Eleven

Dear Blog,

For Christmas last year, Ken gave me a very nice bottle of whiskey, appropriately called “Writer’s Tears”. I’ve been waiting for what seemed like an appropriate time to open it, and I just did. I’ve poured myself a tiny celebratory dram, and am sitting down to write to you.  I have done this (sitting down to write to you, not the whiskey part) thousands of times over the last eleven years. The very first time was January 23rd, 2004. Ken, in a move I still think was self-defence, gave me this blog as a present.  (I suspected then, and still do now, that as much as he likes knitting, he desperately wanted me to have someone else to discuss it with.)  That first day, I sat down at the computer, in the dining room – that was where we kept it then. We didn’t have laptops, just a big honking family computer in the dining room, where we could see what everyone was doing online – and I had a cup of coffee, and this crazy laminated sheet of paper beside me that had all these HTML codes on it.

It took me hours to write that first one. If I had known what I was starting, it would have been even more angst filled.  I wrote the words, then painstakingly figured out the HTML, and then hit post. In that moment, gentle readers, I swung open the doors to my virtual living room, and it was a decision I’ve never regretted for a moment.

In this house, we think of you as The Blog. I know I’ve told you that before, that even though I know that you are real people, and real individuals, and even though who comprises the blog shifts and changes from year to year – to us you are The Blog. To us, you are like a flock of birds, wheeling and existing together, swirling round and making a big community that we think of as a unit.  “What does the blog say?” “What will the blog think?” “I can’t wait to tell The Blog.”   I know that technically, the blog is the thing that I write, the posts that I put up. The collection of all the digital moments and ideas that I collect here, but that’s not really how we think of it.  I know I write a blog, but to us, our whole family, there is the blog – what I write, and The Blog, and that’s the people who read it.

In the eleven years that I’ve been doing this, my family has changed. My kids were little when I started, and now they’re grown women. Hank was three the day I wrote the first blog, and now he’s taller than me. (Some of you may have missed it, but Hank comments on the blog now. I don’t even know how that happened.)  Some people who were part of it are gone, like Tupper, and Janine – and some others have joined us – like Lou, and Myrie, and I cannot think of those losses and gains without their stories being all mixed up in The Blog. There’s pictures of them here. The moments that they left, or the moments that they arrived are documented, with all of the pain and the joy,  and all of you were here when it happened. You are, somehow, even though most of you are strangers to me, part of our family’s story.

Other than the actual family that surrounds me every day, The Blog has been the most important force that I’ve ever reckoned with. There have been people in my life who don’t understand this. They’ve called The Blog my imaginary friends, or internet friends, and if there was any chance that they would ever understand, I would try to explain.  You’re real. Your impact on my life is real. The changes you create, the good you do, the support for the things that I try and do and feel, is real.  The Blog is a thing. A real thing.

This morning, I reminded Joe that it was my Blogiversary. “Eleven years!” I said.  “Wow.” He replied.  “How do you want to celebrate? Would you like to go out to dinner?”   I thought about that for a moment, and then I said “No, that’s silly. It’s a silly thing to celebrate. It’s okay.”

Joe looked at me, and he said “I’d argue that The Blog changed our lives Steph. That’s not even a little silly.” He smiled, and he left, and he’s right- except about one thing. He shouldn’t take me to dinner. We should take you – and if we could, I’d pour you a little of this (very, very nice) whiskey, and I’d say this.

Thank you.

For being there for me when bad things happened, and for being there when it all went right. For watching my kids grow up, and for the way that your kindness and criticism have shaped our family.  Thank you especially for occasionally recognizing my children in public, and giving them the general impression that The Blog was watching them.  I think they made better choices because so many people cared. Thank you for celebrating births, and comforting me through deaths, and thank you for meeting me in random cities all over North America, when I was on book tours, and bringing me sandwiches and bottles of beer, and making me feel like I was tethered to real people, and real things as I navigated a surreal experience (or eight.) Thank you for coming to the real events we can share together, like classes and retreats. Thank you for always answering the question “Is anybody there?” with a resounding YES, and caring about the things that other people in the world sometimes think are silly. Like bind-offs, and buttonbands, and making things with your own two hands instead of buying them at Walmart, and thank you, thank you always, for your generosity to us.  We love you.

A toast then, as I lift my glass. Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding, and know that you are remarkable, you are valuable, and you are a force. You are The Blog. My Blog, and your hand in my life is not now, nor has it ever been, inconsequential.

Cheers, and thank you for for eleven years. To Ken for starting it, to you for making it a thing.

Peace.

Steph

664 thoughts on “Eleven

    • I read your blog every morning. Part of my morning ritual. Thank you for all the laughter. It’s always good to know other peoples lives are wacky and out of control. Again thank you

    • Thank you for the laughs, your insight, your teachings! It is so much fun to read what you are up to! Thank you for writing about knitters, it is great to read about myself in your books!

    • Awww. You made me cry again. I’m usually just a lurker on your blog, but I’ve loved reading it for years now. I’m sitting at my kitchen table crying. I don’t know too many knitters in person, so it’s been wonderful to share your knitting experiences over the years – you’ve always helped with my knitting, and seeing your ups and downs always makes me feel like mine are more reasonable.

  1. And where would the blog world be without you? Many (many) blogs have come and gone in those 11 years, Congratulations on keeping it up all along! And here’s to many more, cheers!

  2. Your blog post about the hardwood sawdust cpontaneously combusting on your front lawn is one that still cracks me up. I have enjoyed reading your posts for the last 8 years. May there be many more. HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!!!

  3. I’m happy to say that I’ve been following along for the past eight of those eleven, and at some point, I even went back and read the years I missed. These days, your blog is the only one I find still worth following. Thanks for being there, and for the constant source of smiles.

    • Ditto for me, all of the above. Also just re-read the floor sanding episode, thanks to the person who posted the link. Still laughing…keep posting!

  4. Being a part of The Blog has certainly enriched my life. I agree with Joe that the day should be celebrated. My son’s hackerspace, in fact most hackerspaces, has the motto: be excellent to each other. The Blog shows how that is a motto for life. I lift my glass to you.

    • Oh my another Mary Alice, although I recognize that you spell Alyce with a y. I agree with your sentiment. I, too have been reading for 10 yrs or so. It is a wonderful “place” with like minded people. Be Excellent to each other. I like that.

  5. I’m a relative newcomer, but you have inspired me, cheered me (The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes is my go-to gift for EVERYONE), and given me new knitting skills. Thank you. Cheers, and thank YOU!

  6. I’ve been following you for some months now as I try to re-learn knitting. I’ve become a ‘quilter’ and am now back to knitting. You have brought me much joy and inspiration. thank you! and “happy blogiversary”

  7. Thanks so much for sharing. You are also “the blog” to my family, if that makes sense. Because I will repeat your stories back to them, and that is the term I also use. Peace and many more years of sharing. Rebecca

  8. Happy Blogiversary! And let me say “Thank You !” for adding so much to my regular life as well as my yarn life. The knitting experiences & lessons alone has enriched my relationship with knitting. But what puts the cherry on top for me is the humor, humanity, and real life ups & downs that makes it perfect! Thank you for being apart of my family!

  9. You know what… it’s nice to hear that you feel this way too! Because in the years that I’ve been reading this blog I feel like you’ve been there for me too. In some strange way you’ve become a constant in my life, and I’m sure many others feel this way too.

    Reading about the trials and tribulations of raising your girls has made me a better mother to my boys. Watching all of the amazing knitting fly off of your needles has made me a better knitter. And all of your various stories about life in general have made me reflect on my own life and, I dare say, helped make me into a better person.

    So, as much as we’ve affected your life, know that you’ve affected ours too. In all of the very best ways possible.

    Happy Blogiversary!!

  10. I started reading this today and got chills thinking maybe you were not going to continue blogging! Thank goodness that wasn’t the case!
    The Blog is important to me, gets checked every day for a new entry, and it always makes me happy to see a new one here. The Blog has opened up knitting to me, along with Ravelry which has made me an addict. LOL I learned that I am A Knitter!
    Thank you Stephanie, for eleven years of sharing your humour, your joy and sadness. I can’t imagine what I’d do without The Blog!

  11. I will see your glass of lovely whiskey and raise a glass of my best rum (which is also very fine indeed) in your honor.

    Happy Anniversary.

  12. Congrats on your anniversary! Best wishes for continued success!
    Still newish to your blog, about a year. I look forward to every entry and check everyday to see if you have a new post. Always a laugh & inspirational…… Great combination!
    And I’m knitting socks again! Thanks!

  13. Aww, I’m surprisingly touched by this.

    Joe is a very smart cookie (who, I maintain, puts the glasses correctly in the cupboard).

    Watching the kids get bigger and so beautiful has been so much fun! And it’s weird to get this invested in kidlets I don’t even know but when you “talk” to their mom most days, you really do care. Hi girls! Hi Hank!

  14. Happy Anniversary to all of us! Thank you for letting us be part of this great internet community. I’ve learned a lot from reading your blog, and felt like I’ve made friends with people I’ll probably never meet in real life. Rams. Presbytera. You. Well, I met you in real life at a book signing, but was too shy to say more than a few words to you. Thanks for enlightening us and entertaining us.

  15. Dear Writer and Family
    Thank you for sharing with us your lives
    We have met and you are just as real in person – but it was Squam so….
    Sharon – a fan forever

  16. Happy Blogiversary!!! I love it when your posts pop up in my feed. Thank you so much for all that you have shared! I like to go back on occasion and read through old posts.

  17. I first “met” you from reading “Things I Learned from Knitting” and “All Wound Up.” I really liked you (still do!) and went on to read more of your books. Found out you had a blog–haven’t stopped reading it since!! I love your honesty, your passion not only for knitting but for your family and friends. You seem fun, natural, kind and giving. Thank you for sharing your knitting skills and your family.

    Good job!

    Donna

  18. Thank you for sharing so much of your life with us. I never would have realized what a wonderful knitting community there is out there if not for you. This is where I first read about Ravelry. It is also where I learned about and decided to attend Sock Summit 2009 and 2011; where I had the pleasure to meet you and some other very nice knitters whom I still converse with today.

    Thank you Stephanie and thank you to your family for allowing us to share your time.

    Happy Knitting! Lil

  19. Stephanie, it’s amazing how much closer we can all be via the Internet (farther, too, but that’s another comment thread…), and I’m so very glad that you made the decision to be closer to all of us and share your wonderful written observations and thoughts and all that stuff. You’re a terrific writer, and it’s mere good fortune that much of it revolves around knitting, which The Blog all loves, so this is kind of a win-win on our side. Keep it all up! Oh, and it’s nice that you get something out of The Blog, too. (-:

  20. I have dried the tears now (some happy, some sad) and have decided to write down my thanks to you (Steph and The Blog) for getting me through some very wicked times. I know “thank you” is never enough so I am taking my latest knitting project in hand (a colorwork shawl), pouring myself a dram (touching glasses with you all) and sending all the prayers and good wishes I can possibly deliver to each one in turn….and let’s all do this again next year!

  21. After years of reading The Blog I’ve just found out how to reply! Thank you Stephanie for being an online friend, for inspiration, for making me laugh, for making me feel ‘I belong’ somewhere’, for being my silver lining on dark cloudy days, and for all the positive energy that radiates from ‘The Blog’. What a shining treasure you are.

  22. Thanks,Cheers and a nice tot of good whiskey back at ya!. Thanks for occasionally making me laugh hard enough to spit tea all over my computer. I promise, if you keep writing, I’ll keep reading.

  23. Happy Blogiversary! Thank you (and Ken!) for taking that first step, and for sticking with it. I could say that just the knitting part of it has changed lives (hello, travelling on my own & meeting the people in my computer at knitting events & other gatherings of the tribe!). But you also write of the rest of life with wit, grit & grace. Nuggets of wisdom, opportunities to connect, and laughs – all invaluable – these have been your gifts to The Blog. Thank you!

  24. We all love you back, Steph, and feel you are part of our lives and our families too. I’m always a little sad when a day goes by without a post. Bottoms up!

  25. Whenever I comment here, I always have this thought in the back of my head: she doesn’t read half these comments; she gets sooooo many comments that mine just don’t matter – it’s just a comment in the blur of all the other comments.

    But, even if you don’t read my comments, thanks for making me feel like you do.

    And eleven years is awhile. I wasn’t even knitting eleven years ago, much less blogging about it (though I was blogging elsewhere about completely different things). I hadn’t even met Husband at that point.

    Eleven years is a long time.

      • And then you even comment on occasion (seriously, 610 posts and a bunch of them have follow-up comments). How you keep on top of that is well beyond me. I can’t even keep up on the couple comments I get here and there. ::sigh:: Small children suck the life from me.

  26. Happy anniversary! And thank you for sharing so much with us. Even when I feel isolated from my knitting tribe at times, I always know that here I can find you and everyone in the comments, all having concerns I share.

  27. Dear Steph–you and Joe and the girls and Ken are all part of the daily conversation of my household. It’s weird to “know” someone and yet not know them…but thank you for letting us know some of the most important things about you. It has enriched my life, and I hope The Blog will keep enriching yours for many years to come.

  28. Thank *you*, for taking the time and the effort to chronicle your life into this place. We certainly enjoyed the ride.

    *raises his glass of ice water* Here’s to another eleven years!

  29. My god, Steph, eleven years. How is that possible? For me, that’s three jobs ago. My friend’s first born wasn’t even a year old, and now he’s in junior high. It’s unbelievable that it’s eleven years.

    Thank you for all you’ve brought to the blogosphere and the knitting community. Your visit to Oklahoma City all those years ago was so much fun, I hope you’ll come back some day. But for now, you should CELEBRATE! Congratulations!!!

  30. It’s been such a pleasure. On rainy, quiet days when I am too tired to do anything, even knit, I start at the very first post and read about the overnight baby deliveries, the yarn from China and your very personal and intimate relationship with yarn. Thank you.

  31. Awww. Happy blogiversary! Thank YOU for how much you’ve given me – permission to be enthusiastic in public about my likes (not just knitting!), parenting advice (even if it was what not to do), and a very kind and generous human perspective in a world that often seems angry and mean.

    My only complaint is that we feel we know you so well that it’s sometimes hard to remember you don’t necessarily know us – I ran into you at Rhinebeck this year, and while I’d met you at a book signing a year or so ago, I had to remind myself that I’m a random stranger to you. I did kinear the back of your head. Sorry.

  32. Happy Blogiversary, Stephanie! I don’t comment often, but I’m always swinging by to read, and laugh, and think deep thoughts, and sometimes cry. Thank you for opening your virtual living room to me. It’s a beautiful place.

  33. Thank you for sharing the highs and lows with us. Reading the blog, I have smiled, giggled and even laughed until I cried. At other times your words have touched me, as they have touched so many of us. I now look at my knitting in a new light and enjoy the community of which I am lucky enough to be a member. As a small part of The Blog – Cheers!

  34. I’m one of your biggest ever-silent readers because by the time I read the comments, 14 people have already said exactly what I’d like to say. What a joy being with people who understand. I love the blog and The Blog and every thought and word you share with us. Thank you. And have a drink for me.

  35. Happy Blogversary!!! You have and will continue to enrich our lives. Have a night out, enjoy, relax I think keeping The Blog entertained is exhausting. Cheers!

  36. Happy Blogiversary!

    I am happy to be one of those lucky enough to have met (okay stalked, maybe, just a little bit) you across multiple states and book signings.

    Your blog and your books and your talks bring joy to us too and I would never have made my first sock without your Knitting Rules! It’s on every device I own and in paperback.

    I’ve only been a follower for 8 years, but I’m grateful to be a part of your ups and downs through The Blog. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

  37. Thank you for sharing so much with us. Sometimes this blog is the only good thing in the day. December was especially wonderful

  38. Well, from my perspective, I would like to thank YOU for bringing us all together! It’s interesting and amazing to me that I consider you one of my close friends, even though I only saw you in person once, and you responded to a question I asked from the audience. It started out being about knitting, but since then, it’s about EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE including your whole family, who I feel I know. I have all of your books, and am so glad that you are branching beyond the pure knitting topic. You have exceptional talent as a writer AND a knitter. Peace to you and yours. I hope you continue for at least another 11 years! Bottoms Up!

  39. And thank you. My life is ever so much better for knowing it’s OK to be obsessed. Or, at least, that I have good company in my obsession.

  40. Thank you! Happy Blogiversary! I’ve been following it for almost as long as you’ve been writing it, and have enjoyed it so much.

  41. Dear Stephanie,

    Congratulations and thank you for all you have given us through your blog. As we are a part of your family, you are part of ours. I’ve read your books, heard you speak, taken classes with you, and will continue to read whatever you write for as long as you write. Thank you for your good sense, great parenting wisdom, and your thoughtful caring for the follies of being human and imperfect.

  42. Congratulations! I’ve been reading you since 2004 when we found he post about Baadeck Yarns (Aug.31). Wow … could that really be more than 10 years ago?! Thank you for opening your home and heart to all of us. You make the world a better place by being here.

  43. The winter of 2005 I was so sick all I could do was sit. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen so I couldn’t even read because my brain was not very active. I always wanted to knit so I decided to figure it out. I got Stitch and Bitch first and they told me about you, this quirky funny honest being who made me laugh and wrote about the real deal. They put me on oxygen so my brain worked better and I made baggy socks that didn’t fit and mittens that weren’t warm and kept on trying. Eventually I made useful lovely things, even a striped felted cozy for my oxygen tank. I am well now, and getting here was long and twisty and full of ups and downs. So to you and the blogosphere of generous kind knitters who have listened and shared all these years, thanks. Thank you.

  44. Here, Here! What a wonderfully written post, and I am so happy to be a part of The Blog. I’m rather new here, but very happy to be, and very much appreciate everything you write. Thank you for sharing your world with us, and inspiring me with every post. Happy Anniversary!

  45. Thank you, Steph, for sharing all of this with us. And thank Ken for us; I’m so grateful that he set you up with this blog.

    Cheers to eleven years and here’s to many more years of delightful blogging! With love from Michigan!

  46. Thanks Ken! Congrats Steph and cheers! (It’s New Zealand sauvignon over here, but I must check out that whisky for my writer husband…)

  47. Thank YOU, Steph! It’s an absolute privilege to be invited into your living room on a regular basis, to talk about how life meets yarn. I’ve enjoyed reading (and meeting) you these many years now and considering what a positive, welcoming force-for-good, I hope there are many more. Peace and Congratulations! #plusyarndidimentionyarn?

