The Answer

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Dear Blog,

Today I turn 42. If you’re any sort of nerd like me, then you know that means that today I am the answer to life the universe and everything.  I’m thrilled. I like aging.  I feel stronger and more myself and more here and experienced and able as I age – and I even like myself better.

I’m spending the day with myself and some yarn before having a family dinner. I’m knitting. Happy Birthday to me – and for the record? The year I was 41 can bite me hard on the hind parts.  This year is the answer.

love,

Steph

712 thoughts on “The Answer”

  11. birthdays are a good time marker–let last year go and have a better one!
    also, it can’t hurt to carry a towel. (in case you need to emergency block something away from home.)

  13. Hope you have a great birthday and do all the things you want to do. Life just gets better.

  14. Hope your restaurant won’t be at the end of the universe. Live long and prosper… (Sorry, sorry, that was something else)… and enjoy your birthday.

  15. Happy Birthday! And if you carry your knitting with you, you won’t need a towel. Enjoy!!

  17. Such a great attitude! Besides, what’s not to like? Have a great day and an even better year!

  19. I’d have to second Claire up there who said to have 42 pieces of cake.
    And add on to go ahead and buy 42 hanks of new yarn.
    Hope your birthday is everything you want it to be, and nothing you don’t! And that every year from now on is filled with joy.

  20. Happy birthday! from now on, may your elevator go sideways…and you can knit your own towel!

  23. happy birthday. thanks for sharing all your lovely knitting (and other) adventures with us. and making me laugh. laughing is good.

  24. ¡Happy Birthday today and for many years to come!! Enjoy your day!! You are a gift to all of us.

  25. I see someone beat me to the suggestion to celebrate with 42 skeins of yarn. 42 stitch markers if you’re on a budget?
    Many happy returns of the day!

  26. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Stephanie, Happy Birthday to you!
    You are so lucky that you didn’t have to listen to me sing that! Have a great, great day!

  27. Happy birthday! The 40’s are great years – I’m 46 and it’s getting better!!! the 40’s are years when you have more time and plenty of energy – no more broken nights and children to watch every second of the day. Time to grow as an adult women and follow your dreams. The insecurities of youth are banished forever. Enjoy the joys of the (in your case) almost middle-aged woman!!

  28. As I sat at my desk this AM and tore off Sat/Sun page from your 2010 calendar, read the page for Monday the 14th, I silently wished you a Happy Birthday. You are doing what you recommend on your calendar…..knitting! Savor the moment.

  31. Happy Birthday! I hope you have an great birthday and an amazing year of being 42. 🙂

  35. I too turned 42 this year, but this year will be my “you can bite me” year. I’m looking forward to 43 instead.

  37. Happy birthday! I agree that aging is a wonderful thing and to be celebrated and embraced. The disintegration of parts and pieces as time goes on isn’t so wonderful but it sure beats the alternative!

  39. Happy Birthday and many happy returns! Thanks for reminding be about Douglas Adams.

  44. This is your birthday song
    It isn’t very long
    Hey!
    (leaves more time for knitting and other celebratory acts) XXOO

  45. I got the lovliest hand dyed yarn in the mail today. it is beautiful shades of brown and just begs to be a koolhas and matching scarf. Well, matching in colors, maybe not pattern. Someone dyed it and hated it so traded it to me through a swap on Ravelry. Membership on Ravelry is the best gift ever. I hope your day is also full of joyful surprises.

  48. Happy Birthday, oh fellow Gemini twin. I’ll kick 2009 in the ass for you as well.

  49. Have a fab birthday. Always enjoy reading your blog. Love your ‘green’ knitting too.

  50. Happiest of happy birthdays and many happy returns of the day!
    like a previous poster, i saw it was your birthday when i ripped off the previous Sat/Sun page and it was such a nice surprise. I said, Oh! Happy Birthday Stephanie! and wished you well then, but i am thrilled to do it again here. You make my life better almost every day. I am honored to have shared the planet at the same time as you!

  51. Have a great one!
    Nice to see so many of your followers are also fans of Douglas Adams (he with whom I share a birthday).

  53. Happy Birthday dear Harlot. Really, there are only two options: get older or die. With that in mind, I keep springing joyfully toward old. Reading your blog always makes my day better.

  54. Today is my birthday as well. We are 10 years apart, exactly. I won’t tell you that I’m 10 years younger though cause that’s mean to do on your birthday. 😉

  56. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
    May this year bring inspiration and joy to you as you have given so freely to us.
    Dee

  58. Happy Happy Birthday! And that was exactly my reaction to the 40s decade–definitely a growing time and a “redefining” time. Enjoy!

  62. Happy Birthday, Steph!
    Yea you on having the answer – too bad that the question keeps changing.
    All the best to you,

  65. Hope you have a wonderful birthday and wishing you a care- and moth-free year!

  67. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !! so refreshing to hear that someone is happy about getting older ! hope that you have all the best on your special day !

  68. Happy Birthday, Dear Stephanie! I hope you have a wonderful day. Are you having dinner at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe? (and I’d give quite a lot to be 42 again. the 50s so far suck.)

  70. Happy Birthday Stephanie, enjoy your day knitting and being with all those you love (skeins and people!).

  71. Happy Birthday, Stephanine! I think every year should be a celebration.
    May you get 42 skeins of your favorite yarn for your birthday…plus what other goodies your family bestows!

  72. @ 45, I can attest that the 40s are great! So empowering! Maybe you could do an encore & take another day off this week to rest & knit or whatever…Happy Birthday

  74. happy Birthday to you! Celebrate your birthday the rest of the month–after all it comes only once a year.

  75. Shiny! Happy Birthday, Stephanie. We’ve all had “annus horribilis” from time to time. Here’s to a great year! Thanks for turning me on to Firefly and Poutine. Love, Elizabeth

  77. Happy Birthday Steph!!!
    Watch out for 45, someone sneaks in when you don’t notice and trades your body for a jiggly one with a belly and no butt.

  81. Ahhh. 42. I remember 42. It was pretty darn good. And it kept getting better. Now, at 58 it is freakin’ wonderful! Even better in 3 years and 11 months and 5 days when DH says I can retire! Happy Birthday, Stephanie!

  83. Yup, this year’s the good year. Have a great one! Can’t think of a better way to enjoy a birthday.

  85. Happy Birthday. I will be turning 42 tommorrow and I think it has an elegance and grace about it. Happy knitting, that’s how I plan to spend my day tomorrow!

  87. Happy Birthday, lady! Since I can’t buy you a pint in person, I’d like to offer you a complimentary copy of my Mittens With Pints On pattern, if you’ll have it.

  89. Hope it’s a tremendous day! Warmest regards from sunny North Central Florida.

  90. Birthdays come but once a year,
    So I send this message clear –
    Happy Birthday, Stephie dear (sorry)
    Happy Birthday til next year!
    I’ll sing it in person next month!

  92. Happy birthday! I’m sure there must be some Vogon poetry appropriate for celebrating this occassion…

  93. Happy, happy Birthday! I thought of you this morning when I walked past some sour cherry trees nearby. I picked only three: I didn’t want to get lumped in with the other Lithuanians who steal from your tree.

  97. Happy Birthday! Celebrate by knitting ALL YEAR! After all, you are only 42 once! (Then next year you celebrate being 43 by knitting all year, etc….)

  99. …. And now we knew when we would know the Ultimate Question all would be good… although having said that, any day knitting is a good day. Happy Birthday and many more.

