them for him and that is very much thanks to you and the blog.
YOU MATTER!!
$2,000,000, and let’s not wait until there’s another Haiti to get us there!
Thanks Stephanie for letting your blog into my life. I am knitting again, changing patterns to suit me, and drinking more beer..LOL
Being on dialup, Ravelry isn’t an option here and its hard to find your way around. Your blog has the info I need/want and have to say that the tutorial on picking up stitches on the blanket has changed my knitting life.
Hopefully some day I will get a chance to meet you to thank you in person. Who knew that knitting could lower blood pressure dramatically? It has literally been a life saver for me.
Thankyou and Congratulations, MSF is amazing and it was a privilege to give.
Happy Blogiversary!
I check the blog every day when I arrive at work – it/s like my morning cup of coffee – which i don’t drink. But I have a diet coke – check to see if there is anything new from the Yarn Harlot and be3gin my day. On the mornings there is something new to read – even if it more furnace related then knitting realted – i start my day with a smile. It never fails to bring that smile – even if just to say you lead a life very much like the rest of us – kids, husband, broken washing machine, fix-it ideas to avoid spending the big bucks and being sucessful – all the joys/sadness and everything in between that life dishes up – and served with a side of incredible knitting to share! Thank you for sharing it with me and all your readers – and putting “real life” so eloquently – I envy your ability to find the words.
Congratulations on 6 wonderful years! I have enjoyed your blog for the past several years (especially the squirrel battles) and I’m glad I was able to contribute to MSF for Haiti. Your blog inspired me to do it. Keep up the good work!
Frozen peas? Really?
Ravelry has done much for knitters – I’m a huge fan and booster (and I learned about it from you) – and the communication is great. But it doesn’t give us what you do – the clear, single voice and viewpoint. What you do is different. I’ve laughed over what you’ve written, and shaken my head, and wept, and joined things, and started projects. I find what you write wonderfully sane and grounding.
Add in the MSF stuff – you totally rock!
Hi, Steph! Didn’t you tell us one time that your brother works with MSF? Have you told him about this freakin’ amazin’ accomplishment? We’d love to hear his reaction!
Happy Sixth!
Happy 6th! And congratulations on donation – wow.
Thanks for doing your blog. Because of it I feel so much more connected to the knitting universe as it can be (and is for me) quite a solitary experience. It’s one of the first things I check in the morning over coffee. Peace!
Congratulations on your 6th anniversary!
I know the first post I ever read: the wool pig story.
then I went back and read the archieves.
And I’ve kept reading. Thru the good and the bad – for you and for me.
Thankfully – we are both still here!
Add $25 for me.
Thank you for being a great writer and giving me something to look forward to reading everytime I am able to get online!
I can’t tell you how many times just reading your blog has reinspired me on many different levels. It’s one of the first things that I read in the morning. Just though I should let you know 😀 Thank you
Thank you for your years of blogging. I check it daily and comment sometimes. Brings me much laughter, joy, thoughtfulness. And occasionally I spit my coffee laughing too hard. Such works of beauty you share with us and inspire us to undertake regardless of our skill level. And, no, Ravelry isn’t the same although it has it’s strengths. I do hope you continue to blog. I totally agree with Judith of Ottawa in her post.
I credit you with my vastly-improved knitting. The journey began because you made me laugh and got me interested. The internet is such a remarkable resource! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I would not be who I am without you.
Woohoo! Congratulations on getting to $1,000,000! I’m glad that I was able to help, and so heartened that there are so many generous knitters out there.
I don’t comment often, but I have read every one of your blog entries and you have made me laugh too many times to count. Also, I don’t think I would have ever tried knitting socks without your influence.
You rock, your blog rocks, and we thank you – for sharing, and for making us part of your world as well.
Keep up the good work. I love your blog.
Happy Blogiversary to you!
Happy Blogiversary dear Harlot!
Happy Blogiversary to you!
Six years! I only started reading about two years ago. I was a crocheter then and you helped me to see the error of my ways! 🙂
I think at some point in the near future it would be cool for you to collect links to your favorite old posts in a NEW post so that latecomers like myself might enjoy. (I never read the one about confessing to the matrimony!)
Anyway, have a great Blogiversary!
I think one of the things that makes your blog so different is how available you are to us. You let us all into your space in such an intimate way that it’s hard to resist the closeness I feel. I’d like to say how much I appreciate all of the time and energy you’ve invested in this space. Just fyi, We are here. We care.
P.S.: You’re fantastic people!
Firstly, thank you for your blog. You are a truly gifted writer and knitter. Your entries have made me laugh, cry and think in different ways.
Secondly, you are right that many people may have donated without your influence. However, many may have donated more or donated additional times because of your words (I know I did)
Congratulations on 6 years, and thank you so much!
Stephanie, we’ve met once, you and I,at a booksigning and I know I was only one of hundreds of fans clutching one of your books to my chest (Joseph Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, PA a good 350 miles away-it was my trek-practically a knitting mecca) almost giddy about shaking your hand, sharing my wip (my own traveling sock-SEE YOU invented the traveling sock!). President Obama held a handknit sock during a photo op with a constituent because she knew you always posed your portraits holding “the sock” and wanted to see if then candidate Obama would be game enough to do it-he was.