  48. Seems like in these modern times, not much lasts for 11 years. Often two is considered a long time. My virtual cap is tipped. My family loves reading your blog, laughing, crying, hoping, learning, and just plain enjoying your writing, wit and self.
    Thank YOU for all these years of often making my day.
    L’Chaim and Namaste

  49. This is actually the first time I have commented on your blog, but your thank you touched something in my heart.

    I read your blog every day, and enjoy every minute you share with all of us. While my knitting is not up to others standards or as professional as some, your wit, and your troubles knitting hit a chord within me.

    I learned to knit from my mother and I am the only one of the daughters that still knits. Your blog gives me the impetus to keep knitting and learn from my mistakes.

    Who knows one day you may even give me the courage to try knitting in the round instead of figuring out a way to knit flat.

    God bless.

  50. Cheers! And thank you for being that nearly daily friend I can have a knitting conversation with, among other topics. Happy Blogiversary and Many Happy Returns!

  51. Steph

    Thanks for representing Canada to the world so splendidly. But thank you also for gently reminding us that the world is our family and guiding us to raise millions for charity. Millions! How have you not been invited to Rideau Hall for an appropriate recognition? Oh, well, at least you have all of us. We’ll have to do!

    Huzzah!

  52. Happy 11th Blogiversary, and thank you for everything you’ve shared. I’ve been honored to be a small and always appreciative (if rarely commenting) part of the Blog. It continues to be one hell of a ride! Cheers

  53. All hail Ken! (At bike rally time, Ken always gets my first donation as a thank you for the blog.)

    Thank you so much, Steph. It’s been a privilege to be part of the community. I hadn’t planned to open the wine until dinner time, but, there’s a toast to made, so…

  54. And thank you, for opening your living room to us. Your blog inspires me to knit, to write, to be the kind of person who makes the world a better place, and then to do all of those things better. Thank you.

  55. Congratulations! I enjoy the blog. You’ve helped me to learn, to ponder issues, to cry, and to laugh outrageously and long out loud. It has been a pleasure to be along on the ride.

    Thank you.

  56. Stephanie Pearl McPhee,
    You are so very, very, very welcome! May you have eleven more wonderful blogiversaries. Thank you for sharing yourself with all of us. We are the better for it indeed…

    bjr

  57. The Blog thanks you. I thank you. Finding your blog, meeting you more than once (we share our love of Birks and square feet), sharing your stories and your love of knitting, your causes and your family. The Blog, YOUR blog, matters. I will toast you tonight, not with whisky but a some rum, and look forward to many more years of insight, eloquence, humour and knitting. And Ken, thank you. I’m sure you never dreamed your gift would open up such a world to all of us.

  58. Hi Stephanie,

    I am a part of The Blog (my first post on my own blog was Feb. 8, 2003 – “The Lady Who Knits on the Bus” as it was called then.) But as of October, I am Person You Have Met (Edmonton Comedy Night). I continue to enjoy your posts, to share my copies of your books with all and sundry, and to be thankful for the smile you bring to my face whenever I read The Yarn Harlot Blog. Happy Anniversary, and many more! 🙂

  59. Happy Blogiversary! But it is I who must thank you for the hours you have spent writing; for opening your heart to us; for inviting us into your home and into your family. You have cheered us up when we are down and even made us teary. Thank you and now go celebrate! (or at least knit a row or two)

  60. I began reading your blog in 2005 and in 2009 I used your blog in attempt to convince ‘the bank’ to loan me money for my ‘yarn business’. I showed them a post of you on a book tour and the audience you attract. You impressed them and I still didn’t get the money.

    Business is good, you are discussed at least once a week!

    Thanks
    Tina

  61. Happy Blogaversary Steph!

    And I thank *you* for entertaining us for all of these years with knitting enabling, and inspiring us with the annual bike training/ride.

    Thank you, to Ken for doing this for you, and to Joe for putting up with it, and to your family for allowing you to share their lives with us.

    Thank you for sharing your knitting, with its ups and downs, and rips and tinks, and lost items and beautiful presents.

    Thank you.

  62. Happy anniversary and thank you for sharing so much of your life with us The Blog.

    I stood beside you, in a booth in Rhinebeck this year, and was too chicken shit to introduce myself, even though I think we have a few things in common, not least of those things being Toronto, knitting, sailboats and some people that I have met that count you amongst their friends. I think it must be weird to have perfect strangers come up to you knowing so much about your life. I hope the next time we cross paths that I am braver and get the chance to thank you in person for your generosity in sharing this blog with us.

  63. I’m remembering a post when you were on the road somewhere and ran out of the yarn you were knitting. And none to be found anywhere. You posted about it and lots of folks commented in support. Then someone drove to where you would be and handed you a ball of the yarn. You posted a picture which I can still see in my mind. I thought then what wonderful people are in your Blog. Thanks for all the posts!

  64. A toast to you, as well. It’s been a real pleasure reading your blog over the years. You have the ability to say just the right thing with grace, humour and such intelligence. Thank you.

  65. Wow, 11years goes by so fast. I started reading your stories on the KnitList! And I was so happy with your blog. My son was newly adopted and I was a new mom. My son is 14 and as tall as me! One critical item you posted is everlasting and should be mandatory training Internet etiquette: when responding to a person, think that you are facing them in their living room (I paraphrase). You’ve created an awesome career and we’ve all benefited.

    • The living room thing is one of my most quoted bits of advice for people on the Internet.

      Congrats on your blogversary, Steph. It has been my pleasure to have been here since very close to the beginning as I’m one of the ones who used to read you on the knit list. Thank you for allowing us into your life.

  66. Happy blogiversary!! I hope you know how much happiness and goodness your blog brings to The Blog. We appreciate your willingness to share your knits and your life with us.

  67. I first head about this Blog at a class teaching finishing techniques at our LYS; everyone else nodded and smiled when the instructor mentioned the Yarn Harlot, and as a new-ish knitter, I felt left out but determined to find out more when I got home. That was in 2007 and, like many others, I also went back and read my way through the archives. I visit your site more often than Youtube, which I think speaks to the quality of your work. Congratulations on eleven years of splendid, thoughtful writing and engaging the knitting community!

  68. Stephanie, when I started reading your blog about half way through these 11 years, I went back and read from the beginning. It was like I had discovered a secret Canadian cousin that I had never known. I have cried and laughed and screamed and made geeky squee noises over the last several years, and have loved every post. I rarely comment, everyone else is so much more eloquent, but I am so very grateful for your presence in my life. I quote you to my family and friends all the time and you have helped me through some very difficult times (knitterly and otherwise). Thank you, and thank you to Ken for getting you started! Here’s to another 11 years! I’m trolling Bev Mo to find that whiskey…

  69. Steph, thank you for keeping it real all these years. I lurk far more often than I comment, but I love your blog and being a part of The Blog.

    Dee

  70. Thank you for bringing some unexpected tears to my eyes while reading this. I started reading shortly before you got married and don’t think I’ve missed a post since. As a matter of fact, yours is the ONLY blog I check every day to see if there’s a new post. I’ve been fortunate enough to have met you and taken a few classes from you over the years, and I must say, you’re even funnier (and funner) than your post reads, if anyone can believe that. And I thank you for expanding my understanding of what giving, sharing, and peace mean.

  71. Congratulations! You have made me feel a part of a wonderful community by writing this Blog (thanks, Ken) and right now, when I have moved to a new City where I know very few people (yet), you are a bright light of humor, pathos, and normality. I love your family and friends and the rest of the Blog. I feel lucky to be a part of a movement that can enact great change (airport baggage finds, yarn that sells out immediately after mention, etc.). You (and we) are making the world a better place one stitch at a time. Namaste. Helen

  72. Oh how I wish I could tell you (without blubbering) what a special place your blog holds in my world. So I’ll just raise my glass to YOU and say “The Blog loves you, too!” And thank you.

    PS Joe, right on!

  73. Aww, Steph, I just love your blog and it is the only one I read religiously. I have cried from laughter and sad, touching moments reading your blog. One of my favorite posts was about poor Joe getting stuck in an icy alley on a frigid night. I laughed so hard! I so appreciate your courage to share so much of your life, your humility too as you share with us. I admire you deeply and I congratulate you on this blogiversary, may there be many more!
    Leslita

    • Thanks, Leslita, for reminding me of Joe in the alley. Poor Joe, I truly did laugh with tears in my eyes.

      Thank you for many things, Stephanie, but I have to mention educating us about Doctors Without Borders. When I read about their heroic work against Ebola in West Africa, I know that the Knitters Without Borders are there with them in spirit.

      One more thing before I go pour a tot of rum for the Blogaversery toast. Thank you for telling us not only about your knitting successes but also the challenges – getting gauge, running out of yarn and the like. It encouraged me to push past that lumpy first sock, knowing that the Harlot wasn’t perfect and made mistakes, too.

  74. Happy Blogaversery! I’ve been reading this blog for about 9 years. I’ve laughed, cried, and even occasionally wished I was Canadian, but I like being a New Englander too much. Thank you for sharing and inspiring me to keep knitting.

  75. :: Raises glass::
    Salud!
    You made my eyes all teary and that does not happen often. This blog is so important to me that I took one of the books you wrote all the way from Uruguay to Rhinebeck hoping I’d get to see you. And I did. And I did something I never do, which was stop you while you were walking and ask you to sign it. And you were so nice about it, too! We even chatted for a few minutes. So all this you say about us, The Blog, I know from experience that its 100% sincere and true and sincere and true is something I value A LOT. I value everything you share with us, reading each of your posts is such a ride 🙂 Since I live far away and can’t reality participate in many of the lovely events that take place up there I really value you sharing your experience. And as if that was not enough I learn A LOT. I read your posts and then one day I’m knitting and wondering about how to solve something and more often than not you pop into my head and I remember how you solved this or that. So thank you. And sorry for such a wordy comment, I’m usually a passive reader, I do not comment a lot but I’m here! Cheers!

  76. My favourite blog – to be honest, the only one I read regularly; thanks so much for the gift of laughter – and for all the great knitterly ideas! Happy blogging to you!

  77. Thank you for being one awesome lady and always being willing to share your life with us. I only found your blog about a year ago, but I’ve gone back and read every single post you’ve written over the 11 years. I’ve laughed more times than I can count, and cried sometimes too. You have a special gift and I hope you keep sharing it with us.

  78. Happy Anniversary, and THANK YOU, Stephanie, for enriching my life w/your humor and heart. It has been a delightful ride, and I’m looking forward to many more 🙂

  79. Happy happy day Steph. It is such a treat each time you post, and more often than not, some or all of it has to be read aloud so that all may hear and enjoy, or be moved, or whatever the day brings. Thank you for enriching all our lives. We would be so much poorer without you.

  80. Steph,

    Thank you for continuing to share your life, and your stories with us. It has been an honor to be able to come here for these elven years and read your stories, share in your joy and your pain over all of these years. Your writing is nothing short of the best kind; honest, straight forward and from the heart. I come here first, and I leave here feeling like a better person. I enjoy your friends, (waves to Rachel H of the comments), and the way they support you, and rib you on at the same time. You are the best kind of people.

    Happy blogirversary. (or however you spell it)

    B

  81. Whoop that was close. When I started to read the blog my heart just sank. I thought ” oh no the yarn harlot is going to stop writing” so imagine my relief when I read on. It was like when you leave your bag somewhere. That awful empty pit.
    It just goes to show you how much a part of my life your blog has become. It gives me a great deal of joy reading it and a feeling that there is a world community of wonderful people out there.
    Thank you

      • Me too. I read holding my breath, and then, whew! Thank goodness. A day without the yarn harlot us like a day without sunshine. My favorite: “the meanest mother in the world.” I’ve shared it with so many people! Thank you for years of delightful reading, learning and laughing. May you continue for a long time.

  82. Thank you for your sharing if your lives, I feel like the blog could be named Girlhood since we’ve watched your girls grow up. Not a movie, but a series of small and wonderful events that we got to glimpse from afar. We’ve been blessed by the sharing of everything, especially the knitting!

  83. Happy Blogiversary! I wish I had read this before dinner…I would have toasted you with my Zinfandel.

    I love your blog and your books…kind of like a new age Erma Bombeck for knitters. I miss Mr. Washie.

    Let’s aim for 25!

  84. Every time that I find a post from the Yarn Harlot i know the day will be a little brighter and my husband knows he’d better sit down because I’m probably going to snort and giggle and then read it out loud to him. I have to make sure there’s a timer on the food, or the water is turned off before I start to read because I’ll lose all track of what I’m ‘supposed’ to be doing once I begin to read.
    Thank you!

  85. Happy Blogaversary! Congradulations on 10 years!

    I’ve actually gone back and began reading your archive (you should totally publish the first ten years as a book called “The First Decade” – it would be awesome). It’s really interesting to see how your writing has developed over the years.

    I didn’t actually start reading your blog until 2011, so I feel I missed a lot of it’s formation, but I appreciate the look into your life, I appreciate you sharing that with all of us, and I really enjoy your wit and humor.

    Thank you for not giving up on this blogging thing and for sticking with it as long as you have. You’re certainly an inspiration to all of us who hope to have your kind of blogging success.

    Cheers! And I’ll raise a toast to another 11 years of blogging!

        • It is a wonderful idea! I would definitely buy it and of course you would have to include the pictures. How would anyone ever understand the Joe and the ice alley!

          • I agree about the book idea. My suggestion is to make it a high production quality, coffee table book…and to donate the proceeds to Knitters Without Borders…

  86. beautifully put. You are as ever, so very good at saying what is in your heart. Which is really why, you know, we’re all here.

  87. Your blog is the only one that I read. I check every day and am so happy when there is a post. You have made my knitting habit and my stash legitimate. Learning about your family has been like learning about a good friends family. Thank you for continuing to write this blog and for all your wonderful books. I have read all of them at least twice if not more. You capture the true knitter. Keep giving us your wonderful insight into knitting and especially into life.

  88. Congratulations! Totally something to celebrate.
    Thank you for sharing all these years. Shortly after deciding to learn to knit I found your blog and have been reading ever since.

  89. Eleven years! Congratulations. I don’t know how long I have been reading, and I do not remember when I found you. But I have not missed a blog post in a least 4 years. I am not much of a commenter, because I think that considering the sheer volume of comments that you get, you cannot read all of them.

    Reading your blog and your tweets are a source of joy. You make us care for you and your family. Here is to hoping for another 11 years and then some.

    Greetings from a German in Tennessee to Canada.

    Knit On, Yarn Harlot! I love being your BLOG.

  90. “When I remember bygone days
    I think how evening follows morn;
    So many I loved were not yet dead,
    So many I love were not yet born.”

    –Ogden Nash

  91. Happy Anniversary Stephanie! I’ve been reading since around 2005, just getting back into the knitting I learned from my Mom and I heard about you from a friend. I have never looked back and while the Blog certainly changed your life, you have in turn changed ours. I have stretched my knitting chops to meet some challenges you have shown us, I have laughed and cried at the similarities in all our lives. Love you for what you bring to us, I have seen you twice and someday I hope to join you at a retreat. Thanks for continuing to include us in your life and letting us influence yours. Oregon Cat

  92. I always get a pleasant little “zing!” of, “Oh good, Yarn Harlot wrote another post today!” every time I come here and see a shiny new post. 🙂

  93. Thank you for so honestly and kindly sharing your life and great humour with us, and of course, all the knitting! Here’s to another eleven years!

  94. Thank you for your humour, compassion, honesty and sharing your family and life (the good, the bad and the ugly) with all of us. Thank you for Knitters without Borders who I donate to every year in honour of the work they do, your support and my love of knitting. I enjoy your posts and commentary and think that knitters really can bring this big world a little closer together. Here’s to many for years and many more posts!

  95. Thank you…..I am so happy to have found you, I am jealous of those who have know you for a decade instead of a few years…..you make me laugh and inspire me and make me very happy I am not the only one knitting in church and at the movies….God bless you with many more years

  96. Stephanie,

    I cannot imagine my life without you and your family and The Blog. My computer opens to your blog when I fire up the internet. You have (unknowingly) brought me through depression and serious disease and the inability to knit back through to some semblance of normal and the ability to knit again. You make me proud to be a knitter.

    Salute’

  97. I don’t think you realize how very many lives you have impacted. Mine, because you let me know that I should proudly knit in public (and in meetings and in professional development and. . .well, you get the point.)
    But you have also impacted the lives of my students both as a model I use when teaching writing (especially voice) and the lives of those students who have become avid knitters (and knit in class and at sporting events and. . .) because they saw me knit and wanted to learn.
    You did that.
    Happy Blogiversary. I raise a glass of my much hoarded Choclate Tequila to you. (It sounds gross, but is really very wonderful.)
    Cheers.

    • Cheers! You are the best. Thank you for writing. Thank you for everything. You make me feel connected. I wish I had time to read all 600+ replies!

  98. THANK YOU A THOUSAND, KEN. GOOD MOVE!

    And to Stephie, believe me, it’s a mutual gratitude. I’ve introduced a half-dozen people to your blog, nearly all of whom do not knit, and they’re all addicted. We fret when you don’t post for several days, then worry, then get to near panic (was she run over by a potato chip truck on her bike on the way to the yarn store??) … but then you re-surface and post something with an explanation of where you were for several days and we get over it.

    You’ve made us laugh, and cry, and think and ponder on family things and knitting things and tea and food things. You’ve given us a different lens through which to look at our own friends, and daughters, and families. You amaze us with your knitting prowess and your bike trips and your fundraising. YOU ARE TRULY A DELIGHT, and we treasure you, and your family, and we’re grateful.

    Love,
    The Blog.

  99. Congratulations! One of my favorite stories through the years was about Hank. He was little and you took him shopping for a gift for his mum and he was all wonder and delight about the fact that his mum didn’t know what he was up to with you and would not know how in the world he got out to get her a gift. It was such a sweet memory.

    • I remember that story too – I love the Hank shopping posts. My other favorite Hank post was when he was the photographer taking “fashion” shots of the Yarn-Harlot in a new sweater – so funny.

  100. Thank you! Your posts have made me laugh (and made my husband laugh when I read them out loud to him), have helped me to understand my knitting a little bit better, have made me feel as if I am not a lone-knitter, have sparked my own creativity and have even prompted me to knit after having set it aside. I look forward to each post as if it were a luscious piece of chocolate – a treat. Happy Blogiversary. Go out to dinner.

  101. It is a pleasure to add my congratulations on your Blog-aversary. I look forward to reading your thoughts, and I once had the pleasure of meeting you in New Jersey several books ago.