  100. Happy Birthday, Yarnie. You are younger than my youngest child. And yet you have taught me so much, for which there are no words sufficient to thank you. Here’s a little tradition I’d like to see you adopt in your own family – whoever has the birthday becomes Queen (or king) for the day! Whatever the Queen wants, it is given to her (this includes someone’s favorite sweater, etc.) but generally only for the day. Her Majesty gets what she wants to eat and is allowed to spend as long as she wants doing whatever she pleases. The Queen is indulged royally. I know, it sounds perfect, but the fly in the ointment is that other people have birthdays too and The Queen is then forced to take the role of servant who indulges the new royalty. I think it’s worth it, though! Have a great one, Ma’m.

  104. Aging has also made me much less concerned with what anyone else thinks about my choices in life (I’m 46 in 9 days).
    My husband will be 42 this year. Fitting, as he has always been the meaning of life, the universe and everything, for me!
    Happy Birthday Stephanie!

  110. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Stephanie!!!! Happy Birthday to you!
    (Be thankful that you don’t have to actually hear me singing it to you!)
    Hope you have a wonderful day! BTW, finding out that I’m only 12 years younger than you somehow makes me feel more like a real grown-up. 🙂

  112. happy birthday!!! i hope that 42 is the answer, but that next year on this date you decide that 43 is the answer, etc.

  113. Happy Birthday! How nice to read about someone in her 40s, like me, who is not whining and complaining about getting older. Glad you’re embracing the real gifts that come with accumulating the years. Thank you so much for the gift of your blog, and I hope you get many special and meaningful presents today.

  120. Hello Stephanie,
    Have the loveliest of days – you and your knitting.
    Happy Birthday to you and may loads of blessings come your way throughout the year.
    Naomi

  124. Happy birthday, Steph! I’m another nerd whose first thought on my 42nd was exactly the same. Wishing you only the best kind of surprises this year and lots of yarny joy too.

  126. Have a great birthday! Here’s hoping this year will be your best ever.
    Bertha

  128. I love it when people embrace their age instead of acting like it’s the end of the world to be another year old. The alternative sucks! Happy birthday! And many more.

  129. Happy Birthday!
    Not long ago, I would not have known the reference to 42 – but thanks to my nerd son, I am at least peripherally aware. 🙂
    Enjoy your year of being the answer to everything.

  130. happy birthday, and thanks for all the fish. some of us are as nerdy as you. 🙂

  133. Happy Birthday…and here is to a finer yarn year ahead….last year was like bad acrylic from the 80’s, best forgotten!!! Have an enjoyable day from start to finish!!!

  135. Happy Birthday! May your needles be swift, your pattern correct, and your yarn tangle- and knot-free.

  138. I LOVED being the meaning of life, the universe and everything age!! I was so sad to let it go…and only for that reason. I still have Helen Mirren’s voice in my head saying that line.
    Ah, well. I can still make sure to have my (hand-knitting) towel with me at all times. 😀
    Mary
    ‘meaning of life, the universe and everything’ +3

  139. Have a VERY happy birthday! Mine is in 2 weeks and 3 days (Canada Day) but who’s counting! I think Kathy in KS had the right idea…one skein per year. Woo hoo can’t wait…don’t tell my husband! 🙂

  141. Hi HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I just had my 51st birthday and i so agree with you about liking aging thanks for the hicthhikers reference that was awesome have a wonderful day and a great year

  142. Happy Birthday!! Hope you’ve given yourself a nice fiber gift for the occasion.

  144. Best wishes on your birthday! I too am enjoying my 40s. Here’s to a great year! (raising nice glass of cabernet.)

  146. I am honoured to have the same birthday as you do. 🙂 Not the same year, though, but I celebrate with much the same philosophy. I’d rather age than not! I’m now legal for the discount at Mandarin!!!! Yay!! Happy day, Stephanie.

  147. I turn 44 this year but mentally I stopped at 42. I like being the answer to everything! Congrats to you!!!

  151. 42 is indeed the answer to life and everything.
    I hope your Birthday today and all the rest of your days are filled with loving people, purposeful work and pleasant pastimes.
    Plus of course – fiber/yarn and the ability to enjoy it
    See you in July at the silk retreat.
    Barbara

  157. Happy birthday! It just gets better from here (I’m 51, and I know!) Knit on with joy!

  160. Happy Birthday!! It’s my mom’s B-day too!! I also have to say Happy US Flag Day to you too.

  161. Happy Birthday, Steph.
    Today I turn 34, and I’m glad to share it with a knitter I respect as much as I do you. Thank you for your example of ethics, common sense, and unapologetically being yourself.
    Have a wonderful day!

  163. I get to be the answer starting in October… can’t wait.
    All the best to you, and a very happy birthday indeed.
    Now then, WHERE is that towel?

  164. Great attitude! Happy Birthday! Isn’t it great to kiss a crappy year goodbye and welcome a new one! I hope it’s full of health, love and wool! Not necessarily in that order. 😉

  169. Yes. Today you are the answer to everything in the universe.
    Have a grand day, knit lots, and make everyone wait on you because, well, you are the answer to everything in the universe 🙂
    Oh, and if I had 42 chocolate bars, I’d give them to you.

  170. Happy Birthday sweet woman!
    I do feel stronger and wiser every year.
    I am sneaking up on 50 this year and it feels like I will suddenly know many important things.

  171. Happy 42nd birthday to…us. And ya know what? I share your sentiments about forty-one. Hope the next year brings much happiness, and less sadness, to you and yours as well as to me and mine.

  173. Happy Natal Solar Return day! I wish for 42 exquisite skeins of yarn to make their way to you in the coming year, to provide you with far more than 42 hours worth of knitting pleasure and comfort. Cheers!

  174. Happy Birthday Steph! You are the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything. thanks for all the fish.

  182. Now THAT’s a fabulous birthday attitude!! Happy Birthday to you! Enjoy the day of your beginnings…

  184. Congratulations! I’m so glad you remembered this year how old you were, unlike a few years ago. Otherwise you might have missed making the awesome Douglas Adams reference(and allowing the Blog to add lots more!)
    Enjoy!

  186. Happy Birthday!
    I thought “only smarties have the answer”?!
    Have a great year 🙂

  189. …you probably already know this, being the geek you are…but if you type ‘the answer to life, the universe and everything’ into google search THE ANSWER from Google calculator is…
    well, just go try it. Happy Birthday!

  193. Happy Birthday! After being the answer to life for a full year, I was very happy to see 43 roll around – here’s hoping this is a great year for you!

  194. Happy Birthday! I completely agree with you about aging. I will be 49 in a few weeks, and I feel like I am becoming the person I am meant to be, not trying to irritate others, but being who I am. It is freeing to finally realize that I can have preferences!
    I hope this year makes up for last year!

  195. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! How nice that you get some solitude today. What a wonderful gift for the busy mom/wife/sister/daughter/friend that you are to many. Enjoy! Ahhhhhhhhhh.

  196. Happy 42 to you Stephanie! I hope you have a wonderful day filled with all the people and things you love.

  198. Happy Happy Birthday Steph!!
    Can’t wait until July 9th!!!!! The retreat is going to be so much fun….just like the last one!
    Tamara

  202. Happy birthday! I’m not as far along as you, but I like growing up, too. I like myself more now than I did five years ago. It’s good to embrace the years that bring experience and confidence. I’d rather embrace them than resent them.