Anyway, I’m one of the commenters that would not have donated but for you and your gentle (and not so gentle) nudges to do the right thing. You truly have made a difference.
I think the blog is NOT dead at all, I look for your posts daily, always pleased when there is a new entry. Six years is incredible, I am very much hoping there are six more!
Maybe you could design a hand knit penis warmer to send in response to all of the e-mails we all get about penis enlargement:)
On another note, I really enjoy your blog and have become a more active knitter and definitely a yarn SNOB!! Keep on blogging.
Wow, I’ve been reading the other comments and I’m on a bit of an overload and I’ve only made it to noon on Sunday. All have said it and in so many different ways, but let me add my voice to the choir.
There is something special about this blog. I’ve tried to explain to non-knitting friends how your blog and books are interesting or so successful and I don’t think I do it justice. I dabbled in your blog the last year or so, coming here as I thought about it. But I read the post about your daughter going to Australia and it put tears in my eyes. I have no kids, I can’t understand, but you made me understand. I’ve been hooked ever since.
There is a deep humanness in your writing. It is very elemental, very organic, very real and natural. It resonates with me. Even though I am a knitter, I really don’t come here (primarily) for your knitting, but for your writing. You are just a good person that shines above the many artifical and superficial things in this world today. You are witty and honest. I appreciate you.
I can tell you are tired with the rest of things in life. Perhaps you need a break. Though the danger in a temporary break is that you may never come back, perhaps one is in order all the same. I hope your spirit recovers soon. I’ll send good thoughts your way.
Speaking of frozen peas… Oh wait, that wasn’t the point of the post?
Heheh…
Happy Blogiversarry. And thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I have been online since 1987, and spend most of my day on the computer. Yours is the ONLY blog I always read. Even though I don’t know you personally, I feel for you and would miss you enormously were this blog to disappear. Since I haven’t yet said thank you, I’ll just say that’s the point of this comment – THANK YOU. In so many ways, you make my life better.
And a blessed blogoversary to you as well. I am a grizzled old professor down south of you a bit. And I am what they call a lurker. I knit but not as often as I would like. And, while I tend to simple patterns for smaller projects, I am in awe of what you produce. In a way, you are like those I call my meeting friends; people I may see every year or so at some professional meeting. I feel kinship, joy in your resolute persistence and courage. The world needs more optimists who open themselves up for us all to share the beauty of life.
And so, for inspiration, joy, indomitable courage, ladies and gentlemen, I give you our leader; Yarn Harlot. Slainte! Skoll! Here’s tae ye!
Wow – happy sixth blogiversary (I’m late to the party as always).
I started spinning because of you (and That Laurie). I started blogging because of you. You have a lot to answer for, LOL! Thanks 🙂
Steph – happy blog-iversary!!! I only wish I could say I was there from the beginning. Since I’ve been reading your blog I always feel like I’m reading the words of a close friend. Thank you for this ability you have to write clearly from the heart. Wishing you much happiness in the coming year, since you bring me so much joy.
Happy Blogiversary!! May this year bring lots of joy to you, & not the painful parts of last year’s blogging experience.
I read your blog all the time, you’ve made me laugh and cry and I’m not sure what I’d do if you ever stopped blogging. I’m sure I would feel like I did when Mr. Dressup died or when Shelaugh Rogers finished “Sounds Like Canada”. (No offense to Jian on Q, I think he’s great but I miss my daily Shelaugh!) You’re one of my Canadian hero’s, making my day brighter and connecting me to the wonderful world of knitting with wit and humor. More importantly perhaps is that you are a beautiful example of generosity and strength. I’m about to turn 35 and I still need strong female role models like you who tell it like it is, who show that life is good even when it’s difficult. Thank you for sharing your ups and downs with us, I hope you know how much we all appreciate you! Peace from Smithers, BC.
A belated Happy Anniversary to you! Life seems to be tiring for you lately, and I wish I could make it better for everyone, but the only thing I can do is tell you why I read your blog. Not just for the knitting, although that’s why I started. But also for your voice — you talk about things that are, on the surface, ordinary (children growing up, household repairs) and make them funny and special and make us appreciate how tuly extraordinary these things are in our lives.
And for me personally — if I’d never read your blog, I’d never have known about Doctors Without Borders. I’m fairly well-educated about international affairs, but somehow, in my comfortable little world of US health care, I never quite fathomed how rare it can be for someone to actually even see a doctor in their village, much less have access to regular and adequate care. It makes all my complaining about a dispute with an insurer seem petty and childish. If for nothing else, you’ve opened all our eyes to the larger world outside our homes and made us understand that we are all part of one community, and that if we want to call ourselves human, we have to, must, cannot flinch from caring for those in less fortunate circumstances.
So maybe one of the reasons for the blog isn’t so much knitting, as it is a reminder to all of us to help others in any way possible.