    We are all connected by this strange thing called the internet which brought us, as knitters and fiber lovers, together. We all understand. My Husband and kids … they don’t quite “get” the friends I have made via Ravelry, nor what a truly unique (and caring) community we are.

  102. I was also given a very fine bottle of something (11 year old Scotch) and was looking for a reason to open it. So, will raise my drop to you and yours, for it’s been wonderful to read you all this time (relative later-comer, but a dedicated one)–and the Blog, for many of your regular commenters crack me up, too.

    In a very real way, this blog made me a Knitter, not just someone who knits. Certainly, I would not have gotten ’round to socks without your lovely words about them (or gone to Colorsong for my birthday Fleece Artist, it’s a tradition now).

    Your words have been a comfort, have moved me (to laughter and tears), and most wonderful of all, made me feel understood. You’re a force of good in this world and I thank you for sharing your life with us.

    One day, I’m bringing you beer and chocolate!

    This sock and this sip is to you, dear Harlot, and may joy always be yours.
    Cheers!

  103. Thank you from Shreveport Louisiana for allowing us to participate in your life and knitting. It has inspired me and given me so many ideas and made me a part of the family. Thanks. Happy Blogiversary.

  104. Your blog is the first blog I check when I sit down to enjoy that first cuppa! I thank you for your wit, generosity and wonderful stories shared over that last 11 years. Congratulations.

  105. Thank you for writing and sharing your life with us! Getting to hear you read your writing in Phoenix (Tempe) was one of the highlights of my 2014! I discovered that The Blog is a force of nature when you linked to my little blog. With the Bike Rally and shoutouts to lost knitwear, you use that force of nature for good 🙂

  106. I learned to knit because of your blog–I found it in 2005–and your profound love of knitting and wool and the way you made me laugh. I wanted what you had and now I cannot imagine my life without knitting or wool or your blog. Thank you!

  107. Congratulations, Stephanie, Joe, Daughters, Mom, Hank, Lou, the rest of the family (and Ken, Pato, and Millie!)!

    The Blog loves you. Full stop. Although some of us can be a bit snarky at times (Hi, Presbytera and Rams!!), it’s because we love you and feel we need to remind you that Murphy’s Law is a reality. Those wool fumes really do get to you sometimes. . . ;-)!.

    May you have many more years of happy and productive blogging!

  108. I am a new-ish reader of your blog and am working my way through your older entries – I consider myself lucky because I still have much to read for the first time 🙂 I often read your blog on my phone when I am nursing my baby back to sleep in bed so I don’t usually comment. You are hilarious (I have actually woken my baby up snickering about something you’ve written), and so kind to share so much of your life with all of us. Thank-you for the warmth, laughter and inspiration you so freely give! Happy Anniversary!

  109. Congratulations for your steadfastness to the blog. I first ‘met’ you when I took “Knitting Rules” out of the library when I was a new knitter. I loved the wry humor, the excellent directions that even a beginner could follow, and the way that you honoured making things by hand in our increasingly commercialized society.
    Later, I was searching the internet to find an answer to a
    sticky knitting problem, and found your blog. The topic was the absence of toilet paper, an early morning run to the store and the realization that nobody can ‘do it all’ all the time. Soon my daughter and I were literally ROFL .
    We have been reading ever since.

  110. Bon anniversaire Stéphanie!
    Thanks for the laughs and tears and for reminding me that being one’s own self however that can be (crazy dorky geeky yarny spinny, your pick!) is the best way to be.

    Au plaisir de se voir à Rhinebeck (I’ll behave, I promess)

  111. Happy Anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been that long. Thanks so much for opening a door into your world, and letting us come in. My favorite story is still the one about Joe getting the truck stuck on the ice and not wanting to hit his Dad’s car. But there are so many others, too. Thanks for the inspiration, and the laughs, and in general, for sharing with all of us.

    Peace and love!

  112. Happy anniversary, Stephanie!!! I only found out about your blog and books about 18 months ago when I started listening to knitting podcasts. I kept hearing about the Yarn Harlot and how funny she was. Were they ever right! I was so taken with the name Yarn Harlot I looked you up and I’ve read through all archives in the last year and half. Still working my way through all your books and enjoying the heck out of them. I jumped at the chance to take a sock class with you in Edmonton this past October and really enjoyed your speech. I would love to see your presentations included in the First Decade book someone mentioned above. What do you say? Please. Thanks for all the laughs (and the tears) and for sharing your talents with the world. I am grateful to call myself a member of the Blog and wish you all the best in this new year.

  113. I am a long time lurker. I don’t even knit, really. I crochet and quilt. I’ve followed you because I want to knit like you when I ‘grow up’. You are a fabulous writer. Cheers to eleven more!!

  114. I write without reading the 146 comments before mine, because I don’t want to know whether anyone else has already said this. Stephanie, this post brought me to tears. I have been reading the blog for 10 of the past 11 years and I, too, can’t imagine my life without it. I once asked you years ago at a bookstore in Pennsylvania whether it feels weird to have all these people whom you’ve never met act as though they know you. Your response was that they DO know you, better than you know them, and you are happy to be known. (Or something like that… I was so excited to run into you later in the nearby yarn store that I probably forgot most of what you said that day.) I’ve met you several times since, of course never expecting that you would recognize me (which I think you didn’t, but that’s fine), but always feeling that we are somehow connected. I can not thank you enough for the way you have thrown yourself into this and created a true community in the form of The Blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (Wiping her eyes…)

  115. Thank you Steph, for the past eleven years. I don’t think I can add anything that hasn’t been said. Have knit most of my life, off and on…..until around 2008 when I discovered you through “Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much”; closely followed by Ravelry and an ensuing weekly knit night. Now I am a Knitter! You are an inspiration and I look forward to every post. Happy Blogiversary!

  116. I found your blog in 2004 – I had just graduated high school and an Internet search turned up your blog. Someone cared as much for knitting as I did – and I have been reading The Blog with regularity since. Your words have changed my life too. They are what helped me power through breastfeeding my son, gave me support for co-sleeping, found my way around knitting your snowdrop shawl pattern – my first real lace shawl. I have loved watching this community pull together, time and time again over the past 11 years and can truly say I’m a better person for being a part of it. Thanks for being here. I love knowing that we are all understood and accepted in your living room.

  117. Dear Stephanie,
    This blog is a true delight. It makes me cry, regularly, in the best way possible. Thank you for writing and sharing and continuing to inspire! I had a pit of dread in my guts as I read this post, thinking it was a bye bye post… Whew! You make me proud to be a knitter, a mama, a Canadian. Thank you thank you thank you.
    xoxo

  118. Thank YOU for the laughter and tears, I have learned a lot over the years and continue to introduce people to The Blog as well as your books as I feel The Blog is an important. Your humor helps me to remember we are all learning, about life as well as knitting.THANKS to you, Joe and all your family for including us and letting us be part of you.

  119. Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you, Ken. Thank you, Joe and The Girls. You have enriched our lives, inspired our creativity, and honored us by allowing us to be part of your lives. It can’t always have been easy. We owe you much. “Thanks” hardly covers it. xoxox

  120. Eleven years, wow! Congratulations, and thank *you!*
    I first found your blog about a year after you started writing, and I read those early years from a computer at the public library in Homer, Alaska. It was my introduction to the world of knit-blogging and still one of my favorite reads…

  121. Stumbling across your blog got me through a very dark time in my life, and finding path for healing through knitting for charity has brought me much joy. Thank you for shining a light on worthy causes and for sharing your life with us!

  122. Thank you, Ken, for giving her the keys to the car and showing her how to adjust the seat so she could maneuver her way into the blogosphere and thank you, Stephanie, for sharing with us your humor and wisdom and the glimpses of your family and friends. Nothing quite caps a day then clicking the RSS feed and seeing that you have something new to tell us.

  123. Cheers and Congrats, Stephanie! I ponder our differences: we live in different countries, have some different beliefs and I unfortunately have never met you in person. However, we both are women, both mothers and both knitters! You are miles ahead of me in knitterliness, but you inspire me daily and I love how real you are–sharing mistakes as well as successes. All the best to you, your lovely family and Ken! Blog on. I’m proud to call myself part of The Blog!

  124. Congratulations on your blogiversary. My favorite all time post – June 2, 2014. I occasionally share your humor with my loving husband who enjoys re-telling that particular story. Thank you, thank you for sharing your world with us. Victoria P. – VKnits

  125. Hi Steph – I have never left you a comment but I thought today was the day that would be a great day for my first. I have laughed with you, cried with you, been inspired, ooh’ed and ah’ed with your knitting contributions to the knitting universe. Thank you. I have loved every minute I have spent with your family and your knitting adventures. Thank you for sharing and I hope you feel the value as much as we ‘The Blog’ does. Please keep on sharing.

  126. Thank you Steph, for letting us into your lives. It’s ben a grand run.
    Now, please, never, ever, turn down a husband who wants to take you to dinner, for whatever reason. What were you thinking?
    Julie in San Diego

  127. I’m so glad I found your blog so many years ago. I cannot say I was there at the beginning, but once I found you, I went back and read all the previous posts. Thanks for doing this. You are an incredible writer with wonderful insights into the big and little things. And you are a kick-a$$ knitter! Congratulations! Write On!

  128. Thank you Stephanie – for sharing, and keeping it real, and inspiring so many of us to do something new – be it a knitting technique or donating to a very good cause – and of course for conspiring with other knitters to change the world. You are awesome. Cheers to another eleven years!

  129. Stephanie – Your blog brings my daughter and I closer together. We love discussing many of your knitting and life stories. Thanks for the smiles, encouragement and entertainment. May you blog for many years to come!

  130. Cheers to you, and Happy Blogiversary! Thanks to you for giving us all a peek into your lovely and loving family, and for sharing your wisdom, knitting and otherwise. You’re “a thing” to all of us and we appreciate you!!

  131. I have been loving to read your blog and there are some unforgettable entries like, you went to a isolated house in the snow to write your book and walked hours to reach human living place, had Orderd a glass of beer, post. In a sense, you changed my life. I would like to thank you after all, too. Really. Thank you.

  132. It’s been a pleasure! I’m honored to know your. A high point of my life was lunching with you, Franklin Habit, Nancy Bush, and John Mullarkey at Spring Squam last year. I’m so glad I stumbled across your blog lo these many years ago. Thank you. And happy blogiversary!

  133. Happy Blogiversary and thank you for sharing yourself and your family and friends. I fondly remember poor Mr. Washie, and still chuckle to myself when I think of Joe stuck in the alley. Thanks for the fun, the tears, and most of all, the knitting!

  134. Thank you for sharing your real life as well as your knitting life…I know, I know, they are very intertwined. You have made me laugh (and tear up), but mostly inspired me to be a better and joyful knitter.

  135. Whew, I seriously thought you were writing your swan song, the end! Been reading you, your books for years. Cheers to 11 years 🙂

  136. Here’s to eleven more. “clink”. Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the inspiration, and especially the good you do to make this a better world. “clink”.

  137. I subscribe to 173 blogs in my blog reader. Many of them I never read. There are a handful that I MUST READ as soon as I notice there is a new post, and this is one of those very special blogs. You do something magical here, Steph. You are real, and you talk about real stuff. You also are funny, which is an amazing gift. It all sounds so simple, but it’s not. It’s rich and complex and chock full of life. Thank you very, very much for writing here, and for being open and honest, and many thanks to your family for also sharing their lives with us. My life is a wee bit better for being part of The Blog.

  138. Congrats on you and the familys accomplishments. It’s been awesome sharing your life moments, a rare priveledge that you share some of your life. Thank you for including us in your adventures. May you have many more happy Blogversaries ahead

  139. Your post made me laugh and cry. As your books do. Laughter through tears, my favorite emotion. Wasn’t that in a movie?
    In any case, thank you, thank you.

  140. Thank you for your cheerfulness, your kindness, your openness, no matter what…here is where I can find not just knitting with yarn, but knitting up torn feelings and tattered relationships and trying new patterns in life as well as in the yarn-type knitting. I’ve only been around a few years, but you do make the world a better place, and thank you.

  141. Happy Blogiversary!! Congrats on 11 funny and wonderful years!! I wish you many more years of blogs and happiness!

    Live, Love, and Knit!! 🙂

  142. As a faithful reader of the blog (small “b”) for a decade (!), I have to say that when I started to read this post my heart began to race and I got a bit panicky. “Oh no” I said to my husband. “What?” “I think the yarn harlot might be stopping the blog…” How relieved I was to finish reading the post! With so much social media & Web 2.0 out there, so many bloggers have come and gone. I’m thrilled that I can count on my daily dose of Steph. Thanks to you for being so generous with your self, your knowledge, and your life. (Hoists imaginary glass of whiskey): Cheers to the NEXT eleven hears and all the stories, projects, spinning and adventure they hold!

  143. Dear Yarn Harlot: I am a fellow “knitter of the night” beset with many daily ups and downs and a love of yarn and all things related. I wish I could have chosen a path that led me to a career in knitting. Instead, knitting has been my solace, my re-balancing of the scales, when life has thrown me lemons. I helped my husband for years in a retail health business (pharmacy in a small rural Northern Ontario town) and had to put aside any career aspirations in an attempt to raise two wonderfully intelligent boys and to ensure the health a very dedicated and responsible and altogether too busy health professional. Your blog has been like a case of wine for me at the end of the day (I do not drink actually due to a serious chronic disease) and has put a smile back on my face when you recounted the chaos of your life, your inspiration for knitting and your interactions with your coffee maker(s), airports and Joe. Best wishes for a lucky 13 more years at this digital pen-pal medium. I ,for one, am of the opinion that you are without a peer in the knitting blog kingdom.

  144. About a year ago I stumbled onto one of your blog entries about blocking. I was searching for a better way to block my finished items but what I found was so much more. Since that first day I have gone back and read every entry. Part of that has to do with my OCD and not being able to start in the middle of something. A much larger part was how much I enjoyed your writing. Reading your stories and seeing how passionate you are about knitting and about life changed how I view my life. Thank you for making me want to be not only a better knitter but a better person. You are inspiring. I’m wishing you and your family nothing but the best. Happy Eleventh Blogiversary.

    Abigail

  145. Thank you so very much for your first 11 years of THE BLOG and I for one am hoping for another 11 years. I almost never comment, but felt that I really had to add my Happy Blogiversary to you. I know that so many people who read your blog feel a kindred spirit with you and I’m one of them too.

  146. HAPPY blogiversary. I enjoy being part of The Blog. It is surreal to know you so well here, when I’ve met you only a few times and honestly wouldn’t dream of bothering you if I saw you anywhere but a knitting event. As long as you keep writing we’ll be reading.

  147. Cheers! What a ride. And I never thought I would have an annual donation to sponsor a bike ride in a country I don’t live in ridden by people I have never met and have TWICE received gifts in the mail for doing so. Keep it going!

  148. Thank you so much for each and every word. Knowing that you are out there – somewhere on the interwebs – just makes me happy!

  149. Thank you for your blog.Following it for two years,I have laughed a lot been encouraged a lot and am knitting again.My children have grown up, work is physically and mentally getting tough,but you give me strength.Thank you so much! And Peace!

  150. I found your blog through a friend, years ago. Maybe 2009? I didn’t know a thing about knitting but I love your writing style so I read on.

    After a couple years, I had bought all your books. Still not a knitter.

    Then my sister got pregnant, and I knew just what to do – I learned to knit and made that baby a blanket! (And a hat, and sweater, and some booties. And some more sweaters.). When she was pregnant again I made that baby a blanket too.

    So… Thank YOU for sharing your life and your passion and your knitting. Thanks to Ken. I’m now a knitter because of The Blog, and there’s no question that my life is better as a result!

    (My favorite: Odeur du Chèvre. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2005/12/06/odeur_de_chvre.html)

  151. Though I almost never comment, I check your blog every few days and always enjoy your insights on life….and knitting. Thank you for your blog, your books, and your classes. I look forward to seeing you at Yarnover again this year.

  152. Thank YOU for every aspect of yourself and your family (and friends, and knitting, and everything) that you have shared. It means so much, and is so inspiring and encouraging, not just with knitting, but with “real life” stuff as well. Your openness is a gift to many, and one I am grateful for!

  153. I’ve only been around for a few of those 11 years, but I you were the first thing I put on Google Reader (now on Feedly) back in the day. Great being part of that wheeling flock of birds!

  154. Yay for 11 years!! Thank you for continuing to put yourself out there for us, it means a lot that you’re still willing to share yourself. And thank you to Ken for starting the process 11 years ago. Happy anniversary yarnharlot blog!

  155. Thank You!

    I joined The Blog only about 7 years ago after I had purchased and read “Things I Learned from Knitting”. Then, I read your posts surreptitiously at my office when I could. Now I am retired — more time to Knit and read — and finally have a laptop at home. I check in on you every day and am so happy when you are there.

    Your humour delights. Your insight and wisdom belie your years.

    I shared your posts on your Christmas preparation spreadsheets with a non-knitting friend. She was inspired. So, you see your reach extends beyond the community of Knitters.

    The Force, The Blog, is with you. Again, thank you.

  156. Thank you! I am definitely a better knitter because of you, and probably a better person as well. Here’s to another eleven years!

  157. Thank you too, your blog was one of the first I ever started reading (so long ago I can’t remember how I found you) and it was a revelation. An opening into a creative world. I have always knitted/sewed/embroidered/crocheted – but none of my friends and family do so. To find a vibrant, active community actively sharing, enthusing, teaching has been wonderful. I don’t feel like I’m slightly odd anymore – I’m proud. I am so glad that The Blog has changed your lives – it has also changed ours.

  158. Happy Blogiversary. Can’t remember when I found this blog, just that it was relatively recent and it’s made me both laugh and cry in that time. Hope you enjoy the whiskey.

  159. I can’t remember when I started reading your blog but it’s why I asked for one of your books for Christmas and I got two! One is always on my bedside table and I still have to get Knitting Rules out when I knit a sock whatever pattern it is. I’ve got more of the books now and never tire of them they crack me up and make me cry, thank you.

  160. love your blog, and love love love this post. Its 11 am here (Netherlands) so, too early for whiskey, but I salute you with my mug of tea.

    Dear Steph, I wish you another eleven years of blog wisdom, blog happiness and blog creativeness. .

  161. Yes, we The Blog are real, and you are real to us. I pray for you and your family, I donate to your causes and should you or one of your progeny find their way to my neck of the woods, I would take you in and feed you. You have made me better and I hope we have done the same for you.