  203. Hurray that the year that was 41 is over and done.
    Double hurray for 42. I liked 42 so much I stayed there for 3 years. Happy Birthday!!

  205. Well, Happy Birthday and if you’re gonna buy 42 of anything to celebrate I would expect it to be yarn (or maybe some great patterns)!

  207. Sad to say, some years are better chalked up to experience and wiped from memory. Live for today because today you are a year wiser. Bless you!

  210. Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday Dearest Yarn Harlot
    Happy Birthday to you!
    So, #42, what’s the question? And Marvin the paranoid android made me ask!

  213. Happy BD! Just for the record, I just finished a two week staycation where I knit for much of each day and had pizza for lunch every day. That’s what’s great about being a grownup: do what you will and suffer the consequences, if any.

  216. I’m 37, but only for the next couple weeks. I’ve been waiting *all year* for someone to call me old, so I could say, “I’m thirty-seven, I’m not old!”

  217. Happy birthday!
    Your birthday means that you are 2 weeks shy of a decade younger than I am. 🙂
    Enjoy your special day! I hope someone gives you fabulous wool – or a gift certificate to your favorite shop.

  218. Dear Steph,
    Wishing you Many, Many Happy returns on your birthday, and many more happy birthdays, so you can keep on blogging and writing and knitting and making the rest of us happy! The only down-side I can see to the all-pizza all-day celebration is that a possible over-dose (is that even possible?) could put you off future pizzas. Anyway, Enjoy! Happy Knitting, and I like your birthday sentiments enough to save them for MY next birthday. Regards, Cheryl.

  219. Hope it’s a very Happy Birthday and that this year is much kinder than the last!

  224. best wishes on your Day of Birth! Way to embrace age! I always figure, no matter how old you are there’s always someone out there wishing they were your age again!

  230. A very Happy Birthday to you! You are so right the older I get the better I like myself and everything around me… Enjoy the day…

  231. Happy Birthday! Have a great day and enjoy a nice cold beer (or 2) with your dinner!

  233. Oh wow, I just did some thinking and your 42nd is also my parents’ 42nd wedding anniversary! What a day for history.

  235. Stephanie,
    A very Happy Birthday to you. Absolutely eat pizza for every meal…lovely lemon pies…and why don’t you eat them? Also, loved the most recent green sweater, as always inspiring.
    Enjoy your day, and many more….Rebecca

  238. Happy birthday, Steph! Mine’s tomorrow, so let’s celebrate together.
    And for what it’s worth, the last year can bite me hard as well–it sucked.
    Hope you have a great day!!!

  240. Happy Birthday! Enjoy, and here’s wishing you a wonderful 42nd year! (or is it really 43rd – I confuse myself).

  242. Happy birthday! What a gift that you were born! I hope you get (more) yarn and knitting time and beer.

  245. Happy Birthday! And thank you for putting the proper perspective on the number 42, as I’ll also be seeing that number a little later in the year.
    Happy knitting! A little ironically, I cast on for a small towel yesterday. =)

  249. I feel like I am in a special level of geekdom… Knitting and Hitchhikers jokes all in the same blog post. 🙂 This was a good day. Happy Birthday.
    This is the first time I’ve ever posted on your blog, but I thought I should mention that I pull up archives of your blogs and read about a month’s worth everytime my real job starts to suck. Works like a charm. A little humor helps everything. Thanks for all the laughs!

  254. Happy Birthday! I hope it’s a wonderful one. Self-assurance, yarn happiness, and family–those sound like all the right elements to happiness no matter what the day!

  256. Happy birthday, Stephanie!
    Enjoy your day. I hope this is a great year for you.

  258. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, sung slightly off-key, but with great gusto and beer all around!

  259. Steph,
    Happy, Happy!! Today is my 24th wedding anniversary as well so this mathematically be the only time we are reversed in that…I think (someone more math ept will correct me I’m sure…) Many happy returns of the day.

  260. I am a little giddy right now because our birthdays are two days apart (and therefore, I am this much closer to you cosmically speaking). Hope yours is as good as mine was on Saturday. And let this be our best year yet.

  261. Happy birthday!
    Last year I was 42 and it was one of the best years of my life. Then I turned 43 and umm things went bad. Hope you got rid of all the bad this last year and will have smooth sailing from here on in!
    —
    The Beeb has provided some Vogon poetry just for you!
    See, see the dead sky
    Marvel at its big baby poo green depths.
    Tell me, Snerkle do you
    Wonder why the tapir ignores you?
    Why its foobly stare
    makes you feel alive.
    I can tell you, it is
    Worried by your snignaff facial growth
    That looks like
    A nommies.
    What’s more, it knows
    Your friznoz potting shed
    Smells of booger.
    Everything under the big dead sky
    Asks why, why do you even bother?
    You only charm roses.

  262. Enjoy 42 (being the answer to life, the universe and everything) but also relish the fact that it gets even better the further you go–wait till you greet 50!!!!!!
    Cheers, Barbie O

  263. Oops, oh yeah, please have a Happy Birthday too! (Although I suspect you already have that totally under control!)
    Cheers, Barbie O.

  264. Enjoy being the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Banish 41 and look ahead. That’s what I am doing with 35. Almost made it to 36. Harlot, we love you, we appreciate all you do for the knitting community. All the best.

  265. Happy Birthday Steph…glad you’re enjoying your day and making it extra special for yourself.

  266. Happy Birthday! I’m 59 and find aging a little less wonderful than I did when I was in my 40s. If I was to choose to live a decade over again it would be 41-50. Enjoy.

  267. I hope this doesn’t mean that you are Mother Earth and have to be exploded to make way for the new outer space bypass.
    Happy Birthday! Hope you know where your towel is!

  269. it’s a Yarn Harlot! with a Birthday! hope it’s Happy! and there’s Towels!

  270. may all your knitting patterns say “Don’t Panic” in warm soothing orange letters. Happy Birthday, you’re who I want to be when I grow up!

  272. YAYYY! For being the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything!! My husband just joined that club last week. Enjoy kissing 41 Goodbye.

  273. I too, just turned 42 and I love your attitude! It’s just one more thing that proves you’re a really hoopy frood who really knows where her towel’s at!

  274. May you Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser give you lots of beer today!
    Happy Birthday.

  281. Happy Harlot-y Birthday to you!! I turn 40 myself in August, and I don’t know what the family will cook up to celebrate!
    I hope that your birthday is the best-est ever, and you get to do anything and everything your heart desires!

  285. dear steph, I wish you a happy birthday.
    This morning when I looked at your calendar and it said that it was your birthday, I told my husband: See, we got married on her birthday – that’s a sign!
    And i honestly didn’t know till today
    Greatings from a big fan in Germany

  287. Happy birthday again over here on today’s entry to my birthday twin. Knitting all day sounds great. Unfortunately, I’ve have to work. But dinner out tonight! I’m 15 years ahead of you!

  288. Happy Happy Birthday, May all your dreams come true! I hope you like this song because I sang it just for you!
    Happy Birthday Steph!

  291. Happy birthday!
    I still remember when I was visiting Toronto for a vacation over the week with your birthday and mine. It was great joining everyone for the knit night even if I was too shy to really talk to anybody.

  292. 6 sevens is a great thing to be, for sure. It is now that your destiny joins hands with you and you can embrace your work that has called to you.
    I reached 5 sevens this year. I am blessed with 7 more years of chaos and confusion.
    Here’s to 6!

  293. Happy B-day! I have been the answer to the ultimate question for most of this year, and it’s good to be reminded how great that is.