Happy Blogiversary, Steph!
And I thank you for all the joy, tears and laughter you have brought to my life through your blog!
A very Happy Blogiversary to you! And thank you for your wit and wisdom!
Kim
We call that “girl dreams” at my house. They are very hard to live down. Happy Blogiversary! Thanks for writting about some thing that I love. It is a great treat to take a few mintues and see others in the world.
Happy blogaversay! Thanks for all the sharing and teaching and comfort over the years.
Congrats on 6 years and on the 1 Million – WOW. I must admit i started freaking out – were you leading us down the path of “after 6 yrs i’m done here – later”..Ravelry has it’s place, but Its nice to just check in on a blog. I for one am glad you are staying put…blogs can’t compare to Ravelry.. apples and oranges really..its hard for me to keep track of message boards over thar…sometimes..i like blogs. Now, if we could get you to podcast.. that would be awesome!!
thank you thank you thank you!
I have way too recently learned about your blog and about this wonderful wacky world of bonding about knitting on the internet.
Every morning for 1year and 27 days I’ve torn off a page of the desk calendar of your witty witticisms at my desk, and just last week I started reading the blog.(Only because i can’t access it at work, cause it has “harlot” in it…we have issues)
Anyway-thank you. You remind me that i am not the only one that is still working on knitted christmas gifts on Valentines day; or that one day i will be able to finish a row without having to chase after a toddler for a needle up her nose or actually knit one whole row after untangling the yarn in an intarsia sweater all in one sitting…
thank you for inspiring, entertaining, sharing and egging me on.
Can’t wait to enjoy and participate in the next 6!
Happy Blogiversary to you. I have read your blog on and off over the years and have really enjoyed it. Thanks for all the teaching you have given. And the laughs!
I discovered your blok about three years ago, when I spent some considerable time to reading all the older posts…I enjoyed them tremendously, and learned so much about knitting (I’ve knitted for about 35-37 years now, so that says something, about life, family and raising kids… I remember thiy blog, was one of those that inspired me to start my own… Reading your blog prompted me to go back and see some early posts again… how life changes, back when I first read them I rushed trough the ones of spinning, now I read them most carefully 🙂
Speaking of old posst and spinning..what happened to that plan of a grey gansey?
Happy blogyversary, thank you for everything.
There are some thin if the legitimate work as a line there. Most are sites and marketing study for the site owner rich, not you. The only thing is true legitimacy Ebay, selling things you already own
http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com
Happy Blogiversary Stephanie! Thank you so much for your blog. Your blog and books took me from a solitary knitter who thought she was kind of weird to someone who knows there are others like her out there and that my love of cashmere is not strange to other knitters. Thanks for sharing your love of knitting, your humour and yourself with us.
Happy Blogiversary! My D.H. gave me two of your books for the Holidays. He knew this is the only blog I regularly follow.
One of your essays in one of the books you reflect on a baby blanket you made for your firstborn and talk about the mistakes and how you’ve evolved as a person and as a knitter.
I wanted to know if now that you are looking back on your archives if you had any observations on how you’ve evolved (as a knitter, a writer, a mother, a person).
Dear Stephanie, Happy Blogiversary.
I wanted to let you know that we’re Doctors w/o Borders donors (and I’m a knitter) who have not registered with you because I just found out about it! How wonderful that you’ve rasied so much for that fine organization.
Steph, The fact that you write more days then not is amazing to me. For those of us that struggle with writing, to read your blog entries and books and have them appear so clear, so intimate, so witty and funny, and for it to appear so effortless, is a marvelous thing. Yes, we follow you faithfully, your struggles and your joys. That you allow us glimpses of you and your family’s lives make all of our lives better.
Yes, we all can relate to the squirrel antics and sympathise over the demise Mr. Washie. But the fact that you allow us to see all of that makes us love you even more. Tha fact that you can influence (yes you do) so many people though your blog and through subsequent events such as DWB/ MSF just shows the power of being true to yourself. You rock!
There are some thin if the legitimate work as a line there. Most are sites and marketing study for the site owner rich, not you. The only thing is true legitimacy Ebay, selling things you already own
http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com
There are some thin if the legitimate work as a line there. Most are sites and marketing study for the site owner rich, not you. The only thing is true legitimacy Ebay, selling things you already own
http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com
I get so much from reading your blog, the least of which is knitting advice. I respect and admire you and how you think about things, and how you handle yourself, and I’m grateful you take the time to share those thoughts with us.
There’s a song (Breathe-2am?) wherein the singer says “I feel naked here in front of this crowd cuz these words are my diary screaming out loud, and I know that you’ll use them however you want to.”
It takes a lot of guts to blog your diary, but I have taken those words and used them to make me a better person in some ways. I hope you continue to benefit from the blog as much as we do. Thank you so much!
agricultural country until slowly per response acidification 2100
Like most anniverasries, bloggy or not, I can’t believe it’s already 6 years… and that it’s ONLY 6 years.
Many happy returns… with not so much frogging.
concerns january depletion instead next major live reduction