  162. Happy Blogiversary, Stephanie, from the south coast of Scotland, and from the bottom of my heart.

    I stumbled upon your blog last summer, when I followed a link from Knitty about the Must-Have Cardi. It was 2006 in the blogiverse, and after reading a few months, I decide that I was missing information, (who’s Ken? Rams?), and that I would have to start at the beginning. Which I did, and I am now up to date, having watched your lovely family grow up at lightning speed. I have also read most of your books, keeping two in reserve because I don’t want to finish them! Like others above, I felt my heart in my mouth as I started to read, thinking that maybe you were giving up the blog. Thank goodness, you are not. I view each post as a letter from a close friend, although I know we shall never meet, and that you don’t know me from Adam.

    You have completely changed my way of thinking about knitting. Brought up after the war in a family of four children, we had to watch our money, and I was taught that I had to finish one project before yarn was bought for the next. It was so ingrained that it never occurred to me to do it differently in adult life. So when I started a sweater thirty years ago with nasty acrylic yarn and found I wasn’t enjoying it, I put it in my sewing basket, where it remains to this day. And I didn’t knit for twenty-nine years.

    Last year, I dug out my knitting needles, which had miraculously survived two house moves, to knit for my impending first grandchild. I had not lost my skills, and my enthusiasm returned. But even then, I still worked on one project at a time. Then I found your blog and it was a revelation! I now have a page on Ravelry, several wips, and a cupboard full of lovely stash. Not a patch on yours, but I am never bored.

    So thank you, thank you, thank you! When I grow up, I want to be Stephanie!

    • PS Although I didn’t knit for almost 30 years, I DID support MSF almost from its inception. And still do. Does that excuse me?

  163. This is the 1st time I have written in your blog but I have been reading it every morning with my coffee since yo MC’d KnitEast2011! Congrats on your 11th year Blogversary, may you have many more☺️

  164. Thank you for letting us into your living room and sharing your wonderful life with us. And thank you for your candid parenting stories – I know for me they will be invaluable in the years to come.

    Much love.

  165. I only started knitting a few years ago, and discovered your blog not long afterwards. First thing every morning, I check the blog to see whats up. None of my friends or family knit, and its only here that I feel connected to others who care about knitting stuff. I just wish that I wasn’t so far away (Australia) that I will never be able to come a book signing or Rhinebeck, and actually meet you in person. But the blog is a pretty good facsimile until I win the lottery 🙂

  166. Congratulations! Thank you ever so much for sharing not just your knitting adventures but your family and life experiences. Just as you are honest about your knitting mistakes, you demonstrated how to carry on, fix what can be fixed and do so with humor and love when life’s inevitable obstacles show up. I lift my glass of orange juice this a.m., in toast to you, your family and your blog!

  167. Cheers! I don’t know if you’ll have time to read all of these comments, but thank you from me, too. I only began reading recently but am already working my way through your old entries, often as a recently posted link takes me back a couple of years. I like the time travel!

    I’ve crocheted since I was a small child and knitted for several years, but how I wish your Knitting Rules book had been about when I was a beginner. It’s now a go-to present for all new-knitting-friends, where I hope they can be inspired to knit (and swatch!) for many more years to come.

    Congratulations to you, Yarn Harlot!

  168. Thank you, Stephanie! As so many others have said, you are part of our daily ritual, checking for a new post, and always happy when there is one to read. Been reading for many years, and glad to be part of the flock. Thank you for your writing, your humor, and the community you have created here in the blog. I selfishly hope for many more years, but really, the last eleven years is more of a gift than any of us could have expected. Hugs.

  169. Congrats on 11 years, Steph! I’m glad you’re still here. My blog turns 10 this week and I know just what you mean about how it’s been part of our family’s experience.

  170. Yours was one of the first knitting blogs I ever discovered, and it’s because of finding knitting blogs that I found some of my closest friends, my passion for knitting, and a part-time gig as a designer. Thank you for the laughs, the tears, the everyday moments. It’s been a pleasure. Here’s to many, many more years.

  171. There’s a lot of focus on all the things wrong with the internet, and how it alienates people. It’s nice to take a moment to celebrate an example of how the opposite can be true.

  172. Thanks for sharing the blog with us. It’s been great to be a part of this online community for me too. I live far from home and far from knitters (in the tropics) but reading your posts always makes me feel connected to something. Congratulations on 11 years!

  173. Thank you for the sweet words. Made me get a bit teary. I write a wee blog and I love reading yours. So many people think it is rather silly but I agree with you it is a big deal!! It is to me and to you and so many others. Congrats!!! And hurrah for saying that blog and blog friends can change your life and are ok and make this world a better place!! I totally agree, they make my world a different place, a happier place!!

  174. Thank you for all you have done to change my life. You’ve made me laugh and cry, ponder and be thankful for all I have. You’ve helped us help others by contributing to Drs without borders and other events that have changed the world. You’ve helped me connect with other knitters by sharing your stories and helping me know I’m not alone out there, doing weird things like knitting and spinning.

    Again, thank YOU for all you’ve brought to my life.

  175. Like others here, when I first started reading this entry I was afraid that you were thinking of ending “the Blog” and was happy as I read further that you were just celebrating. My daughter (a non-knitter) put me on to your blog when she read about you in her Kalamazoo newspaper so many years ago and I have followed you ever since. I have every one of your books and keep them close by my knitting chair so that I can reference them as needed – whether its for a chuckle when things are going badly or a hint on something I’m working on. Its been a joy watching your family bloom, enjoying your triumphs and commiserating with your knitting mishaps (we all have them). So as I raise a glass later today, I’ll toast to the Yarn Harlot. It won’t be a whiskey – I’m more in line with your Mum and prefer Gin and Tonic.

  176. Congratulations! Happy Blogiversary! My favourite story is still the time you were on tour and the alarm clock had not changed properly for Daylight Savings Time. You thought you were going to miss your flight only to have a kind concierge tell you you were an hour early. I laughed so hard, I scared the cat. It was such an elegantly written piece about an absolutely crazy-pants situation that most of us have been in one time or another. Thank-you for all you have shared with us.

    • “I laughed so hard, I scared the cat.”

      That is the best one-line review I’ve ever read, and perfectly describes the experience so many of us have reading you. But for all yout wit, you just as easily move us to tears.

      Thank you, Stephanie

  177. I have very seldom commented here, but have read the blog and been part of The Blog for many years (not sure if it’s 11, but very nearly that anyway). Thank you for all of it. Cheers to you, and all of us!

  178. Happy Eleventh!

    Your blog is one of the few that, once I started reading about 5-6 years ago, I went back and read Every. Single. Post. I laughed, teared up, and said “huh. never thought of it that way before”. I blame you for the collection of knitting needles, yarn and roving that is waiting to be knit and spun. Did I mention I really can’t do either (yet)?

    Thank You for opening your door to us.

  179. Having met you several times in person, and owning most of your books, and having read the blog for many of these 11 years… I must say you are an awesome human being and it’s been an honor to share your journey! Thank you for putting it out there and allowing us a peek into your knitting and your life. xoxoxox from Indiana!

  180. Dear Steph, I am here in Paris, ON each morning on my computer. Reading your blog is part of my morning routine. I have never commented and never attended any “knitting” event. I have never come even close to meeting you. But I want to thank YOU. You have made me laugh and you have made me cry. I have shared your stories when I am with friends and recommended them to read your blog. I now donate regularly to Medicins Frontiers. I wanted you to know how much I love your blog and I may represent many others who never comment! Happy Blogaversary to you and your family!

  181. I will admit skipping a year here and there, but this year I’m back reading, faithfully. I remember you from the KnitList, when I’d read your posts and fall off my chair laughing. (Was there one where you were riding the subway, as a midwife, with knitted female parts in your purse? It was a story about knitted uteri…).
    Then your writing published in one of the KnitLit books. The story with the knitting while on skates.
    You are my most favorite story teller. Your way with words is amazing, which doesn’t surprise me at all considering what an amazing knitter you are.
    What you have done for the world of knitting is completely immeasurable. What you have done / are doing for women and children (and other people, too ;)) is tremendous, and how you connect us all through the humanity of knitting is just a marvel.
    You are super smart, wickedly funny, wondrously skilled, unafraid, brave, upstanding, and a love.
    Happy Blogiversary.

  182. Brought a tear to my eyes. For a moment in the first paragraph, I was terrified that you were saying goodbye. And then I was touched. Thanks for sharing your perspectives. You are a positive force in the world. xo

  183. Thank you for blogging. My husband suffers through my one way knitting conversations with him, understanding absolutely nothing, unless I explain it in terms of golf. (Yes, I typed “golf”.)
    Thank you for sharing your joys (knitting, spinning, and otherwise).
    Thank you for sharing your (enviously few) fiber disasters. These elevate you to the level of Knitting Guru, imho.
    Bless you. And I think your husband should take you out to dinner to celebrate- and also let you Buy More Stash.

  184. I am happy and proud to be a member of “The Blog” happy too that my husband actually reads “The Blog” and sometimes gets a bit of an idea of why I craft! The Internet is amazing. I have another list that I am on, one which started because we all had the same breed of dog. One where we decided that we wanted faces with the words. One where 16 years ago we all said, let’s see the faces and actually got together. Our 16th meeting is being planned now. So, Stephanie, we’ve got 5 years on you! LOL
    Thank you for being a wonderful writer and for letting us be part of “The Blog”.

  185. Thank you for sharing your world with me for the last eleven years. Thanks for making me laugh & cry – sometimes in the same post. You appreciate the Blog, but I want you to know that I truly appreciate the time you take to bring me into your world every week. I’ve followed & dropped many blogs over the last decade, but yours has always been the one constant on my blog reader.

  186. After years of reading, this is my first comment. I need to say thank you for all the wonderful giggles and tons of information and most importantly – inspiration! I look forward to much to starting up the computer and looking to see if you have posted! I enjoy each and every one. I have now even started blogging about my own knitting projects (few and paltry so far) and I think you inspire me to become a better knitter. I know I’m a better person for having read your blog. Here’s to you and all you have given to all of us over the years. Thank you!

  187. Thank you Stephanie! I have never commented on any blog that I read and did not realise until just now how selfish that makes me – I get a lot of pleasure from reading yours and others and always thought that commenting was a waste of time for you when you have such a busy life. Now I can see that the thought of speaking to a vacuum must be quite demoralising and disheartening especially as it must have taken you so long to write and formulate posts . So congratulations on your wonderful blog reaching 11 years old, and here’s to many more, Bottom’s up!

  188. And thank you Stephanie for allowing us into your life. You have inspired me, made me cry and laugh until I peed in my panties (I still go back to the decaf coffee post when I need a pick me up). It makes my day to sit down at the computer with my cup of tea and read the only blog I follow. Thank you for being you!

  189. Oh, this just says it all. ALL. Coincidentally, I had nothing to read last night and picked up my old (autographed) copy of Knitting Rules and started reading that. I had forgotten – until I did that – the impact that book (the first of yours I had read and that I had just picked up at random from the library) had on me. It changed everything by giving me permission to be creative without having to be good at it, whatever that means. By making me understand that the creative lifestyle (be it writing or knitting or whatever) is important in and of itself and is what makes life worth living for some of us. AND by giving me the courage to try my first pair of socks, the fact that I didn’t know what DPN’s were not stopping me in the least. Because you said I could do it. A little over 7 years later, here I sit, with a drawer full of homemade socks, knitting while I help my kids with their schoolwork so I don’t totally lose it over teaching Algebra for the FOURTH TIME. The original kid whose schoolwork I knitted through is now an Army officer. But I still have 2 young-ish girls at home who have grown up with the permission to over-buy yarn (well, with coupons at Michaels), roll around in it if they like, and to knit many projects without finishing most of them. I hope, Steph, that you can understand how important that has been to our family. Probably the only one who doesn’t understand your impact is my husband, but that is only because he still hasn’t figured out that that second dresser of mine is filled with yarn, not clothes.

    Also, when I met you in April 2008, you said my blog was funny. I don’t even care if you meant it or not, I lived on that compliment for a year. Thank you for that, also. As a writer, you know that most times what we want most (aside from maybe being paid occasionally) is to connect. You’ve done that in spades. Happy Blogiversary!

  190. The thanks really go to you, whose blog I open every morning. You bring such a wonderful joie de vivre to my life. You inspire me to do more, be it knitting, quilting, or perhaps making an Advent calendar. You make me laugh and cry. Happy 11th year anniversary!

  191. Hear Hear Steph. I’m toasting you with my coffee as its only 9:30 in the morning. Glad to be one of the molecules that make up “The Blog”.

  192. You are the force that brings us all together. There would be a very sad place in my life without you to fill it.

    Cheers! That’s some damn fine whiskey.
    Thanks

  193. Dear Stephanie, another blog-lurker here! Ditto, what the rest of the blog says; it gives me a little thrill when I see a new post is up, I love reading about your family and your stories make me cry and laugh until I cry. The squirrel making off with your drying fleece springs to mind. Thank-you for your book tours, where we all get to see and hear you in person. love from one of the ‘blog’!
    p.s. you DID say at one time that you were going to tell us what you were doing with all the washcloths we kept bringing to you!

  194. Well, thank you for your posts which often bring a smile to my life – especially when I needed it. You have no idea how much you have cheered me up during dark days. Ein prosit to you and yours!

  195. Thank you for allowing us to find you and be part of your life as well, and to open the gates for us to find each other as members of The Blog on occasion.

    Happy Blogiversary!

  196. Thank you for sharing your life with us and being part of my life since I started knitting 5 years ago. You are such a treasure and I hope you continue with the blog for a long time.

  197. I have been following The Blog for a few years now, and it constantly serves as inspiration for, well, everything! This is my first comment (I’m a wuss!), and I want to say “what a wonderful, touching, heart-warming piece of writing” – I raise my, er, butternut squash soup to you and your family.xx

  198. It is we who should be thanking you, Stephanie. Your blog has been delightful – humorous, serious, informative and a zillion other things. It has been one of my early morning pleasures to pop in here and see what you’re up to. And, in a very small knitting way, try to continue to knit up things for family and friends.

  199. Your humor, grace and deep sense of fairness make your blog irreplaceable to me; the knitting is gravy (and very good gravy at that). You have become a small part of my family as well. I share your thoughts with my appreciative husband, and he understood my thrill when you answered a posting with an email. I have followed other knitting blogs on and off, but I have been loyal to you since the day I found The Blog. Thank you.

  200. Happy Blogiversary Stephanie! I so enjoy reading your blog. I’ve learned so much about knitting by reading your blog. Thanks for inviting us in to your life!

    Kristi
    queenbee1958 on Ravelry

  201. No, Thank you. I have enjoyed your blog so much. I got to meet you in Ft Worth ,Texas in 2011, and had a blast at your talk. I have read your books and laughed myself silly on occasion.Your stories of broken household items,makes it easier when it happens to us.You helped me through my first sock. May we have many more years to come……..

  202. Thank you, Stephanie. Reading your blog is part of my morning routine and I love it. I have seen you at several readings in Seattle and always look forward to them. I hope you will be back soon. I always bring a friend or two or more. 😎 I have even spotted you twice at Madrona, but you are always on the run! I look forward to another year of your great, funny stories.

    Diana

  203. And thank you so so much for writing! Your honesty, humor, knitting adventures and parenting stories have been a treat and often a much-needed boost throughout the years.

  204. So many have already said it but I must add my 2 cents (US). Thank you for sharing, your knitting wisdom and your humanity. Thank you for your patience and your vulnerability. Thank you for not being perfect. I share your experiences and wisdom with my family as if I am referencing a friend. I appreciate our differences and our similarities. Thank you also to your family who allows us to look at their lives. Happy Anniversary! To quote Lupe Fiasco; “and I be standing on the sidelines, holding up my sign, and it say, Go baby, hoot hoot, go baby…”

  205. Congratulations, reading this blog is my way of staying connected to others with the same intests. I raise my glass to you with a hearty cheers and thank you!

  206. Happy anniversary, Stephanie! I agree with Joe–the blog has not only changed your life (because, well, obvious), I’d argue it’s changed the lives of a LOT of knitters!

  207. Happy belated blogaversery…I wish I had time right now to read all the comments, we are THE BLOG! and I thank you for that. At this time, my favorite post was the one that had the peppermint bark in it, loved reading about folks hoping you would slip some into their pockets while pretending they were not expecting it (or something like that!!) I finally made the peppermint bark at Christmas and received nothing but rave reviews! I am sure it will remain in my top 10 posts but when I do get around to reading and finding the others… not to mention your upcoming posts. And congrats on the trainer, what kind did you get?

  208. Happy Blogiversary! Many thanks for sharing yourself and family with us all. I, too, was afraid that your were going to stop blogging. That time will surely come, and when it does you will know how much you have been loved by us all! But until that time comes, thanks for your constancy, humor, humanitarianism, and of course, THE KNITTING!

  209. YAHOO!! Congrats!!! How I love this blog and all of your books, Stephanie. How I love the most perfect sock pattern that stays propped open (dog-eared now) when I turn the heel. Now, years later with many knitting books and sock pattern books, its still what I use that I can understand clearly. How I love the knitting bag that I bought with special Christmas money because you mentioned it as “great” in a Ravelry post. (It is.) I could go on… THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  210. Thank you for this blog.
    Thank you for allowing us into your life and letting us know that we aren’t crazy and that there are others who understand what knitting is, what it means and how we (both as knitters and as human beings) can make a difference to someone, somewhere.

  211. Congratulations Stephanie! Thanks for making me a better knitter and I love being part of ‘The Blog’ – no one else in my family knits! Here’s to many good years to come!

  212. Thank you! I look do forward to your posts. I find it heart warming that so many people are connected in this way. My best to you on this anniversary.

  213. What an awesome post Steph! I have been reading you almost from the beginning and I always felt as if I knew you. We are the same age and even though your children are older than mine, I paid close attention to the everyday common sense things that you said that were contrary to the sky-is-falling parenting advice that I sometimes heard. I watched the things that you knit and it encouraged me to venture beyond a scarf to mittens, socks, hats and beyond. I learned so much about Canada that I wanted to live there – until winter came every year.

    There were so many parallels that began to think of you as a friend that was very, very, far away who felt my pain and joys even though you weren’t there for them. I was so excited to meet you in Raleigh last year. I will continue to read as long as your continue to write. Know that as much as Joe says that The Blog has influence your life – so you have influence mine. Thank you for being there. (Lifting my coffee cup) Cheers from Stephanie in Raleigh!

    • If you make it tea instead of coffee, the same goes for me.

      I saw you knit feather and fan socks six or so times and loved them every time before I figured out they were the same ones and that I had that book. I knit them now without the book!

      My favorite stories were when you locked yourself out of your hotel room in your underwear and also when sir washie’s replacement got installed the hard way.