  294. Happy Birthday to you! Enjoy your 42nd and may it bring the best things to you!

  297. Happy Birthday! May this year be full of cashmere and silk, the best chocolate and wine, health and happiness, and everything else you could wish for.

  298. Happy Birthday! Hope the year is filled with good wool and better friends, lots of knitting and lots of laughing! 42 – the answer to life. Sure to be an excellent year.

  299. Have a fantastic day Stephanie–may it be filled with as many smiles as you bring to all of us 🙂

  306. Hope you had a wonderful Birthday!! Did alot of relaxing and of course knitting.

  309. Adding my birthday wishes to those already posted. Enjoy your day, youngster. The best is yet to come.

  311. Happy Birthday!! just had to add my two cents to all the warm wishes you have already received. Hope you have a fantastic day, and a wonderful year.

  313. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! May a happy day of knitting be yours today! 42 is an amazing number! And I think knitting is always a good answer, too.

  315. My aunt, back in the day, greeted a year after a yucky divorce with a slogan: ‘No poo-poo in 92!!!!’
    It started as a bit of a scold to the previous year. It ended up being a gleeful, smirkful boast.
    New husband, new job, new life!
    No poo-poo in 92!!
    2011’s gonna be heaven!

  319. My RSS feeder only displays your blog title, and when I saw today’s title “The Answer” I automatically said “42” to myself! 42 is always The answer, doesn’t everyone know that?
    Happy Bday Stephanie!!

  320. Happy birthday! You have discovered the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything – and don’t forget your towel!

  322. Adding my birthday wishes to the 300+ in front of me–It only keeps getting better!

  324. Happy Birthday to my favorite blogger! I hope your year is full of love, laughter, great yarn and even greater plumbing.

  326. If the Queen can have an annus horribilis then so can you. Hopefully you’ll only get the one and in years to come look back on THAT year, the one you were glad to survive.
    I wonder if she knits?

  327. Steph, how come you have the best attitudes toward everything!? Seriously, how can one person be so amazing? I hope you have an amazing birthday to match! 🙂

  329. Is it bad that as soon as I saw the title of your blog post in my reader, I said “42!” (which is my standard answer whenever somebody says to me “So, can I ask you a question?”)
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope it’s a wonderful one.
    And thank you, you’ve now given me something to look forward to in the future (now that I’m all done with big event birthdays).

  330. “If you’re any sort of nerd like me, then you know that means that today I am the answer to life the universe and everything.”
    That’s what I thought when I turned 42. It’s one of the few years that I remembered how old I was without doing the math. (43 now. Still have to do the math, because I just remember that my age is not “the answer” anymore.
    Bon anniversaire!

  332. Happy Birthday! Insist on nothing less than the Heart of Gold for your birthday this year. After last year, you’ve earned it!

  335. “I like aging. I feel stronger and more myself and more here and experienced and able as I age – and I even like myself better.” —
    Amen, sister! Happy birthday, Stephanie. I hope you enjoy every minute.

  340. Happy Birthday! (on a personal note — I get to be 42 twice because I spent all last year thinking I was 42, when I was really only 41 — that’s okay, I’m fine with skipping that particular year. And Secondly — I love the fact that I read the title to your post & the first sentence and had a geek flash.)

  341. I am a sort of nerd like you! Happy birthday from Arthur Dent, Trillion, and the whole gang! 🙂

  347. Rock on, Stephanie!
    As always, well put words on the achievment of another year.

  348. As I sit in my hotel room in Toronto, visiting from NYC, you make me laugh so much. Happy birthday.

  350. Happy (quiet,knitterly) Birthday!!And in honour of your birthday, I spent way too much money on yarn today! Have a wonderful dinner as well!!

  352. Many happy returns, Steff! You’ve been the answer to life, the universe, and knitting for me all along. Here’s hoping the coming year will more than make up for the suck-fest you’ve endured recently.
    Here’s a hug for you () – now go have a nice beer and enjoy your yarn.

  354. Actually, the answer is “greater than or equal to” 42–they just didn’t have the proper mathematical symbol at hand. So you have many many years to look forward to! Happy birthday.

  355. Happy Birthday!! Wishing you a great year. Will have a glass of wine or two in your honour.

  357. You reached Level 42…that’s pretty hardcore.
    Happy Birthday to you, and may your year be filled with yarn, love and happiness!

  358. Today Today Today Today
    Today is somebody’s Birthday
    Today Today Today Today
    Today is somebody’s Birthday
    It’s not the pickle’s or the pear’s
    It’s not the elephant’s or the bear’s
    Today Today Today Today
    Today is Stephanie’s Birthday!!!
    May you have the best year ever, dearest Steph.

  360. Happy Birthday!!! Don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner (hassling with a balky internet connection maybe?) Today is my brother in law’s 67th BD. my son in law’s 35th BD, & my nephew’s 32 BD. and in the states, it’s Flag Day, a minor patriotic holiday.

  361. Happy Birthday dear Harlot!
    I agree with you about aging, about new glasses being a pain in the arse and about kissing pissy years good-by!
    Hope you’re having a fabulous day knitting and then celebrating with your family. Out here in knitting land we all appreciate and adore you ; )

  362. What can I say? My best wishes to you – i love to read your blog and share your thoughts but today is your day – enjoy!!

  363. Hope you have a fabulous day doing all the things you want to do 🙂 I love birthdays. They’re a reminder that no matter how bad and hard things are and have been… we’re are still around and can appreciate and enjoy the little things.

  364. Just have to add some more birthday wishes for you! Here’s hoping this year is full of kindness and comfort, smiles and cashmere.

  366. Hippo birdie two ewes
    Hippo birdie two ewes
    Hippo birdie hippo birdie
    Hippo birdie two ewes
    With 6 ewes, you can knit a lot! ;D

  368. So, are you what I get when I multiply 6 by 9? That would make arithmetic more amusing–number, number, Yarn Harlot!, number, number, number… ::grin:: Happy birthday!

  369. Happy Birthday, Steph! Know what you mean about bad years. I made a point of taking my dog out at 11:55 p.m. on December 31, 2005, just so I knew someone had pissed on 2005 one more time.

  374. Hmmm, 42 was nice, but I never did feel like I understood the answer. I’m pretty sure Douglas Adams tricked us all! 😉
    Hope its a great birthday!

  375. Happy Birthday!! Knit til you pop!! 42 is a wonderful year I think. It has been a very long time. My baby is 42. Congrats and may the coming year be filled with positive and happy energy.

  376. Yay for owning your life and yourself! Many happy birthdays to come, but may The Answer stay pleasant in your memory always!!!

  377. Gee, I was going to sing you Hippo Birdies Two Ewes, but someone beat me to it. By the way, did your kids ever tell you that every time someone sings happy birthday to you (maybe it also included a cake, I don’t remember) you have to be another year older? (I believe they were miffed that I’d gotten three cakes one year). Anyway, that would make you positively biblical this year!!

  378. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about turning 42. Happy birthday! Celebrate with yarn, why don’t you?

  379. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! You can do anything you want to on your birthday (or any day, really!). Pizza for every meal? Sure! You can run it off tomorrow.

  385. For a long while I lived mostly happily just off highway 42, you’re right, 42 is definitely the answer. Pace,D.Adams. But now the questions will change. 😉

  386. Happy Birthday!
    (And where’s the “Like” button?)

  387. I cracked up when you chose 42 as one of the winning numbers for door prizes at the Detroit Public Library this year.
    I hope you’ve solved your TED talk problem so you can watch Douglas Adams’ talk there. SO good.
    Happy birthday.

  389. Happy Birthday to You! I had a birthday recently and spent as much time as possible with fiber on my day too. It felt wonderful – Enjoy!

  391. Happy birthday! Have a wonderful day and a wonderful year too.
    I share your views on birthdays and ageing. It´s actually very cool!
    Lots of warm wishes.

  392. For at least the next 20 or thirty years, older is better. We are smart enough to know what is important, and not waste energy on nonsense. We have kids who are now adults and we are proud of who they’ve become, and then there are weddings and grandkids. I’m 60 and having the best time of my life! Happy birthday.

  393. Nothing is better than being an empowered middle aged woman!! Happy Birthday!!

  394. Happy birthday!!! I’m 43 and enjoy getting older too. I believe we get better with age. At least most of us do. And it beats the alternative! 🙂

  395. Happy Birthday. Hope your day was as good as it sounded (that would be my perfect birthday day). Thank so much for your blog.

  397. Happy Birthday!! Have a most pleasant day! And speaking from experience, the forties are great years. Enjoy them to the fullest!

  398. Happy birthday to you!!! Getting older just keeps getting better and better, so enjoy to the fullest.

  400. Happy Birthday!! What a wonderful way to spend your birthday. Enjoy the day, the yarn and the prospects of another year.

  401. Happy Birthday and adios to the past year, it’s time to move on and leave it faaaaaarrrrr behind. Best
    Wishes for a lovely year to come.

  402. Many happy returns on your birthday. Since it’s Flag Day here in the lower 48, hope you get to wave your flag high and enjoy.

  403. Hi Stephanie, Happy Birthday! Did you know that in the U.S. June 14 is Flag Day? Not a well known fact, apparently. The reason I know it is because when I was 10 I had a friend who was born on Flag Day and never let me forget it! Forty two is a great age. All the forties. In fact, any age in which nothing terrible happens. I knew a woman in her 90s who was able to wear a summery cotton skirt of youth – with conviction (she taught yoga). Many happy returns of the day!

  404. happy 42nd year on the planet dear Harlot, may it be a blast, and good riddance to the one that was!

  406. Happy Birthday! We are all glad you were born!!! This quote is on my desk:
    Finish each day (year?) and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day (year?) You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
    -Emerson

  408. DID bite you hard on the hind parts and elsewhere. This one will be all tickle and nibble and slurp. (Well, if you got to 407 you deserve SOME carbonation.)

  409. I think you are wonderful and wish you the very best for the coming year.

  412. I’ll drink to that! Every word you said. Growing old beats the hell out of dying young, and when I turn another year older in one month, this year can also bite my hind end. Let’s see… hospitalized with a condition that is usually fatal, father with cancer, sister with cancer, mom in surgery, mom passed away. Yup, this year can kiss my arse. I’m ready to be done with it.
    On a happier note: Hope you have the very happiest of Happy Birthdays!

  415. I didn’t have a chance to knit in public this past weekend so I knit in public today (while DD#2 was in karate class) for you birthday! Happy Birthday!

  416. happy happy birthday! may 42 skeins of something delicious make its way into your lap!

  418. Happy Birthday, dear Stephanie! To tell you the trust, it only gets better and better — really. (I’m just over 60 and loving and appreciating life more than ever.)

  419. I used to listen to John Denver sing “It turns me on to think of growing old” and think, “Yeah, I can see that.
    I thought that when I was young.
    Now that I’m 57, the pleasure in the thought of growing old has palled somewhat. The whole joint pain/memory lapses/more & more little things going wrong? They can suck it.
    I think the world should have been designed so that we live just as we were in our 20’s, and then die quickly and painlessly. I’d like that better. This slow wearing down business is harshing my cool.

  420. Happy Birthday! All the best wishes for a year that lives up to the promise of its auspicious number!

  421. Hau’oli lā hānau! E malama pono.
    Becausse of you and your blog knitting has become and enjoyable and important part of my life.
    Wishing you a great year!

  422. IFor the next year when people ask your age, you can reply “the answer to life, the universe and everything.” Love it! Happiest of days (and years) to you!

  424. Happy, Happy Birthday, Steph!! You are now officially the same age as my third child (he hit 42 last fall). But it does get better and better every year – love your blog and your daily inspiration to us all!!!

  425. Yess! I remember how excited I was to reach 42–the answer to life the universe and everything! It was a great year.
    Many happy returns!

  427. What a wonderful year to celebrate! Wishing you all the best . . .and a bright year ahead!
    knittykat

  430. Happy Birthday, with Love! Thank you for all the belly laughs. My infinite improbability drive predicts that you have a good karma tidal wave coming in. Your lucky lotto numbers are 4, 2, and 42. Probably.

  431. Happy Birthday Stephanie! from one Gemini to another. Enjoy your 40s. I am (mostly). I decided when I turned 40 that I was going to have the teenage years that I never had when I was teenaged. I am now halfway through my ‘teens’ and mostly I enjoy surprising people (and sometimes me). This year on my birthday I went to my first Hungry Jack’s (Burger King) birthday party and had ice-cream cake – my youngest nephew was born on my 40th birthday, so he was 5 this year. I loved it. 9 screaming 5 year old boys. So if you want to eat pizza for three meals on your birthday, do it. And enjoy it. Don’t feel guilty about doing anything you love on your birthday.
    Party on!
    AlisoninOz

  432. Oh dear Stephanie – Cheerful Birthday! 42 huh? I liked that year, I like years with 4 in them generally. I hope you have a year that doesn’t bite in the hind parts but kisses in the sweet places and moves along at the right pace and keeps the grumps away from your door and your dreams full of flying horses. That’s what I wish.
    Oh, by the way, I’m still working on my Olympic piece! It started with a bunch of crazy wool pieces that I was going to use as Maple Tree cozies because that would’ve been very Canadian but they were just tooo beeyoutiful to stick around trees in this climate so now they are an endless stack of stripey pieces that I’m going to block like you told me and make this big-ass blanket out of. A dreaming blanket. I’ll send you a pic when I’m done. It is wildly majestic. It is.

  433. A very happy birthday to you!
    I just finished re-reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide this morning for the umpteenth time. It’s one of my favorites.

  434. Stephanie:
    Have a wonderful birthday. Enjoy every minute of it and do what I do – have several celebrations over several days!

  438. Ah yes, the universal answer of 42! I had a high school math teacher who included one question on every exam for which the answer was 42, so if you couldn’t figure it out, that’s what you answered! Happy birthday!

  441. Happy Birthday! It’s always refreshing to find someone else who celebrates herself and the fact that life just keeps getting better. All the best to you today and always!
    And thanks for the laughs! You’re the best!

  444. I had a vague sense today that it was somebody’s birthday I ought to be remembering. Hope 42 is a wonderful year for you. I’m only 2.5 months into 41 and already I’m looking forward to 42.

  446. Happy Birthday,
    And since you like getting older, I’ll welcome you to the year in which the question is (perhaps)
    What is six
    times
    eight?
    (Hmm, maybe that makes me 42 this year?)

  448. Happy birthday, Steph! 42 was a kinda sucky year for me, but I’m sure yours will be much better. Now that I’m 45? Life is getting better every year. Rock on.

  449. Remember that old saying: today is the first day of the rest of your life. I firmly believe you are only as old as you think, think young and you’ll be young. After all, it’s only a number. I try hard to forget my age,sometimes I really don’t remember. Anyway, have a very happy birthday, and thank you so much for your entertaining blog and books. They keep my spirits up!