      Thank you for remind me that I need to remember who I’m knitting for when my family demands my attention.

      I could get along without your blog, but I’d surely be poorer in spirit for it. Big loves and appreciation for your awesome work.

      Stephanie from Portland

  214. Thank you very much,and you are very welcome in return…your knitting,living and writing have provided us,The Blog,with an endless supply of inspiration and humor,as we pick up our needles and try to keep up with our favorite knitter! Here’s to many more years together!!!! 🙂 <3

  215. Right back at you, girl! I have laughed till I cried reading stories of Mr. Washie, made a point of complimenting you in person on how wonderful Sock Summit 2 was, and continue to check The Blog on a daily basis. You are a Force for Good in the Knitting World, which means you are a Force for Good in all our lives. Thank YOU, Steph–and all your wonderful family, too!

  216. Thank you for blogging. It is reassuring to know there are people out there who care and knit. And who sometimes get stuff wrong (such as how long it takes to knit a hat/jumper/etc). Thank you for making the world a better (and knittier) place.

  217. Joining in with the crowd to celebrate this wonderful journey. Your blog is frequently shared around the table with laughter and sometimes tears. Thank you and wishing many more years.

  218. As a fellow (and former) Lactation Consultant, I knew we would be friends. Virtual, but friends. I have loved your writing over the years and your sense of humor is to be cherished. It has made me laugh through some pretty grim times. My knitting is better, my life is better for having read your blog for the past 10 years. My kids think the Yarn Harlot is my friend, just like any of my other friends. And that is true.

  219. thanks. and thanks for being a part of our lives too. You have been there…wherever and whenever I was. and I thank you for that. Mary Ellen

  220. Congrats, just wanted you to know that yours is the only Blog I read on a steady basis. I really enjoy your sense of humor and whimsy. Keep up the good work !!!

  221. Personally – I feel very fortunate that you let me into your life – you are part of my daily ritual when I turn on the computer. I hope someday to have the opportunity to see you “in person – in action”. Thank you!!!

  222. Happy Blogiversary.
    You make us laugh.
    You make us think.
    You make us all strive to be the best versions of ourselves.
    We, the Blog, Thank You.

  223. And thank you. You inspired me to take a sock knitting class just this last Tuesday. And your books, and often this blog, make me laugh out loud. Best of blogging in the future.

  224. Happy Blogiversary, Steph !
    Thank you for all your lovely posts. You have made me smile or drop some tears so many times that I will be happy to stay a part of “The Blog” for at least another eleven years.

    Cheers !

  225. Thank you for all you’ve done for us! Your influence may be more far-reaching than you realize.

    Due to your inspiration, I had the courage to try knitting a whole sweater, and now my nephews and niece have sweaters knit “just for them”. My father-in-law wears the sweater vest I knit for him almost every day, and my mother-in-law wears and cherishes the Omelette shawl you knit, which I was honored to win through a contribution to the bike rally. (I’m so proud of that, because it singles me out– it makes me feel special for you to remember “who” I am!)

    While I’m teaching my nephew to knit, I say things like, “The Yarn Harlot says it’s only knitting– you’re not defusing a bomb!”, and “The Yarn Harlot says there are no knitting police– it’s OK to do it your way.”

    I now have not just a Stash, but several sub-stashes as well. (And currently on a yarn famine until it’s reduced somewhat.)

    And this may be the year I actually knit my First Sock. I depend on your sock recipe in Knitting Rules! to guide me.

    Yours is the one and only blog I read, and I have read it all from the beginning archives. Not sure just when I came in, but was shortly before Free-Range Knitter was published.

    Happy Blogiversary, and here’s to many more!

    P.S. People who give you money, beer, and sandwiches ARE real, and when a husband offers to take you to dinner, let him!

    We love you, too. 🙂

  226. Thank you! Reading “The Blog” has provided me an anchor, and helps me look at my own knitting (and those who receive it) in a different light. I give your books to friends who are new (or not so new) to knitting, and I read the Blog posts to my husband, who always begins to smile when I start to read. It is a wonderful moment that we share, and, I guess, we are sharing with you.

  227. Wow! I read the first few sentences with butterflies, afraid that the next sentence was going to say you were closing the blog. I had to jump to the end to see before I could finish reading in peace! ;-)) Congratulations on eleven years and may you have at least as many more!

  228. Cheers & Congratulations on eleven years. Your stories come from the heart and always make my day. Love from a Pacific North West fan.

  229. When I first started reading your blog, I had just graduated college and I had some knowledge of this crafty thing my grandma taught me when I was five. I had no idea how it fit into my life. It was kinda like knowing how to drive a forklift- entertaining to discuss as a random skill, but with little practical life application. And here I sit, 11 years later, with the ability to clothe my family, impress my friends, and spend tons of money on other folk’s art… mostly because of this blog. Thanks so much for giving my random knowledge relevance, and for doing so with humor, patience, and honesty (hey, even you make mistakes of epic proportions!). Also, whether you like it or not, your blogging is indirectly responsible for my knitting tattoo. I hope you don’t mind my mother cursing your name.

  230. Rather The Blog than The Borg…

    But I have read every single post you’ve written, all of your books and have referenced you many times. Someday I hope to meet you in real life, at one of your StrungAlong retreats. Maybe that will be a gift to myself when I finish my doctorate. You are one of my knitting heroes.

  231. Thank you so much for letting us share in all that you do. I have been part of this wonderful blog for several years, enjoyed all your books, and read aloud some of your writings because they are so wonderful. And I’m going to try a spreadsheet of sorts for my Christmas.
    Thank you!!

  232. Love and Congratulations! You’ll have to keep it up for another 11 years–it will take you at least that long to read all these comments!
    I’m one of those who saw the title and the number of comments and thought, “Oh no, she’s finished with the whole blogging thing and whatever will I do without it?” I can’t tell you how glad I am that I had jumped to the wrong conclusion!
    I “met” you through your books. The first thing I learned was that my trash bags full of yarn were “Stash” and that Stash was to be treasured, curated, and protected from moths. The second think I learned was the difference between process and product, something I consider every time I start a project. The third thing is that you share a wealth of experience with us–when I dyed some silk hankies, voila! the Yarn Harlot has knit with them. Want to substitute bulky for DK in a project–the Yarn Harlot has words about that, too!
    This is a wonderful community and I am privileged to be part of it. Thank you! Especially thank you for showing us that fiber obsession is a good thing and creating warm things with your hands for people you love is a very good thing.
    (And, as over time, the fleeces have begun to pile up in a closet and the wheel and the loom have became part of the living room furniture–you actually know and speak of The Judith. (my other fiber goddess.) What could be better?)
    I was in bed before I saw this blog entry last night, but at dinner this evening, my fiber-tolerant husband and I will raise a glass to you and many more years!

  233. As so many others have posted you, your family and friends, this blog have become a touchstone for me during times of turmoil, change and happiness. I thank you for being willing to share not only your successes but all the things in life and knitting that go just a bit wonky. Not leaving home today so I’m going to jack this coffee up a bit with a lil sumptin, sumptin cast on something new and fun and knit away. “SALUTE”

  234. I’m toasting you right back with my morning/afternoon coffee. And saluting my knitting needles! Because of you, we knitters are changing the world.

  235. Your words are a regular treat in my life. I get awfully worried when you don’t write for a (from my perspective) long time. Mostly I lurk but I do comment occasionally. I always send supportive thoughts!

  236. I adore you and your blog. It’s been a constant part of my day for at least 9 years. I have learned so much about knitting and been inspired by you to learn so much more about knitting – I can’t even describe it.

    I have laughed so hard at your blogs that I’ve spit my coffee at the screen on more than one occasion. I’ve teared up and/or cried many times as well (you are a beautiful writer).

    I love your family – Joe is the best, your three knitwear models – opps! – I mean daughters – are lovely. I’m now a fan of your mom’s take-no-nonsense wisdom and Hank’s creativity and the adorableness of the new babies. I’m also a little pompous about all my new Canadian knowledge (I’m from NY) – and I pay attention to all things Canadian these days as if I have a sister living in Toronto.

    Yesterday I started to knit a Valentines hat for my niece out of some ivory and red stash yarn. Took out the graph paper designed hearts and used an old hat pattern but changed the fair isle design to hearts. I knit an inch and then realized it was way too big at 126 stitches. Frogged and then cast on 90 and knit 2 inches and realized it’s too small. Today I have to cast on 108 and start again. I never bothered to swatch – like a idiot. Anyway. I thought of you. I thought of your blog. I even smiled because I wasn’t alone. You and your blog would understand.

    Also – thank you for having no fee and no ads all these years. You never try to sell us anything and I appreciate that. Thanks to Ken for making all the magic happen.

    Congratulations on 11 excellent years.

  237. This might be the second time I have replied to you. As I scrolled through all the entries for Jan. 23, I thought once again that you don’t really need my reply, but I have read your blog every single day for the past 8 or 9 years, and I want to say “hi” and you are so brave to do some of the knitting you do; maybe even most of the knitting! I feel like such a beginner even though I have been knitting for 50 years off and on. So keep on for those of us who admire all you do that we cannot do. I saw you at the Forestry Center in Portland, OR when you were there several years ago. Hope to see you again some day.

  238. My life changed when I stumbled upon your blog. Knitting became important, not just a hobby. I was astonished when I realized knitters are e a force to be reckoned with, in a good way. Thank you, Stephanie and Ken, for eleven wonderful years of blog reading.

  239. Wait… Button bands are silly? Steph, you make me feel normal. For all the gnashing, wailing, second- and eighth – guessing, loose fixes and hair-brained scheming… And I’m just talking about PARENTING here… You’ve made me a kinder, more gentle human being. One who can knit the snot out of anything right at this point. HUGS TO the fam. And that Ken!

  240. Waiting for your blog as become a part of my daily routine the same as waiting for a phone call from my son and daughter each day. The same as with my own family, I have laughed and cried with your family and somehow we always make it. I believe this is the power of knowing others care. Here is to many more years of family (good and bad) for all of us.

  241. Pingback: Happy anniversary, Yarn Harlot!

  242. I’m sorry to answer this a day late and miss your anniversary!

    I’ve been, during the last few months, rereading your blog, starting from the very beginning! It is every bit as wonderful as it was when I first read it!! It’s been so much fun, and inspiring!

    What a wonderful gift you have given all of us! And thanks especially for keeping it up. So many great blogs just sort of lose momentum and peter out, for one reason or another, but you’ve never left us. Thanks for sharing your home, your family & friends, and your travels. It’s meant a great deal to me, and to so many others!

  243. No, Stephanie, Thank YOU!! You have no idea how you have touched my life in so many wonderful ways. It is (and has been) and honor and a pleasure to know you as my Blog Friend.

  244. Yes to all of the above and…another of my favorite posts was when you had trouble counting to 3. A reader’s comment said ” one…uh…where was I”. Cracked me up! I quote you often when I teach knitting and remind students, as well as myself, that it’s ok to make mistakes. Some of your writings are now in the general vocabulary of knitters, like “There are no knitting police.” Thank you for helping me laugh at our silly human foibles and know that I am not alone when I can’t do something that seems so simple and obvious.

  245. I suspect that, as The Blog has impacted your lives, so have you affected many lives. Just for a little while (because I “know” you well enough to know you would only be humble about this), revel in the fact that you make a difference to people. You matter.

  246. Thank you for allowing The Blog to exist! I’ve been reading your blog for about eight years now, and I always look forward to your posts. You’re a wonderful writer and make your fellow knitters feel part of a community.

  247. Thank you Thank you Thank you from your loyal reader in Washington DC
    For your great and grand humor, for sharing your joys,
    And for your caring
    About knitting, About your Family, About us
    I’ve been reading your blog daily for so long
    Through work and now in retirement.
    Thank you!

  248. Happy Blogiversary! You are the reason I picked up knitting again a few years ago, even though I live in Hawaii and have very little use for wool (although you wouldn’t know that from my ever-growing stash of fingering weight merino). Thanks for all the chuckles and happy detours down the rabbit hole that is Ravelry; may there be many more!
    “Mahalo” from another Stephanie on the Big Island.

  249. Wow, eleven years, that’s really something Stephanie. Thank you, and very well done for all that you have achieved, your success is very well deserved. Your blog is a wonderful place to visit, again, thank you. CJ xx

  250. Phew! The way you started out, I was afraid you were quitting the blog. Congratulations on 11 years of sharing your life. You have been more than generous, and we appreciate all that you’ve given us in addition to your wonderful books. Namaste.

  251. Hey Stephanie!! Right back at ya’ girl!!! You and your family have added so much to my life. I love reading your blog and learning from you. I will never be the knitter you are, but I relate to your “mom” moments, your “aunt” moments, your “wife” moments and of course, all of your “knitting” moments. Thank you for doing the Blog and know that you have made a difference in my life as I am sure you have in so many others – and that is what life is all about to me!! To many more years of the Blog!!!

  252. I feel that you are a kindred spirit, in knitting, in age, in being a Mom to daughters. I feel that I’ve learned from you about life! Thank you for being in my life for 11 years.

  253. Well jeez, I am sitting here with tears in my eyes because I feel the same about you. You’ve helped me count to ten when one of my kids gave me a challenge and I didn’t know what to do; You lifted me up by blogging that day about the exact same thing I was going through. I can’t tell you how many yard sales I went to and always looked for an old ball winder for Hank because he so loved winding yarn for you when he was a little tyke. I never did find one but I looked and it joined us together. After knitting all by myself almost every day since 1969 when there were hardly any yarn shops and finally having it get popular again was a dream come true. To have the internet to share everything with and find you to laugh about it and introduce lovely yarns we may have never found was such a treat. To contribute whatever I could at the time to Doctors Without Borders and getting a lift up out of that, however small, is another thank you to your blog. So! From one of your old bloggers from way back, congratulations and I hope to meet you someday but if not that’s ok too as I feel I know you anyway. My daughter bought your latest book, went to a book signing in Seattle and sent it to me along with a picture of you together. She has known you for this long too and said it was awesome to meet you, even though she is not a knitter. Thank you and I wish for you continued success, a happy homelife and all good things bloggery. (:

  254. Thank you, Steph, for every story shared, every lesson taught, every cause championed, every laugh, every tear, every single word. I can’t tell you how many times you have made my day by sharing your day(s).

    Cheers! Here’s wishing you many happy returns of the day.

  255. My husband and I have just raised a glass of whisky with our haggis dinner in honour of Rabbie Burns. Every morning I get up, feed and let out the dog, make a coffee and click on your blog. Because of you I knit socks. Reading your blog I have laughed, cried and aaahed. Thank you and here’s to many more

  256. Thank you. You’ve always been here. When I’ve had a good day, when I’ve had a bad day. No matter what’s happened, I know I can come here and be with kind and caring friends. (Even though I’ve never actually met anyone in person, I consider you all my friends.) You make the internet and the whole world a better place!

  257. Honestly, it is the other way around. I am an inveterate lurker, but I would miss you in my life if you stopped. I remember when Kate Davies had her stroke how much that upset me, a complete stranger to her, and how much I wished her better. That made me realise that there are people out there that I have never met, and will probably never get to be in-person friends with, that are still people that matter to me, and (hopefully) not in a creepy stalkerish way, but just as friends I don’t get to see kind of way.
    In short. Happy Blogversary.

    Nicola. x

  258. I thought that I left a comment earlier but…you and your blog have made me a better knitter and a better person. Thank you.

  259. I’m happy to be part of “The Blog!”
    You are very real to me, and it’s nice to know that you care about us. I saw you at a talk in NYS and passed by you in the barn. I thought you might get tired of making small talk with strangers & could use a bit of private time. I should’ve said ‘hi!’

    thanks for sharing!

  260. Happy Blogiversary. You are one of the loveliest families I have ever (never) met. I’m so happy to be allowed into your virtual living room. I *will* meet you for realz one day!
    Lots and lots of love from my family to yours.

  261. What can I possibly say that has not been said…..your blog has lifted my spirits many times over the years and I thank you for your generosity ,your love of all-that-is-wool and your crazyness.
    The squirrel adventures still make me laugh.
    Joyeux Anniversaire!

  262. Thank you and a big virtual hug of Congratulations! You opened a new world for me. I spend a lot of time in my recliner due to spinal stenosis and compression fractions along with LUPUS. My knitting and cross stitch projects and Kindle fire at hand. Your blog is a “phone call” from a friend every day.

  263. I found your blog years ago when I was just restarting to knit, after many years when I had though it was uncool. Your blog was the first place on the Internet that really really convinced me that Knitters are fabulous and funny and caring and as cool as adequate to the situation. And that it can be a hobby – nay, a calling – in itself to collect yarn. Thank you so much for the blog and your books!

  264. You and knitting came into my life at the same time – a few months after I lost my Mom. There wasn’t much that I was able to care about, but knitting was my lifeline along with your blog. Your humor and honesty and willingness to share your feelings and experiences helped me through. And let’s not forget everything you’ve taught me about knitting! Thank you for writing.

  265. Some days , reading your blog is the only thing that can pull me out a funk and set me straight again. And knitting of course. So, THANK YOU, for writing this blog. I really hope you’ll do it for quite a long time!

  266. Thank you for all the wonderful stories, hints and, well, everything! I started reading your blog when I was a new knitter – I learned so much from you. And not all of it is about knitting!

  267. The post that absolutely had me crying, laughing out loud, snorting, was the one where Steph is trying to get into a straight skirt. OMG! I laughed so hard my face and stomach ached. I wish I could find it to link here for others to revel in, but alas, too many posts to hunt through.

    As to “The Blog”, from my end, it’s a living entity, a friend I see every day there’s a new entry. It’s enriched my knitting life, made me laugh out loud on more than 20 occasions, had me in tears over some family loss, made me proud of how you honor members of your family and your country.
    The hilarity you bring into your blog is what keeps me coming back year after year.

    So a toast to you on keeping “The Blog” going all these years. I’m looking forward to many more.

  268. God bless you and your family. Thank you for sharing your lives, your thoughts and, of course, your wisdom over the last eleven years. Thank you for inviting me along on your journeys and making me feel that I was a part of everything.

  269. Thank you a million times over, for inspiring, for instilling optimism, for raising awareness, and raising funds, and making us proud to be members of the family of knitters! Here’s to you & all of us! Cheers!

  270. I also want to thank you. Because of your blog I felt confident enough to start my own. I was just putting pictures on FB before, but now I can’t imagine not having my blog.