  450. My respect for you just increased about 400% and it was pretty high already. Lol.

  453. Happy birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day and that you have an even better year. Remember that we get better with age!

  455. Happy Birthday!
    I too turned 42 this year & thought exactly the same thing. Its the ultimate answer (and age).

  458. Happy birthday to you and thank you so much for your glass half full perspective on birthdays! I love it. I turned 37 four days ago and was a total stress ball. Something about cresting the proverbial hill and waving goodbye to whatever’s left of my youth. I really like your perspective though and I will definitely remember it next year. All the best!

  459. Happy Birthday Stephanie! Have a wonderful 42! Your flowers are beautiful, btw. Thanks for all the tips and inspiration and laughter. Here’s wishing you a fabulous year and many more!

  463. Adding my Happy Birthday to the hundreds of others. Glad to know someone is the answer to LTU&E. Go Nerds! Time the world figured it out that we control the universe and beyond. Hope it was a great day.

  467. Happy Birthday!!!
    Even though I turned 43 a few months ago, I (for reasons I do not fully understand yet) keep mistakenly telling people I am 42. I assume this is because 42 was such a great year that I’m not ready to move on yet. Enjoy it 🙂

  468. Steph, my undergraduate convocation was today! What a special day! Happy, happy birthday to you! Here’s to milestones and growth!

  471. Happy, happy birthday! I KNEW I was supposed to remember something about the 14th – now I know what it is. I hope your day (and 42) is wonderful, and yeah – good riddance to last year, yay this year!

  472. Happy Birthday to you and my mother (also a knitter for 74 years) and celebrated her 86th birthday today. She taught me to knit when I was 5 and I never looked back.
    Happy Birthday.

  473. Hope you have a lovely birthday. 42 is a wonderful age – just remember your towel and Dont Panic!

  474. I didn’t know I shared a birthday with you. Happy birthday to you and I hope your birthday is as good to you as mine was to me. [My husband bought me chocolate, doesn’t get much better than that.] Hope your husband surprised you with something special too.

  475. Happy Day! Thanks for having a birthday so I have a reason to knit all day and do nothing else! “What do you mean I have to clean the house? Don’t you know what today is, Honey?”

  479. Happy Birthday Stephanie!! It’s my birthday, too — tho, I’m a few years older, 61 to be exact. I don’t really feel that age, and I’m happy being where I am, as well! I’m thankful for each year and each day God has given me. Hope your day was very special!

  481. I’m not a nerd but fortunately my husband is. Otherwise I would not have understood your reference.

  483. Happy Birthday Stephanie! From a fellow Gemini one year younger than you tomorrow—you are right about the aging thing—think I am coming to terms with it….. for now. But then, if you ask me tomorrow…..

  491. Happy Birthday. May this year bring you many bright and beautiful moments. Let me know if you ever get the hang of Thursdays–I could use some tips.

  492. Hippo birdies, two ewes,
    hippo birdies, two ewes,
    hippo birdies, hippo birdies, hippo birdies, two ewes!
    Hippo Birdy Steph!

  493. Happy Birthday to a fellow birthday twin! I, too, spent the day weaving and knitting and got taken out to dinner. I hear there is an ice cream cake appearing later in the week. I’m all for a birthday week!

  494. Thank goodness for Douglas Adams. I’m still 2 years and a day ahead of you, and 44 looks equally as good!

  496. Have a very wonderful day. I remember when I was 42…………Tomorrow I will be 67. OMG, where did the time go. Are’t we Gemini’ great????
    Claudia

  500. Wishing you the happiest birthday and many happy returns, a wonderful year and a long life of love and laughter, health and happiness, friends and fibre, music and mirth, peace and prosperity.

  502. Happy Birthday, Stephanie!
    First off, I love being in such good company–over 500 loving birthday wishes (by the time I’m posting this) from knitters, geeks and knitting geeks! (I also love that I’ve understood many of the references.)
    I’d rather think of this as the year that you become the answer, implying that you’ll still be the answer this time next year and the year after and the year after….only improved!
    I rarely post but I want to thank you for a wonderful blog, sharing knitterly and life triumphs and some of (what I consider to be) the very best characteristics of the human spirit in good times and less-than.
    Enjoy being the answer!

  503. Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday.
    The most important thing to remember is:
    It is far more important to remember who you are, than it is to remember who you should be!

  505. Can’t think of a better way to spend a birthday – knitting and family! Have a really wonderful birthday!

  511. Happy Birthday Stephanie! Just make sure that you know where your towel is this year!

  512. Happy BIrthday Stephanie! May you have (at least) 42 more and may they all be wonderful. The world is a better place to have you in it … not just because you’re a warm, funny person, an excellent knitter and an even better writer … but because you care. I think raising over $1,000,000 for MSF is an amazing achievement.

  513. This is really funny – just this weekend, hubbo was referencing “the answer”. I wasn’t tuned in at the moment, so he hollered down the hall to 13 yo son – “What’s the answer?” – son came back with 42 as if he has been asked what is name was, so natural. I’m obviously not a writer, so this probably isn’t relating as funny as it was – soooo Happy Birthday! Enjoy the answer!

  514. It’s still the 14th (well, here on the West Coast, anyway)… better late than never. Happy, happy birthday, Oh Wise and Wonderful Harlot!

  515. A very happy birthday to you…. do you realize how young you are? And so talented at such a young age.

  517. Happy birthday to someone who makes me happier on a nearly daily basis. What a gift you are.

  522. Happy Birthday Ms Harlot – and I’m wishing my beloved Singer treadle sewing machine Gertrude happy 100 years today too – I think she has a similar feeling about getting old.
    Have a terrific 42. As a 40 year old mother of a nearly seven year old it stuns me that your eldest is 21…..

  523. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! I’ll be 42 this year, too, and hoping I feel as great as you are 🙂

  525. Well, up not sleeping here and I find this lovely news. Happy Birthday. I am sure it was the sweetest family time and that the wool was inspirational. Here’s to a healthy, sweet new year.

  526. Happy Birthday!!! I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who embraces and enjoys her birthday! I rejoice in the fact that I’m still here, and I’m very grateful for every birthday I have. It’s usually a several day event around here. On the days leading up to my birthday, I make special dinners for my family and enjoy the last few days of being the old age. On my birthday I get pampered and do my best to have a great time and enjoy every second, and try really hard to have some fiber fun during the day. I hope you have a wonderful day filled with really productive and fun knitting, great food, a really awesome beer, and a terrific time with your family. Maybe you’ll even get a new towel!

  527. I’ve just passed my 42 birthday a few months ago, but I still think I wanna be you when I grow up.
    Many happy returns!

  528. Happy Birthday! Hope that you now understand all the knitting answers with your new found understanding!

  529. I turn 42 on the 20th. I Plan on spending it the same way. May the Yarn Goddess give us tangle-free skeins and gauges that are spot-on the first time. Happy Birthday to both of us!!!!

  530. Happy Birthday! Knitters of the world give thanks for your birth! You are an inspiration to us all!

  532. Holy smokes – we are the same age! I am not sure why this is such a shocker to me. I hope you had a great day filled with cold pints and soft yarn!

  537. I completely understand where you’re coming from. I will be 51 later this month and when I think about it, the thing I dislike about myself is my age (more things hurt, and I have less agility) and ironically the thing I like best about myself is my age (I am confident, and I know who I am). Hope your day was everything you wanted it to be!