  271. I was so afraid that this was a post saying that you’re done with writing the blog! I’m sure that that sad day will have to come at some point, but I am so glad that it is not today. Thank you for all of the joy and tears you have brought me over the years. You introduced me to the idea of being a doula when I was 12, and it is now one of the many hats I wear as I am on the path to becoming an IBCLC. You have inspired me in so many ways, and if someday I am half as successful as you are (at knitting, mothering, working…) then I will be very proud indeed.

    Thank you.

  272. Thank YOU. I’ve been one of the “blog” (kinda like the Borg??) for 10 years, have taken class with you and been to your lectures- have rolled on floor laughing and also cried with you- and grown as a knitter because of you. Here’s raising a dram to all of it. Onward!

  273. Thank you for writing all these years, so that The Blog could be. I found you when it was still possible to binge-read every past entry in an afternoon (which of course I promptly did), and I’d already been knitting for quite some time. But coming here, reading your posts, sometimes reading the comments, (raaarely commenting myself), is what made me feel like I had found a community. It’s what gave me permission to call myself a knitter, with pride, before I really knew anybody else “IRL” who did, too. And I put the IRL in scare quotes because I agree with you that this world here isn’t any less real.

    Some of the years I’ve been part of The Blog have been dark and difficult ones for me, when I felt isolated and — honestly — worthless. You writing this blog and me reading it was a small ritual that mattered more than I could have imagined. Things you wrote helped me understand how much I needed community, and inspired me to start down the path to finding it, but most importantly the generosity of your writing helped me see that I deserved it.

    Not every blogger embraces “The Blog” the way you have. I know that sometimes it has been like tangling with a tiger (mostly not, I hope!), but I am so thankful for everything you have given us, and grateful to have been a small, belovedly lurking part of it all.

  274. Thank you for the Blog. It is my favorite, and though I write few comments, I’ve read every post and look forward to many more.

    Happy Blog Birthday!

  275. And thank you right back. I’m trying to think of the right words to describe how I experience your blog, but an image comes to mind instead: somehow, your way with words, and your humour and compassion are like the candles you light at Christmas. Your posts are a source of light and hope, and they always enrich my day.

  276. Hi Steph,

    I also held my breath as I read this post, fearing it was a farewell to the Blog. I felt like I did when a dear friend told me she and her family were moving away. I am so relieved you will blog on!
    Congratulations on 11 years. You have given us so much of your knitterly skills, insight on life, and laughter balanced with some tears. Reading your blog entertains and inspires me. Thank you for it all! I look toward to your next post (thank heaven).

  277. Stephanie, your writing, especially via this blog, has been a priceless gift to many of us, and not just because we share common hobbies. Thank you for continuing to be so generous with your gifts and experiences. Your blog writing is so valuable, you should consider publishing it all in a print book when you hit a benchmark year mark. I know that’s not how blogs are supposed to work, but sometimes I worry about things disappearing…

  278. HappyBlogaversary!
    Toasting you with this:
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    Without The Blog and its many offshoots, I wouldn’t have made friends with a few folks at the first Sock Summit, friends who have Changed my Life in so many ways. Thank you for inviting, encouraging, amusing, cursing, demonstrating, laughing, and inspiring us. When I started reading, I was your crazy Episcopal priest supporter pal in New Hampshire, and then Vermont ….. now, eons later, I remain connected in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

    Many things have changed, but the Blog has been a Constant. That is a sacred thing, and I am holding up the power of this community as a model for world peace, as a light in the darkness. Where there is fiber, can peace, love and understanding be far behind? To you and all of us, joy and connection in this New Year! (see you @ Madrona!)

  279. You keep me going. You inspire me. You nudge me to try something new. T hank you, for all that. Thank you for being here!

  280. Congratulations!
    Thanks for nudging your readers to raise funds for MSF and the bike rally, as well as so raising much general awareness of these and other key issues.
    And your sense of humour!
    Keep on truckin’!

  281. Congratulations! I too feel we are a united community through your blog. Thanks for creating this primary point of contact that continually validates how cool it is to create through knitting, and how awesome it is when that creativity is funneled into supporting projects (Doctors Without Borders, the PWA’s Friends for Life Bike rally). I really appreciate the effort you put into making this all meaningful. Wishing you many more happy blogging years to come.

  282. My it’s dusty in here!

    So many people have said it, but is had to add my own thanks to the chorus.

    I started reading three years ago, and read all the archives, while on bedrest during my pregnancy with my first son. In the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep because of nerves and fear, I would sneak out of bed and sit in the loving room reading all the years of posts, stifling laughter so I didn’t wake my husband. When my son was born, your blog, and your books, were part of what saved me. I suffered from crippling post partum depression and I needed something that was just for me. Even though I had been a crocheter since I was a girl, I had never mastered knitting. You gave me the inspiration to tackle it one more time, and now knitting is one of my joys. Teaching myself, rediscovering my love of yarn, and craft, and creation, gave me the strength to get out of the pit that is depression and mental illness.

    Maybe The Blog has impacted your life and your family. But you, your life, and your family have impacted The Blog. And had a hand in saving this one small voice of The Blog.

    So thank you.

  283. Jeez, can you feel the love emitting from “the Blog”, it is so amazing that we all feel the same way. You make me happy when I’m sad, you make me laugh right out loud, when I have nothing in my life to laugh about,and you don’t even know me!!
    Now that is pretty powerful stuff….so if this kinda crazy lady starts waving at you yelling “hey, hi Steph, how are ya?” It’s merely that you’ve made so many of us feel that you know us and we know you.
    Thank you.

  284. Hi Steph, happy blogiversary. I don’t comment often, but I read your blog regularly and look forward to new posts. I only discovered you last year and your blog and books have inspired me to take up my knitting needles again, after a very long absence. I have worked my way through almost all of your archived posts – it has been wonderful to read all about you, your family and your journey. Your books and blog gave me the courage to try to knit socks and now, I love to knit them and I’m trying and enjoying (mostly) new and challenging projects. Like many of the other commenters, I was so worried as I read your post that this was some kind of “good-bye” and I’m so relieved that it isn’t! Many thanks to your friend, Ken, for getting you started and a very heartfelt thanks to you for all of the effort that you put into this blog.

  285. I rarely comment (though you answered when I asked about the inchworm, in the long ago) but today, you touched me and I want to repay. This week was a very special 4 year old’s birthday. I do childcare, in my home, and though she has been in pre-school this year, I was again invited to the party her family was having. Last year I bought her a present because I thought she might like something other than a handmade gift, being a big girl of three. This year, after contemplating that, I went back to the real. I took to heart your posts about it being about the love. I took to heart your posts about investing that love in the objects we create for our loved ones. I took to heart the fact that though others may not see it, the love is there. I had seen a beautiful bunny on purlbee.com and I took the gingham fabric, that I keep on hand to mend my 21 year old son’s baby blanket that he still loves, and I made a bunny. I invested my time, and my love, on a little girl who got way too many Elsa dolls today. I know her Momma, her Grandmas and her Great Grandma (and perhaps the menfolk, too) were brought to tears by the fact that I wanted her to share in the history of my family with them, by creating something with my son’s lovey fabric. There are some people who come into your lives that you know will be forever friends. These are some of those. So, Happy Blogiversary, Steph, and thank you for championing the creation of love…

  286. You too have been there for me in good times and not so good. I’ve read your blog religiously for the last 8 years and haven’t missed a post during that time. You make it easy to consider you and your family part of our own. It’s been such a pleasure to be present for your book tour and at fiber events, and support important social issues we both care about. Thank you for being part of our lives!

  287. And thank you. This blog is the only one left standing in my list, and there’s a reason for that. Kisses and hugs to you and yours.

  288. You brought me to tears. I read you every post, and although we’ve never met. consider you my friend. Thank you so much for sharing your life with me. It’s a gift.

  289. It’s not just about the knitting! It’s about creating an amazing fabric composed of many different voices but who all share common values. The urge to do the right thing, even though that may be a very hard thing to do. I am remembering a bike rally post about taking the bus and the reasons you chose not to. That is just one of many incidents that have stuck in my mind as I’ve read along with everyone else. Your passion for excellence,
    your love of family, and your intolerance of sloppiness and bad behavior are just a few of the ways you have influenced me. Thank you for caring so much. May the Blog live on! I was afraid you were letting us down gently for a minute, and I did have a sinking feeling. I am so glad you are willing to keep at it. With gratitude, Eve from Carlisle.

  290. Stephanie, you have brightened so many days for me, encouraged me to be courageous with my knitting, taught me about Canada and its wonderful people, and, most of all, been like a friend when I have felt very lonely and alone. Thanks for the Blog, for sharing your heart and home and for the amazing knitting! The day I first found this Blog was a great day and every night when I check to see if you have written, I end my day on a great note. THANK YOU!

  291. Hello Stephanie –

    I’m new to your blog but was lucky enough to receive two of your books from a friend who, though not a knitter, knew my “thing for yarn” was a disease shared by others… one particular writer included.

    You’re a gifted storyteller and someone that makes people feel at home in your virtual living room. Thank you.

    I wasn’t around for your last 11 years but I plan to be here for the next 11… and more. Happy Blogiversary!

    Warmly –

    Siobhán

  292. For goodness sake, when I first started reading this, I thought you were breaking up with us! Congrats on the blogaversary. Very happy to have your blog to read and that you’ve chosen to share your life with us.

  293. Fighting back tears here. I knew–something compelled me–of all the things online I needed to do online after flying to San Diego dead-early in the morning and flying back home after playing Gramma and Grampa to our small grandchildren, somehow I knew your blog was the thing I had to read first, and I did, and here I am.

    I’m sitting here remembering the time at the book signing in Petaluma where I got to see the joy in your face as I rose to my feet in slow motion and wonder, exclaiming, Look. Who’s. HERE!!!! as a dear friend came to me after your talk was over, someone who doesn’t travel easily, someone I would never have expected to see there and whom I haven’t seen since.

    I got to see you, and you threw your arms around me. And I got to see Laura, and she and I did too and only because of you. You create and maintain such wonderful bonds between us individually and you, and with each other in the process. It is a marvelous thing.

    I cannot begin to say how grateful I am for your being in my life, both in person when you are and in words when that’s what we have for now. And thank you, Joe, the girls, your Mum, Hank, Ken, everybody for sharing your Stephanie with us.

  294. So glad to be part of the twittering grackles or crows or any other gathering of birds around your awesome blog knitting (and myriad of other wonders) self. I have laughed myself to tears, and sometimes just cried, and you and yours have been a constant source of personal connection and inspiration on the other side of the internet window. Writing as letters and friendliness and not telling me what I need to be doing in 10 steps before waking or what atrocities will befall me if I don’t perfectly watch out for this one evil thing and I’m only half upset when you haven’t written in too long. Ok, well, maybe warnings about icy pathways and not to start that 583 stitch row in picot are helpful, but you know what I mean. I recommend your blog to many others, even non-knitters, because it’s fun and second best only to really fun snail mail from a best pal. With a check in it.
    Thanks for sharing all you do and forging your way through the blogging world these last 11 – It’s a joy.
    Bon Vital Steph and The Blog!
    P.S. Do you read through all the comments regularly and just happened to notice that Hank wrote in it?!!?

  295. I’m raising a glass to you (and to your family!) right back at ya! I can’t say how many times I’ve sent a link to your blog to my friends and family with “can you believe this!!!” in the subject line. Laughing and sometimes crying with you and your family has been great – thanks for keeping it up!!

  296. Congratulations on a wonderful eleven years. I have been here for about 9 of them and have read all of your entries. You make what you do seem very very easy when I know in my heart it is very very hard. You have made me realize that life is both compelling and entertaining and that small things matter a great deal. Best Wishes for you and your family.

  297. Congrats Stephany! I feel you, i start my website and a sort of blogging in 1999, after so many years and after i have changed so many platforms and name, the blog is still a part of my life. I wasn’t courageous enough to start it as a career when I would have to, but that’s right. I love reading what you write here and your books too, and having a sort of archive of old posts is the best when you want to take a look on how a “stellar knitter” started its path, it motivate you to go on and try to find out your own. Xoxo, Giusy

  298. Cheers, and thank you, from Australia. I’ve been back to read all the bolgs I missed after finding your website, love it all.

  299. I’ve been a reader for some 6 years. Other blogs have come and gone but you have been a constant; witty, honest, entertaining, inspiring. The last 3 years for me have been an ordeal and my husband and I finally separated just before Christmas. In the depths of some really bad times it was so comforting to drop in on your world and your family. You will never know how much your blog helped keep me sane. So as I raise a glass in honour of the last 11 years I say ‘thankyou Steph’ from the bottom of my heart.

  300. When I first started reading your blog, Steph, my mom had just passed away and I was trying to grapple with the pain and loneliness that came with her departure. There was nothing constant in my life but your blog. No matter what was happening each day, I always knew that you would be there for me, taking my mind off my daily struggles. You made me laugh at a time in which I was very sad. You have brought so much joy to my life that I do not know how to thank you. My life, like yours has changed. My daughter has grown into a beautiful young woman who is about to graduate college, I got my masters and became a teacher, and I started knitting again. I realize now as I write this that you also became the bridge to keep me connected to my mom. It was she who had taught me how to knit and purl when I was a young girl. Inspired by your stories, I picked up my needles again and I haven’t stopped since. Thank you! We all know that we touch many lives, often without our awareness. I want you to know how important you have been in mine! Peace.

  301. Thank you for joining all us knitters together, uniting us in this common bond. I attended an event at WEBS in Massachusetts 8 or 9 years ago and at that time was amazed at the crowd you drew. Us who knit needed a voice and you have been it. Thanks for all you have done for us.

  302. Community. And connection. That’s what your blog has been to me since I found it. Because of you and the past eleven years I know I’m not alone. I’m thinking we owe you a huge thanks too, for allowing us into your lives so completely. You’ve given so much, and I for one am thankful for you. And this community you call The Blog. Thank you.

  303. Congratulations! I’m so glad you take the time to write to ‘The Blog’. I enjoy your trials and tribulations, regaled always with self-effacing wit. I have an especially soft spot for your blog, because I stumbled on it shortly after I had my daughter. She wasn’t a natural sleeper and I read your entire back catalogue while feeding/rocking/shushing etc when I ought to have been ‘having an evening to myself’. Time well spent on both counts. She’s four now, and I still don’t really get evenings, but I’m caught up now, so that’s OK!

  304. Love your Blog, keep on writing! The Blog is a powerful thing; it brings on a smile, a laugh out loud, inspiration, pause for reflection, and so much more! Keep on writing, I will keep on reading.
    Vive le Blog!

  305. Congratulations, Stephanie. You have been very generous sharing your life experiences with the world. You’ve made me laugh, cry and cheer you on the journey. Cheers! Here’s to many more years.

  306. Congratulations on a job well done, and please keep up The Blog for many more years! I discovered The Yarn Harlot through reading an article you published in The Toronto Star at least 9 years ago, maybe more. It was the first time I realized that knitting can be humourous and that someone else had the same experiences as I did with the craft. I have been knitting since university, 40 plus years now, and don’t know anyone else who has stuck with it so finding The Blog was great! Your writing about your girls is wonderful reading for mothers everywhere. Please take a moment to relax and savour your accomplishments!!

  307. I’ve been reading for about 7 years and thank YOU! You’re faithful, and that has made all the difference—you’re the one blog that I still faithfully read b/c of that. I went through a rough patch about 6 years ago and remember sitting at my desk one day reading all the way back on the blog to 2004-catching up-since then I’ve felt like I’m part of your family. My hubbie could never remember the name of the blog so he started making them up. In our house you’re now affectionately known as the “Knitting Slut” —sorry that’s the one that stuck!

  308. Thank YOU so much for writing the blog — it’s still the only one I follow! I still laugh out loud at some of your posts, and if I really want to lift my spirits I scroll back to some of the epic adventures with the late lamented Sir Washie. You rock!!! (And so does your lovely family.)

  309. Like so many others I just love your posts. My favorite memory is meeting you in person in 2008. My neighbor (who owns a yarn shop because I am the luckiest person ever) went with me up to portland. I was feeling down because I was sure another month went by without getting pregnant. It was such a nice way to pass the time while I waiting through the agonizing weeks before I could take a test. Little did I know I was finally pregnant and got to knitting righ away. That little bean just turned six. I am happy to say I had her at home and nursed her all the way through, in no small part because of people like you who write their heart. Thank you!

  310. I’d like to say thank YOU, Stephanie. To the woman who painstakingly taught me to knit socks and who attempted to teach me lever knitting (lever knitting is not for the larger knitter, this I contend!) My mother agrees with you on the lever knitting, by the way, and delights in telling me, every time she sees me knitting, that I’m holding it WRONG.

    When we sort of “stalked” you at our first Rhinebeck, you were gracious and kind. And you thrilled all of us the second year when you stalked us! (One of us saw you this past year, but you were getting something to eat with your friends, and we felt it would be rude to interrupt!)

    I’ve very much enjoyed watching your three young ladies grow up. I have two teenagers myself at this point, and I’m hoping they survive to be lovely young adults (It’s forever in question whether I’ll manage not to murder them first!). I’ve envied your cherry tree (cherry trees are few and far between in Ottawa) and wished sometimes that you could come to our knit night or we could come to yours (but then I end up thinking that would likely be creepy and over-the-line…)

    You’ve made a tremendous difference in my life as well, and I imagine in thousands of knitters’ lives. I’m willing to bet that MSF and the Aids Foundation are both very thankful to have the Yarn Harlot on their side 😉

    Thank you so much for continuing to feed us little pieces of your experience, your wisdom, your humour and your life.

  311. Steph, your Joe is a prince, your girls are lovely women, and you are the best friend I’ve never met.

    Thank you.

    I’ll drink a toast to 11!

  312. And thank *you* for all your blog as given to us, your readers. It has definitely been a two-way street in that department.

    Dinner out you should do. Send us some pics of the celebration meal. 😉

  313. Dearest Stephanie,

    It has been eight years since I found you. I wish I knew you earlier because the last eight years have been wonderful. To know that there is someone committed to knitting the way your are makes my life seem a bit more mainstream, or at least within the knitting community. I turn on my computer and go to Your Blog each morning first thing. I enjoy being part of the blog and was very happy to meet you in real life. Best wishes for your and your family and The Blog.

  314. Congratulations on 11 years! And thank you for sharing so much with us over that time. I started reading your blog in 2005, before I was really a knitter, and your blog has helped me tackle giant projects (like my first sweater, learning how to spin, or my wedding veil) without fear. Your gentle, gracious humor has reminded me that struggle (and sometimes even failure) is part of any endeavor and is perfectly okay. Thank you for all your humor, compassion, and encouragement. I wouldn’t be quite the knitter I am today without your blog. Thank you, Steph.