  538. Happy birthday!
    I wish you 42 brownies and 42 beautiful sock yarn. (Can you knit a towel out of sock yarn?)

  542. Happy, happy birthday to you! 42 is a very good number and I wish you all good things. I hope you go on inspiring us all for many, many years to come! Thanks for all you share with us…

  544. Happy Birthday! May your year be less strange than a Douglas Adams book, but as much fun.

  548. A very happy birthday, Stephanie. And many wishes for a good year, leave the last year behind, and enjoy life, and knitting, and whatever makes you happy. And thank you for the blog – it brightens my day.

  549. Happy Birthday! Many more to come! I wish you much health, wealth and happiness!

  550. Happy Birthday! I just hit the big 50 a couple of weeks ago and I feel the same way. Every year a little older and wiser, I hope : ) I hope this year is filled with happy things for you and yours.

  552. Happy Birthday! (for the 556th time)
    And many happy returns of the whole year.
    Janey

  553. Here’s another birthday wish for you: may this year be the best ever and each year get better and better! Happy Birthday, Stephanie.

  554. Happy,happy Birthday, and best wishes for many more. Thanks for all the laughs, and the life and knitting lessons you have shared with us.

  555. Very happy birthday to you! Not sure if you ever read any of the late Douglas Adams’ books, but 42 is the answer to the meaning of life.
    Many happy returns of the day.

  556. Happy Birthday! I’m sure this year is the answer. But if in doubt, ice cream cake after dinner.

  557. I’ve never posted to a blog before, but I soooooo know what you mean. I turned 50 a few weeks ago and was thrilled (much to the horror of all my friends of the same age!) It just keeps getting better! Good for us!

  558. Happy Birthday!!! I wish you the best answers for this year and for many, many more years.

  560. This year I turn 49… but 49 sounds awful, I’m not sure why. So I’m going to practice being 50, so next year I’m used to it.
    Have a happy birthday, Steph, and many this year be much better than the last…

  562. Happy Birthday! The flowers ARE beautiful. They remind me of a classical painting.

  563. Happy birthday, Steph!! Aging does indeed rock. So I wish you many more birthdays and may all the years be filled with laughter and knitting.

  564. I spent this weekend experiencing the ‘Wool Market’ in Estes Park, CO. It reminded me of all the posts you’ve shared with us in regards to spinning and creating your own yarns. What a process! The girls on the Sheep to Shawl exhibit really out did themselves!They inspire us to honor the entire process, as do you with your books, blogs and example. I am happy you continue to share thru this high-tech media, your love of yarns and knitting! Happy Birthday as you keep getting better and better and encouraging us to do the same!

  565. In honor of your birthday, a Finnish palindrome: “neulo taas niin saat oluen” (knit again, so that you will get a beer). Happy Birthday!

  570. Happy 42nd! Definitely the best year, I have a good few years before I get to be the answer (23 to be precise), but I anticipate it greatly.

  571. Happy b-day! Keep your towel with you & don’t panic. Earth is mostly harmless.

  572. Hi Stephanie, so I really don’t have to tell you “DON’T PANIC”, ’cause you sound like you know where your towel is. Happy Birthday!!!

  577. Happy 42nd Birthday. “They” say a woman’s most powerful years are her 50s and I hope I’m around to see how powerful you are THEN! Best wishes.

  579. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Okay, so it’s a little late, but it only continues the celebration, right? I hope you had a wonderful day! 🙂

  580. Another happy birthday wish. Now if we had just all sent you a dollar or two….
    Enjoy the beverage (adult or not) of your choice. I’m six and a half years older than you are. It gets better.

  581. Gaah! I apparently never learned to do simple math. I’m TWELVE and a half years older than you are. It gets better right up until you lose your mental faculties. What were we talking about?

  583. Happy Birthday, you fabulous fellow space traveler. May your 42nd year be full of joyous surprises and unexpected rewards.

  584. Happy b’day Stephanie! I hope you had a great one.
    Yah, last year was a real ass-biter. 40 was not great for me, 41 (last year) was crap, so far 42 hasn’t been that nasty. Crossing fingers it will be much better by time 43 rolls around.
    Go play with some fiber – you’ve earned it!
    Danny

  585. It’s hard to imagine you read any comments this far down, but I’m here to say, happy birthday! I’m with you – I turned 53 a few weeks back and it just keeps getting better. Yay us!

  587. Flowers from a Dutch still life! Stunning, someone has excellent taste. All best wishes for the coming year. People always stop and stare when I wear my sock Summit T Shirt, it’s a great conversation starter.
    Eve from Carlisle

  588. It’s so great to to read about someone’s birthday where they’re not complaining, bemoaning, and poor-me-ing!
    You are awesome. Happy Birthday.

  592. Ditto, ditto,ditto everyone(except perhaps, with apologies, lynne s of oz). Going for 62 in a couple of weeks. That one’s a little scary. I hope I’m around (and your still blogging) in 20 years time to hear what you have to say about that!
    Also, I failed to see any mention of pints. Forty-two pints might be a little excessive, but how about 42 ounces? Happy B’day!

  593. Well my dear… this year is going to be interesting for you. Many Blessings and Much Happiness. And all the Goode Faerie dust I can muster…

  597. Happy birthday! All you gals about 42, the painted ponies go up and down, may this year be better than the last.

  603. w00t!! many happy returns of the day, and my wish for you is that you always embrace the aging process the way you do now. I’m not dealing with it at all well, and I’ll try to remember what you said here today. Thanks, Stephanie, and have a great day!

  604. Happy Birthday young ‘un. Extra happiness for the h2g2 reference and the number of Yarn Harlot readers who joined in.

  610. Happy Birthday! It’s also my sister’s birthday, too! And a couple great celebrities, as she always likes to point out. Have some great cake and do whatever you want!

  611. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! And many more! Have a glass of your favorite beer, screech, wine, whatever and enjoy!

  613. Happy Birthday…and thanks for all the fish (and knitting tips). don’t forget your towel.

  614. Happy day! It just gets better and better. Thanks for all the tips and trips!

  615. Happy Birthday. I’m knitting today too and it ain’t even mah birthday.
    Many returns of the day.

  616. I remember 42 — 42 was GOOD!! I wouldn’t mind doing 42 over again. and again. and again…
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I will knit in honor of your birthday today!

  618. Happy Birthday plus one day! May each day get better and the Answer be there for you all year long.

  619. It might actually be better if you bit last year on ITS hindparts, rather than the other way round (although it might have already done so, in some ways).
    Here’s to 42, and the meaning of life and everything! Thanks so much for all the joy you bring to the world, Stephanie!

  621. Happy Birthday! And by the way, this is not your 42nd birthday. This is the 3rd anniversary of your 39th birthday! No more birthdays and you’ll always be 39 yay! 🙂

  622. Happy Birthday Stephanie. Thank you for all the gifts you’ve given us this year.

  623. Happy Birthday Stephanie.
    I had this experience some weeks ago and I used “the answer” in my invitation for my party and thought it totally strange that only 50% of my friends understood the meaning.
    Have a great day
    Vera

  624. Happy belated birthday! I hope your day was filled with kniting and that the year ahead is everything you hope it will be!

  625. I have to agree. The older I get, the more comfortable I am with myself. I don’t mind that I’m a curvy woman so much anymore. I like that I have knowledge to impart. I just don’t like the way my knees CREAK when I squat or that my toes are getting arthritis in them.