  315. Happy blogiversary – I’ve learned a lot from your blogs, been amazed at the Canadian winters you describe (from the relative warmth of the UK) and fascinated by the yarn community you describe. Here’s to many more years.

  316. I found your blog right as I was a beginner knitter about 10 years ago and it was so great to read about someone else’s enthusiasm for knitting!! At the time I really didn’t have many others to talk to about knitting or yarn who didn’t think I was a bit nuts! I would tell my husband… “See it’s not just me… she even hides yarn in her freezer!!!” Thank you for being there, for encouraging all of us fellow knitters, for sharing your wonderful sense of humor and your heart! It’s been fantastic!

  317. Oh gosh, Steph, everything everyone else has already said. Big loving hugs and thanks and smooches and yarn squooshes and tears and smiles to you and your wonderful live-in family. And my Canadian husband thanks you too, because he always knew there was Canadian magic all around us, and he was right.

  318. Funny, I had to ‘touch the world’ for my passkey today. That is how I think of you, your impact, your kindnesses and integrity. Your perspective has made me a better person. Thank you Stephanie. (Thank you Ken…who knew?) xo

  319. I was wondering about Ken!! Glad to hear was part of Christmas.
    You are a true writer, meaning, you inspire thoughts and make me think. Not just about knitting and craft, but about life, family and motherhood.
    Congratulations on 11 years. What a risk, to put yourself out there! But when you’re a writer, it turns out you have readers. I’m a reader and I am so thankful you do what you do.
    Cheers.

  320. Good heavens, there are 460 comments before me (at least there were that many when I began writing; the number has probably increased by now as I proof my words). I cannot allow myself to read a one of them for then what I have to say would be colored by their words bearing their thoughts and emotions and I want what I say to be truly mine. You, though a person I refer to often in conversations, whose words I search for a vaguely remembered pattern or hint or laugh or inspiration, who inspires me and challenges me, you are still a friend only in my imagination who I have “met” only once in the flesh. Even so, you are a real companion in my life. You are fun, you are smart, you agree with my own wise wisdom in politics and religion (or at least you seem to), and you are real. This last is meant, not in the sense that you are a real person in my life (though you are a real person), but in the sense that you are honest in expressing who you are in the pages of your blog and that is what makes it possible for you to be a friend to whom I often turn and who I think would be a friend if we were to really meet. Thanks for creating The Blog and keep it coming!

  321. Thank YOU for sharing your life with us. Thank YOU for sharing your knitting and life’s ups and downs. Congratulations on your 11 years here. *raises shot of whiskey* here’s to many many more!

  322. As a dedicated lurker for several years I have bitten the bullet and just wanted to say thanks for the blog , it’s a daily dose of fun and food for thought. Ts lovely to be part of this yarny community so congratulations on the anniversary and I hope the whiskey was a double

  323. …Looking for that Writer’s Tears whiskey. As CT and other parts of the NE USA are about to disappear under unending blizzard beginning tomorrow 1.26.2015..thought I would look for something good to drink.

    Ken really gets a nod from me if this stuff is really good!

    bjr

  324. Hi Stephanie

    Huge Happy Blogaversary to you and your family.

    I returned to knitting in 2007 following an illness that has left me disabled.

    I found you in 2009 through an amazing Therapist I was seeing to help me deal with the inforced path change. Firstly to your books, (i waas in need of a giggle) and they led me to your blog.

    I’m certain you can’t read all your replies, but if this gets to you thank you for your part in getting me to the level of acceptancance i am at which i could have got to without my love of knitting.

    Knitting saved me more than once.

  325. Just as the blog has been an enjoyable and dependable factor in your family’s life, it has been in mine. I usually check daily but when life gets hectic, I often use a Sunday (like this one) to catch up for the week. Thank you for posting, reaching out on matters small and significant. Though not all readers post a reply each day, we at least hold up our end of the conversation in our heads. Keep posting!

  326. Raising a glass to you from the UK with many thanks.

    I have been following your blog for the last 8? years and love the honesty and humour of your writing.

    It was your blog that I turned to after surgery when I couldn’t concentrate for more than 5 minutes and even knitting a simple mitred square was beyond my capabilities, and read every entry from the start! Giggling over the sawdust fire, the ‘Decaf Debacle’ the yarn that made perfect Barbie Boobs. Empathising over the furnace, and other home improvement issues as you escaped to the local Cafe and fury on your behalf when someone threatened you and yours. So many of us have never met you or your family but to me, and I suspect many, many others, you and yours are “Family” and for that we have to thank Ken for giving you to us.
    Thank you for sharing and here is to the next 11 years
    xx

  327. I just had a free moment to sit down and read your blog ( I like to think of it as your letter to us). It brought tears to my eyes – silly, I know. You have no idea how much joy and comfort your words, and comments from others about what you write, bring to me. Thanks and happy belated Blogiversary!

  328. Happy anniversary! I’ve been a loyal reader for 10 years, saw you in Northampton 6 or so years ago. You have no idea how much I enjoy your writing! Thank you…

  329. Another voice saying, thank you for sharing. My daughter introduced me to your books and your blog, and one of our first “grown-up” road trips was from Vancouver (the one in BC) to Seattle for one of your book events. Knitting is one of the many, many threads binding us together – she taught herself in her mid teens, then taught me – and you are part of our shared experience. Your early “one sock” story still moves me to tears.

  330. Steph, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been reading your books and blog entries for 11 years or close to it. I think I had to back up a bit to catch up with all the entries when I found THE BLOG. But it has been a wonderful time of keeping up with you and yours. Like you, I feel that all of you are part of my ‘family.’ My son doesn’t seem to understand that, but he’ll learn one day.

    And I did have the wonderful opportunity to meet you in person in Jacksonville, FL, when you came down there for a book signing. Just wish I could get another chance to say ‘hello’ sometime soon.

    Take care and give hugs to all your people who would appreciate them. 🙂

  331. I’m renewed when I see a new post.
    No matter if the post is filled with joy or sorrow, I’m truly with you through it all.
    It is me who should be saying thank you – and I do – oh so many times in these few eleven years.
    I raise my glass with resounding cheers to you & your family. Thank you!!!

  332. I found this blog and all the joy and understanding of the “knitting bug” it entails about 6 years ago, YES I did go back to the start and catch up and it took me days, but it was like establishing “history” with a new friend.
    Congratulations and thank you, hope dinner was lovely.

  333. Happy Blogiversary! Thank you for always being so positive and kind – even when things aren’t so rosy. It’s nice knowing that no matter what, I’ll feel better after reading.. That’s rare on the interwebs!

  334. Thank you Stephanie for sharing your wonderful family with us. Thank you for your humor, showing us the ability to laugh at ones self is ok.
    Thank you for you.
    Keep up the great blog!

  335. I love your writing!

    I randomly found your essay on lying to oneself while knitting. It’s one of many memorable posts.

  336. Thanks to you Mz Stephanie. I have enjoyed reading the blog, your books and look forward to seeing what is on your mind. Carry on!

  337. Cheers and a lifted glass back to you! Thank you for welcoming us into it all. I for one have found companionship, friendship and understanding in all your words. You are a rock to us all.

  338. Yes, we are real and yes, we do care. Thank you so much for letting us into your life, you have enriched ours as much as we have yours. Know that my knitting has gone to totally new levels because of your honesty and easy going teaching. I return your peace added to my own.

  339. Congratulations and thankyou to you, your family and friends. It’s been such a joy to have you as my “go to” page for those spare moments of serendipity.

  340. It was and is always a joy to read your comments, impressions and ideas about life and people. For me, being a dutch knitter and living in Holland, it is a constant reminder that all over the earth we share the same passions but sometimes in a very different way. And that makes the blog so interesting and sometimes hilarious. Thank you. Mak

  341. I started reading this post and had a very sad moment thinking you were about to tell us that you weren’t going to be blogging anymore. I was relieved when I realised that wasn’t the direction of the post, and look forward to many more years of ‘The Blog’. Happy Blogiversary!

  342. I haven’t been knitting for eleven years, but found you soon after starting four years ago. Thank you for writing this blog. Cheers!

  343. I can’t believe no one else has said it (unless I missed it), so here goes. Your blog, it goes to *11*…

    So sayeth The Blog. You will be assimilated.

    Cheers!

  344. Dear Steph….What a lovely post. It really brought tears to my eyes…and Thank You for reminding us that what we knit is important in many ways and for sharing yourself and your family with us. It is funny how this virtual world can allow us to feel closer to each other in many ways. I guess we really are “all one”. I’ve laughed and cried with you over the years through your posts. One of the funny ones I remember was when you were in an airport and somehow kept losing your coffee and had to go back and keep buying more from the same coffee vendor; I laughed out loud on that one.
    So, here’s to you, Steph…may you live long and prosper, may knots in your yarn be few, may you continue to be connected to our hearts as we are connected to yours.
    Give Joe a hug for all of us; he’s right…the blog is important.

  345. This made me tear up a little bit. I’ve been reading since 2005 and have maybe only commented 2 or 3 times. The Blog means a lot to me too, and I’m so glad we’re all here. Keep it up!

  346. Happy Blogiversary! I’ve been reading the blog for years and when I started went back to the beginning. I’m mostly a lurker but will join this conversation to say thanks. You’ve made me laugh so often and cry occasionally, you’ve made me a brave knitter and a better mother. I love your blog and your books. I wish there was a retreat on the east coast because I’m sure I would love that too. Keep up the good work, I look for ward to many more mornings spent together!

  347. Happy Blogversary! I found your blog in 2005, when I started mine. You have touched our lives in so many ways as well. My oldest daughter (a non-knitter) came with me to see you when you visited Holden, MA – I think it helped her understand my true lifelong love of knitting. As my children grew, so did yours, and it was fun to compare and laugh/cry/worry along. Thank YOU for sharing your life, family and love of knitting with all of us!

  348. You are so very welcome, to my time and attention as often as I can get to the computer! You’ve changed my life as well. I knit some socks, on DPNs yet, because you made it seem like a thing knitters do. (I also work them on Magic Loop, but have another pair on DPNs at the moment!) I don’t know that I’ll ever be quite as “invested” in knitting as you are, but thanks for going there on our behalf, and taking us all along. Knit on!

  349. Congratulations & thank you for all of the wisdom, laughs, encouragement I have received from reading your blog. Thanks to you i have overcome my fear of DPNs and make socks (love socks) and stranded color knitting. It has been a wonderful 11 years –

  350. And thank YOU for sticking with us for 11 years! I love reading what you write and sharing your ups and downs. Thank you for making us all a part of your family too. *hugs*

  351. Thank you for sharing your life and your knitting with all of us. I, too, am a lurker. After reading one of your books I decided I wanted to find out more about you and up popped your blog. I love it. Cheers on this special day!

  352. Hell, I didn’t even manage to stay married for 11 years and here you are still writing! I love your blog, it makes my day. Congratulations!

  353. Well, the Blog may have changed your life but your blog certainly changed mine. Yours was the very first blog that I ever read. Before finding out about blogs, probably from a knitting magazine, I didn’t even know they existed. I used to have yours on my Favorites Bar! Then I gradually discovered that there were more out there and now I have them in folders and I check them daily. Reading my blogs has become an important part of my day and I want to thank you for being there for all of us. I’ve learned so much from and many wonderful people who allow us into their lives each day. Thank you so much!

  354. Like many others, I’ve read every one of your entries. I started a few years on and then worked from the beginning to catch up. If you have imaginary internet friends, then I have an imaginary Stephanie friend. I quote you, am inspired by you, and look forward to your updates. Someday I’ll make it to one of your events and be a crazy person who acts like I know you. I promise I’ll bring you a beer. Enjoy your anniversary.

  355. I was a little late to the party and started reading your blog a couple of years ago. I started at the beginning and worked my way through and am now officially caught up. Thank you for everything, and I am looking forward to the continued knitting adventures!

  356. Thank you, Steph, for writing about knitting, and your family, and life. The past 11 years would have been much less without you. Nosdrovia!

  357. I am new to this blog, but have enjoyed it so far. You have inspired me to pick up an old project and finish it (last night) and to start a new one (also last night). Happy Blogiversary!

  358. Thank you Stephanie for being there. I was afraid you were announcing you were through blogging. Not sure how I’d make it through the week without your humor, knitting tips and the peak into you family life. Mostly I just love the fact that you use the word “wee” and I still laugh myself silly at the squirrel and fleece story. You are a gift to all who read you. Thank you for sharing.

  359. I’ve read you since the beginning and have cried and laughed along the way. I had the pleasure of hearing you speak last year and it was a highlight of my knitting career. So thanks for that. Now please excuse me, I have something in my eye after reading this post. Must go find a tissue.

  360. Hello! I’m new to The Blog (found it through your printed books, which I found first at the local library and later purchased). I offer you the grin of an old friend just met, and look forward to toasting 22 years of blogging goodness!

  361. I have nothing original to say, but want to add my heart-felt thanks and appreciation for your blog (and books!) I hope to meet you ITRW someday, but you could hardly be any more real to me.

  362. Absolutely beautiful tribute. I treasure your blog posts like stolen moments with a good friend. You’ve taught me so much as a knitter, as a mother and as a women. Happy blogiversary! Cheers!

  363. We are honored to be invited in every day.

    I’ve driven to see you in person at a book reading in a neighboring state and boarded an airplane and flew across the country to attend one of your retreats-both were high points in my knitting experience and both cemented my commitment to my knitting obsession. Like all your faithful readers, I’ve gladly contributed to your wonderfully curated causes (knitters without borders and Friends For Life Bike Rally). I have all your books and will continue to buy anything you write, on ANY topic. You make us all want to be your best friend.

    Thank you and Happy 11th!

  364. Wow, eleven years. It’s so amazing that it has been that long! Yours was the first knitting blog I started reading and the one I still run to read even when I’m not in a blog-reading mood.
    Thank you for all you do!

  365. Congrats!
    Thanks for writing your blog! You bring happiness and intrigue to lots of people. It’s fun to live vicariously through you!
    Plus, it’s always fun to come and see you at your book readings. =)

  366. Thank You! You have indeed added to my life. I have often used you as an example (it’s NOT just me!) to those sad, misguided folk that just don’t get “the whole yarn thing.” Yes, it’s a bit surreal to have people in your life that you care about even though they are strangers but that’s fine. I realized this when I say a photo of Lou and said “ohmygosh. Lou’s getting so big!” as if he was one of MY nephews. Thank you for sharing your life and thank you, Ken for getting her started. Blessings to you all.

  367. Thanks for letting us be a part of your life. I found your blog when I was living in Arizona, far from any other knitters. You have made me laugh and cry-sometimes in the same blog. I promise to post to the blogs I read and let them know how much they mean to me. Thanks again.

  368. You are very much loved and have bee a part of my own life for at least 10 years (I have read all the posts from the beginning). I have laughed with you and cried with you, waited anxiously for your next swing through town (whichever town I happened to be living in at the time). I taught my husband to knit at your last event in Seattle and he gave slippers to his children and granddaughter for Christmas. Like a member of my family, I’ve looked forward to hearing from you and worried about you if it had been a while. Thank you thank you Stephanie for what you give to us all. We will always be here.

  369. Happy Anniversary, Steph! I can’t believe it’s been 11 years. What a long, strange journey it’s been. I’m still shocked when I see pictures of the girls and Hank.

    I’d have thought you were nuts if you’d told me back in 2004 that we were all creating a community that would remain a part of our lives through all the twists and turns. And yet here we are. I’m grateful for your voice and humor for all these years and I’m so glad for the community that sprung up in large part due to people gathering for your book tours. You’ve made quite an impression on my life, friend. 🙂

  370. Happy Blogiversary! It has been fun, and occasionally heartbreaking, to read this blog. Thanks for all the years of sharing. When my family and I moved to Canada from the States, I felt like I already knew and liked a little bit of Canada because of this blog.

  371. Raising a mug of tea in response for a late, but no less heartfelt, wish for a happy Blogversary. Too many favorites to choose just one – although walking through the snow both ways to a remote cabin for TP is probably up there on the list. I’ve worn out/given away more copies of Knitting Rules than I can count to convert the muggles; when we finally met last March, (I was the gaga’d one) your photo and comment on my first socks (after 40+ years of knitting) was “just about perfect”. I thought it didn’t get better than that… but you do, time and again.

    Buy those guys (Ken and Joe) a drink with our thanks; and many many more. Namaste, and thank you.

    Knitsiam (aka Bonnie)

  372. OK, just to be clear – many many more posts, books, and smiles – not necessarily drinks for Ken and Joe. (I’ll leave that to your collective discretion!)

    Proof twice, post once – happy 11th!

  373. You are welcome

    But now I want to thank you. As a first time commenter, and a relatively recent Blog reader, you have inspired me. Thank you for inspiring me to knit more challenging projects and for the suggestion to try different needles to knit socks. After years of knitting a single sock using magic loop, only to never knit its mate, three pairs of socks have leaped off bamboo double points in the past 3 months.

    Thank you for inspiring me to try bicycling again, after an ankle injury has made walking/running for enjoyment impossible. I’m not able to ride 40+ miles, but a 6 mile ride is a great stress reliever and has made me a better wife and mother.

    Thank you for sharing your projects. I love to see what you are knitting and take comfort in knowing when mistakes happen, they happen to the Harlot as well.

    Thank you, for the laughter, the tears, and especially the laughter through tears!

    Love the idea of a book of your previous posts. Hope you find your way to Fort Wayne, Indiana again!

  374. Happy Blogiversary,
    I’ve only recently started reading your blog and I enjoy it so much. Thank you and I hope you will continue to blog for many years. I’ve read most of your books and they, and the blog make me smile and want to knit more. Thanks again

  375. I won’t repeat all the wonderful words the above posts have said… Just a simple, heartfelt, THANK YOU to you and The Blog.

  376. Here’s to another 11 (at least)! Congrats, Steph!

    I’ve only been here a couple of years, but I’m glad to have found you. You and your Blog make me feel like there is a community to the knitters, sometimes even more than Ravelry.

    I hope you enjoyed the day! Can’t wait to keep reading about the adventures you and yours get into!