  626. Hi! All the best – and may all the vocal renditions of the natal anniversary song delivered to you be well in tune. Since you are staying in, you have a fighting chance. Every restaurant I have heard the singing of “Happy Birthday” in lately should be ashamed of themselves.
    So I thought I would take an extra big risk and reach back in my memory banks and wish you: Bonne Anniversaire!
    If I were to sing it, I would make sure it was in tune.
    All the best.

  628. Happy Birthday to you. It was so much fun meeting you and listening to your talk at Squam –

  632. Happy Birthday! I don’t know about last year, but I’m happy last month is history.

  633. Love those books. Every time one of my kids says, “Mom, I have a question…” I immediately respond “42!” They are 5 and 7, but someday when they’re older I’ll give them the book and let them have that “Aha!” moment when they realize what I’ve been talking about all these years.
    Happy Birthday!

  634. Happy Birthday Steph and I do hope you have a lovely day and a great year of being 42!

  635. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! I’m 42, too. I’ve decided I’m going to stay 42 ’cause I like being the answer.

  642. You lovely lady are the answer this year, and I hope for many years to come. remember to take your towel to the conferences

  643. I posted a similar missive on my Facebook profile on May 2d of this year. I’m starting now to feel a bit more adult and slightly less of a slacker. Just. Now.
    Happy, happier, happiest! You deserve a POD-ful of delicious yarn, and an effective, odor-free, non-lethal moth repellent.
    xoxo

  647. I am so glad that it occured to someone other than myself that you are now the answer to the meaning of life among other things. Happy Birthday.

  648. Many happy returns and happy yarn!
    As you will also probably remember, the number 42 was supposed to be the answer to the question 6 x 8 and therefore THAT is why the universe is the way it is…..

  650. Mine was Sunday – turned 64 and lovin life. Knitting is stellar way to spend the day….however, one must have C A K E TOO. I’m still eating mine…lovin it too!
    happy happy birthday Steph! Great attitude

  653. Happy, happy birthday! I hope you partied hard enough that you’re still recovering.

  655. I’m so glad you had a happy birthday.
    I was thinking of you all Saturday at Knit in Public, knowing your birthday was coming in two days.
    Leave that last overwhelming year in the dust, look to the future, knowing that there will be wonderful days ahead. You are already a wise woman, you know!
    Blessings…

  658. Happy Birthday, Stephanie! I’m happy for you that you’re feeling more ‘here and now’ because aging is a beautiful thing.
    Enjoy the day!

  659. Aha! And so the Question was: How old will Stephanie Pearl-McPhee be in 2010?
    Happy belated birthday…today, I am exactly five years from getting my Answer. 🙂

  662. Happy Birthday! I hope it was a wonderful day! You share your special day with the likes of Diablo Cody and Che Guevera and the American Flag. More importantly to me personally, you share this day with my sister, one of the greatest ladies alive!

  665. Many happinesses, Oh, Yarn Harlot-y Oracle of Everything! May the sun shine and the rain of shite cease!

  667. Happy Birthday! I hope the next year picks up for you. I must say, I love being in my 40’s, things seem to get better (as in I appreciate all that life has to offer more and more) as I get older.

  668. Happy Birthday!
    When I turned 40 (8 years ago), I felt less burdened. That I could be the person I was meant to be.
    I do put up with less BS now, but that could just be menopause.
    Best Wishes for a better year

  670. Happy Birthday Steph! 42 is great, for all the meaning of life, the universe and everything reasons, and also because your 40s are the BEST decade of your life, and you’re still near the beginning! (Your 50s are OKish, but 60s are not all fun, except for 64, which I have just ‘celebrated’, and that at least has a Beatles song….’will you still need me, will you still feed me…..’ which lightened the year somewhat!)

  675. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANOTHER HITCHHIKER! Reading that made me so so so happy – and also look forward to my NEXT birthday all the more!

  676. Couldn’t be happier to wish a VERY happy birthday to you–you deserve it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You’re right about 42–it only gets better from there (I’m 55–and always surprised at that).

  677. Happiest of birthdays, Dear Harlot! I can speak from experience here as I have another 20 years on you. Yes, it *does* get even better. Lots better (provided that health is good). Enjoy your day!

  679. Have the best birthday ever. Getting older is not a thrill, it’s being able to continue to count!
    L&K

  683. I hope that you had a wonderful, relaxing birthday, and best wishes for year 42! I’ll bet it’s going to be a great year.

  685. Happy (belated) birthday! Hope this year brings you many wonderful things! Remember – “Don’t Panic” and always have your towel with you.

  686. Happy birthday – I own your books, and love them. 🙂
    I hope your day is fantastic and full of happy surprises!

  687. Happy Belated Birthday. This year I will be 42, too, and likewise bestowed with the Answer.
    Gotta love HHGTTG!!!

  690. Oh my goodness, Happy Natal Day! Mine is in two weeks. I will be older than you. (I already am, but that’s not the point.)
    When you find the answer to life, let me know. 😉

  692. Happy Birthday a little late. Thanks as always for all the joy you’ve given me.

  694. I also became the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything this year (and described it so).
    Happy Birthday, many happy pattern repeats 🙂

  696. Every year you “blow my mind” when, again, I realize that you were born on the day I was married. Hope your birthday was as peaceful as my anniversary.

  697. Happy (belated) birthday Stephanie! 42 is indeed the answer to life, the universe and everything. I’m looking forward to being 42 too, in two years time.

  698. Happy belated Answer birthday! I’ll have to remember (in only a few years) that 42 is an important one. I just re-read the Hitchhiker’s “Trilogy” last year and am grateful that we had Adams’s cleverness on this planet for as long as we did.

  702. Happy BIrthday and Happy Flag Day! My grandparents were married on Flag Day and would have been married 100 years this year if they had survived (life, not the marriage!) It seems to me one way or the other this will be a momentous year, although not as momentous perhaps as the one predicted for 2012 when the world will end and all the yarn will go up in flames with it. But I digress. Nevertheless, perhaps those questions about whether to knit the shawl or not should be cast aside like the lame ducks they are in favor of enjoying whatever time left we have.

  703. Happy Birthday and Happy Flag Day! My grandparents were married on Flag Day and would have been married 100 years this year if they had survived (life, not the marriage!) It seems to me one way or the other this will be a momentous year, although not as momentous perhaps as the one predicted for 2012 when the world will end and all the yarn will go up in flames with it. But I digress. Nevertheless, perhaps those questions about whether to knit the shawl or not should be cast aside like the lame ducks they are in favor of enjoying whatever time left we have.

  704. OMG…I JUST watched this movie for the first time today! How serendipitous is it that I’d read this blog post now? LOL Belated happy birthday! Enjoy 42! 🙂

  707. hey steph congrats on finally being the answer!
    sorry being so late with the wishes! hope you had a great day!

  708. i’m 52. i rode my bike 160kms for the MS tour two weeks ago. this weekend i’m riding my bike 220kms for the ride to conquer cancer. i feel stronger than i ever have. the only part i hate is when i realize (flying down a hill on my cannondale) that the snapping flag sound is actually my upper arms.
    🙂 have the happiest 42nd ever.

  709. Sounds like a great way to start the year. And thanks for that Douglas Adams reference; I could hear that quote in my older brother’s voice as I read it.

  710. Happy belated birthday! I turned 42 in March and my hubby bought me a towel for the journey! BTW, the world needs more nerds like us. Cheers!

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