    Katie =^..^=

  377. Thank *you* for being an inspiration, a source of knitting ideas and how to’s, laughs, and some tears, and the grateful sense that I’m not as crazy as I sometimes feel. : )
    It’s been an honor to watch your family grow up, see you get married, go on your vacations…wait…does that sound creepy? : ) Wait till you hear this: I went to the MN Knitter’s Guild Yarnover event last spring. I told a knitting class I had attended that morning, “Maybe I’ll get to see the Yarn Harlot! I heard she’s teaching there.”
    While I was shopping, you went racing past me – I whipped around to watch you walk very briskly down the hall. And I just beamed. I had seen the Yarn Harlot.
    Yep – I’m a geek.
    Happy Blogiversary!

  378. Thanks for sharing your life with us. I tell everyone that you are my blogging hero and blogging inspiration and general-all-around-such-a-good-person inspiration. So thanks for that too!

  379. Happy Anniversary! Some days you are the only thing to save my sanity. You’ve made me laugh, you made me cry. I adore you for both.
    Keep writing, and keep letting us be a part of your life!
    And give Ken a big hug from me. After all, he started this.

  380. Holy cats! 11?! That’s crazy long in Internet years (and you know I’m remembering knit-list from back in the Dark Ages of The Modem). Congratulations!

  381. Congratulations, Steph, I love reading your blog very much and hope you will blog “forever”. I feel that you are “one of my best friends even though we have never met. Best wishes to you and your extended family.

  382. Happy Blogiversary! I’ve been reading from nearly the beginning and have had to good fortune to come to a book signing. Your humor and adventures have inspired me many times. Just a few months ago we refinished a bedroom floor and I kept saying to myself “How in world did Stephanie do this all by herself?” But it kept me going, if she can do this so can I! Inspiration, not competition. Honestly, at first when reading today, I thought you were going to tell us you were signing off! Thank goodness I was wrong! Thanks for the laughter and tears, joy and inspiration and welcoming us into your home and family. Lisa

  383. Simply beautiful….As the mom of 3 daughters also (all in high school) i have enjoyed seeing yours grow up a little bit ahead of mine…its mice to be part of a club – not just knitting but what i call “the mom club” cheers to you!

  384. Thanks for being there and teaching us that real knitters tink. This really came in handy this weekend when I tore out a shawl I had been trying to knit for the last month. Sometimes a fresh start is a better way to go, but I probably would not have handled it with such grace without hearing how often other knitters who are much better than me tink as well. Thank you.

  385. I’m a little late to the anniversary celebrations, but wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed the Blog, and taking a class from you in Mpls, and having dinner at your table at Yarn Over. Will be raising a wee dram to you this evening. Slainte Mhath!

  386. I can’t remember when I started reading your blog – it hasn’t been the whole 11 years… But you have truly inspired me to be a better knitter, be a better Mom, and be a better person in general. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
    Cheers!

  387. I want to say to you thanks for being here. Without you I don’t know if I would be the knitter I am now. It has made me a part of a community and opened my eyes to opportunities as well as gave me the courage to let the crazy knitter out. I love your books, and I love this blog. It keeps me smiling and keeps me sane. I have taken your classes and been enthralled, learning more than I thought imaginable. Without this blog, knitting wouldn’t have brought me as much joy as it has. Thank you.

  388. As many, many others have said, thanks to you. It’s a joy to read about all your knitting and life pursuits. (sjn821 on Rav)

  389. Stephanie, see what an impact you’ve made! You have added greatly to our lives through your willingness to share your experiences, your knowledge and your wonderful wit. We treasure you. Thank you.

  390. Congratulations on 11 years of blogging so successfully. I thank you for all of the laughs, insight, inspiration, and comfort that you have given me about knitting, parenting, and just life in general. My husband is also a “Joe” (who gets 2 pairs of “Old Joe” socks per year) and yours is very sweet to want to honor your accomplishments. Cheers to you Stephanie for all the good that you do – and the smiles that you bring. I look forward to many more years The Blog.

  391. This is a perfect opportunity to tell you that through the unexpected recent deaths of both my parents just one week apart, reading The Blog (and my knitting) helped provide a tiny sense of stability that I thought I’d never feel again. As my mother, who taught me to knit, and was my knitting companion, would say, “you don’t always get to know who’s out there rooting for you- you just feel them”. Thank you for sharing your life with us. You are a gift.

  392. Like so many others, I want to thank you! I have been reading your blog for about eight years now, and have enjoyed it so much. I have been so impressed by your fundraising for causes that you believe in, especially Doctors Without Borders. It empowers the rest of us who feel too alone and helpless. You are an inspiration.

  393. Well, now I feel better about those times when I tell folks in conversation, “My friend is knitting ____”, “My friend in Canada is riding in a bike rally.”, “My friend … [whatever]” !

    Thanks for taking The Blog along. I know I’m enjoying the ride!

    Cindy B

  394. You just made me weepy. I’ve been following you for at least half of the time you’ve been writing this blog and you never fail to touch me in some way. You’ve made me laugh and cry and you’ve taught me a bunch about knitting and so many other things. Much love to you and your family from someone you’ve never met.

  395. Adding my voice to the chorus of thank-yous – you have given us all a wonderful gift through this blog! It brings laughter and happiness to so many, and I’m happy it gives so much back to you as well. Cheers!

  396. So let me try that again. You’ve been an inspiration in how you share your life with us, with all of your beautiful knitting (I must admit I’ve knit a thing or two that you’ve shown us) and it’s because of you I bought a loom and took up weaving. Thank goodness this blog is about wonderful things or who knows what I’d be doing by now, following in your footsteps! Many more wonderful years to come!!!

  397. Happy Blog anniversary! I was so afraid you were going to say you were ending the blog. So relieved you are not. I love knitting and crocheting and learn so much from what you share along with feeling I know you and your family– Thank You. Hope you will keep this going for many more years.

  398. Oh Dear Stephanie, I thought you were retiring as I began reading your blog. I’m so relieved that you’re not, I think I’ll join you in that whiskey even though it’s only 11 am down here in my neck of the woods.
    x Stacey

  399. I gave a workshop recently on trying to get culture change in nursing homes. In that workshop, I talked about how people can influence others by being a living example of a way of being, and how that can be as powerful as telling people how to behave. I cited you as the person I’ve never met who has greatly influenced my life, not just in terms of knitting, but how my parenting, and how I think about people and the world. Thank you. Happy Bloggaversary!

  400. Congratulations! I have been reading your blog for about a year. I love how you are funny, generous, smart, and real. Your blog is so different from most. I look forward to reading it for many more years. Thank you for your blog.

  401. Despite the 500-odd responses already made, I am still compelled to say thank you. Your blog is a treat, your books are a delight, the audiobooks are a comfort listen, the reading at the bookstore was a hoot, and I hope to have the pleasure of a lovely retreat in your company in Calif. next May.
    Cheers, Kat

  402. A beautiful post, and a wonderful sentiment. So many thoughts and feelings regarding how this “relationship” works. You and The Blog. The Blog and “us”. You’ve done a wonderful job describing your side and I hope the wonderful people who have commented here have described our’s as splendidly.

    I’ve been following The Blog for about 5 years. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was small. I got busy in later years growing up and let it lapse and fall away and then when she died in 2009 I found myself digging out my knitting materials. Taking it back up brought me to The Blog. Your posts added laughter and joy to a sad and reflective period. For that alone — thank you.

    I have kept up with The Blog ever since — and it and You have served as inspiration on dark, lonely, and sad days spent toiling at work having nothing to do with knitting. Your story is phenomenal and I can only hope that one day my own career will be about something I feel as passionately about as you do.

    Eleven years is a long time. It truly is. You’ve lived so much in that time and I’m so happy for you that you have such a wonderful memoir of it all in The Blog. And for each reader/subscriber of the blog there is another 11 year story that you have played a part in. I hope that you realize how many lives you have touched simply by sharing your own…

    Keep doing your thing Stephanie. Keep looking for amazing and personal ways to change the world around you, to change how people perceive and grow in knitting, and always remember that we’ll be here. We’re The Blog. 🙂

  403. I missed the 1st few of your years, due to the “Harlot” in your name..sorry..I judged…but I do love that the worst thing you write is “Arse”.. It is now listed as my favorite swear word on Ravelry! I happen to be having a glass of Gato Negro Malbec as I read of your toast! salute! Also I met you at the Genesee Valley Fiber Fest in Hemlock NY..2013.. Well I actually jumped out at you! Great talk you gave and your written words are a joy to read..and it is all about..knitting! Meval

  404. Dear Stephanie,
    Thank you for taking us all onto your journey! My English is now so much better, your insights are fun and wonderful. My favourite post (because you found the right words how Parenthood Impacts our life) was about “The meanest mother in the world”. Maybe that sounds a little bit strange: I’m on a good Path with our Kids so far. Thank you!

    Klara

  405. Congratulations on 11 years, Stephanie. A knitting buddy turned me on to your blog a few years ago and you’ve been a part of my life ever since. In an era of media hype and daily doses of disaster that come to me unsolicited from every possible source, it gives me great pleasure to journey to your island of sanity in this crazy world. Knitting tips, camaraderie, sharing your family with us–hey, it doesn’t get any better than this.

  406. Happy 11th! I’m sure I’m just echoing the 587 comments before me by saying thank you for sharing your craft, your family, and yourself with us for so long, but the sentiment is no less sincere for being unoriginal 🙂 I hope to keep meeting you here for many, many more years. You always inspire me to keep knitting!

  407. Please know you have also touched the lives of me and my family in multiple ways over the years. I have told countless stories to my husband involving “Stephanie” or “The Yarn Harlot” like you are an old friend because I consider you one.
    We may have only talked through the blog or briefly while you were signing a book but I value your opinion about issues (knitting related but also general life topics.) I’m glad I know you.
    Thank you being so generous and sharing so much of yourself over these past eleven years.
    Cheers!

  408. Even though I haven’t been here for all of it, I have been here for a lot of it. And it has meant the world to me. I don’t read any other blogs. At. All. Yours reigns supreme!

  409. Wow! you have about 500 responses so I am not sure you’ll even read this but anyway…. One the the things that brings me the greatest pleasure in life is when good things happen to good people. No, I don’t know you or your family but my spidey senses tell me you are good people. It makes me very, very happy to know that you are reaching into so many lives and touching them in such a positive way. Things are a little rough in my family now, and (no pressure here or anything…) I often find a few moments of peace reading your words. So have a sip from all of us as we say “Right back at you Steph,; Right back at you!”

  410. You started blogging and I started reading my Freshman year of college. I don’t remember many days of my adult life where I didn’t pour myself a cup of coffee in the morning and read your post from the previous day. I love that part of my day. Thank you!

  411. Oh man, crying here. Every year on during this post, I am reminded how long I’ve been reading the blog (9 years) and then I feel the deep warmth of the things I’ve knit (a lot of stuff), the things I’ve done (two Master’s and a PhD), who I was and who knitting, and being part of a virtual knitting community, has made me. You’re the yarn harlot in our house, and sometimes we ask the same thing- what does she say? what does she do? What would the yarn harlot do? Thank you for making this a welcome space, teaching me a lot of Canadian trivia, and making me a better knitter. Someday, I will make it to one of your retreats or book signings and it will be awesome!

  412. Happy belated blogiversary! I particularly thought of your post at the time Amanda went off to Australia earlier this month as my elder daughter went off to South Africa. Hurrah for strong, resilient, beautiful daughters — and how did we all come to this point seemingly so soon? That post and “I’ve always hated buttonbands” are two posts I return to again & again. Thanks ever so much to Ken for the gift of the blog & thanks ever so much for you, your writing, your humor, and your sincerity.

  413. Happy blog-versary. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, family, and fiber with us all. Its a joy to share in the lives of you and your loved ones.

  414. My favorite is three girls and water balloons.
    Congratulations on 11 years and never think that you are irrelevant or not loved. When work is insane, I take out my spare copy of Meditations and let it put things in perspective. Your blog brightens the day.

  415. Since you said you read every comment – I will suggest this. I saw a few people mention their favorite posts over the years. You should take some long-time poster suggestions (i.e. Presbytera and Rams) and do a best of throughout the years post. You could even let some avid posters author part of the post. Wouldn’t that be fun?

  416. Thank you for sharing your life with us ! You have changed the knitting world in your own way. I am so glad i got to spend time with you (twice) in Arkansas. You are a delight !

    Cheers,
    Tish

  417. Dear Stephanie,

    Thank you for The Blog. I have so much gratitude for the place it has in my life. I found the blog almost immediately on the day I decided to learn how to knit in 2008 and it has been my weekly companion ever since. I very rarely leave a comment, as you have so many other great people who have much better things to say and I enjoy all of those contributions, too.

    I love the blog so much that one August I was in Toronto on a knit night at Lettuce Knit and I went. I saw you there but not wanting to act like a fan girl, didn’t actually say hello. But I did meet the wonderfully incredible women that knit there and it was amazing. It was the first time I ever saw Irish Cottage knitting in person. I have since watched the videos of you knitting and learned how and am a better person for it.

    So thank you for sharing your life with us. I appreciate it more than you know.

  418. Thank YOU for creating the blog & allowing all of us to join you on your journey as the Blog. I feel like a member of the Blog too – not just reading a random strangers blog. Love all that you do! Thanks!

  419. Stephanie, in your forward to Elizabeth Zimmerman ‘ s “Knitter ‘ s Almanac”, you mention how important EZ is in your life. You talk about how reading Elizabeth’s words about knitting made you realize that you were not alone in the world, that knitting was a clever and totally captivating obsession.

    Well, that is the role that you and the blog have played in my life and I suspect I’m not alone in that sentiment. I’ve been sharing in your triumphs and your failures (burning the Rhinebeck sweater comes to mind), watching your children grow, laughing at predicaments that you’ve found yourself in (Joe’s truck firmly wedged in the alley) and following you through bike rallies and knitting Olympics.

    And then there are those posts. The ones I share with people I love. The philosophical posts on life and love, of being a wife, of being a mother, on the miracle of a newborn.

    I have been a proud member of the blog for about 8 years. I’ve taken a couple of classes with you and was so excited to meet you. I am happy to read that we are as important to you as you are to us. Happy blogiversary and thanks for being there for us. Knit on!

  420. congratulations Steph! You must be one of the most enduring blogs out there. Love the way you explained our importance to you and your family, and your description of a great wheeling, changing, flock of birds!
    Keep going, I love having you in my life
    Love
    Carrie

  421. Happy Blogoversary and thank you for all the stories you have shared over the years, the good things and the bad, the laughter and the tears. It is more comforting than you know to read the sagas of an experienced knitter flubbing things up and to know that I’m not alone when a swatch occasionally lets me down. You are also a marvelous role model for how to (mostly) keep a sense of humor about knitting gone bad. I’m not there yet, but I hope to be some day. And I think of you often when I buy coffee at an airport, remembering the day of the many sacrificed coffees.

    Thank you again for choosing to share your life with us. I look forward to reading the next adventure.

  422. Ah, I missed your Blogiversary because you share it with my husband’s birthday, so I was busy buying flowers and such. But here’s a deal I can make – you celebrate your Blogiversay each year, and I will, from my corner, be raising a glass with you. And so will my husband, though he probably won’t know you’re along. Cheers and congratulations!

  423. Your blog is part of my daily routine … if there isn’t a new post up, I re-read the previous and laugh anew [if it’s a funny one – I wouldn’t laugh if it wasn’t funny – that’s mean]. It gives a knitter like me hope [what, even the yarnharlot *sometimes* makes mistakes … so it’s ok if I do too]. And inspiration … aka startitis. My kids know about you and I think it’s safe to say there’d be three of us sitting on the front row of your *next* show in London. Yes, we are hopers! Raising a hot cup of tea to the next 11. And thank you.

  424. Others have said and will say it better, but thank you for sharing, inspiring, enabling, and elevating knitters and the art and craft of knitting. Thank you for allowing us to feel like your friends and family. Just, thank you.
    Are you still able to find time to be a doula?

  425. Coming to the commenting party a little late but I just wanted to say thanks for continually feeding The Blog with such love and care. I’m relatively new to the The Blog but love every post and recently found myself going back to the very beginning to read. A sincere thank you for putting so much of yourself into this. Also for making me feel like less of a crazy yarn person.

  426. Steph, I started reading your blog when I first started knitting, at the ripe old age of 57. And I’m still reading! (And knitting!). I’ve made your “Stephanie Scarf” (as I call it) for a zillion friends for Christmas, passing along the blog address with it. You have more friends than you’ll ever know-you’re a wonderful writer, keep at it!!!
    Merry

  427. Thank you so much for sharing you trial, tribulations, successes, and especially your wisom. Your writing is an inspiration. Thank you also for inviting us into your life. God’s blessings on you and your family.

    • Boy do I need to learn to proof read better: Should have been “trials” and “wisdom”. Maybe I need a wee nip to connect my brain with my fingers this morning! LOL

  428. Coming late the commenting party, but I wanted to add my thoughts. I love your blog. It is so comforting to me. I have learned a lot about knitting, and biking, and Canada from you! Please know how much your words are appreciated!!! And please, for as long as you can, keep them coming!!!

    Happy Blogaversary!!!

  429. Thank YOU for being that knitterly voice in my head. Some days when the knitting is tough or the rest of the world is just making me a wee bit crazier than I already know that I am, I find myself thinking to myself… what would the Yarn Harlot do? Thank you for sharing your journey with us!

  430. Congratulations, and thank you for sharing so much over the years. I joined your readers sometime in 2005 or 2006 when I was contemplating learning to knit. I was already interested in the process of knitting, but your blog made me interested in the community. I’ve enjoyed your books and your blog and your example of how to be a productive part of your community. Thank you.

  431. Over the years, I’ve tried to “get into” other blogs, but it’s hopeless. You’re funny, you’re interesting, you do important things, and I’m finally going to admit it: I’m blog-monogamous to the Yarn Harlot. Happy Blogiversary!

  432. Steph, congrats! Thank you for the entertainment and bringing us along for the ride. I haven’t been here for 11 years, but only because I didn’t know that Yarn Harlot existed back then. You know how people have epic TV episode watching extravaganzas? I feel like I might do that with reading your early blog posts. Many thanks for the fun, the tears, the inspiration.

  433. Every year when you do your anniversary post, I think “Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been reading her blog that long! I found your blog back when my ten and a half year old was an infant. Your “100 Things About Me” in your sidebar made you sound like a person who was compiled of an exact mixture of half of my personality, half of my husbands. You and he grew up in the same “stomping grounds.” You and I both love neat surroundings, but don’t particularly love to clean.
    You introduced me to Elizabeth Zimmerman. You’ve given me an appreciation for my husband’s beautiful country, with your Canada Day posts every year. You’ve made me a better knitter, and I think a better person. You’ve shamed me many times. (I am a Chrisian…and I try to live it…but many are the times when I’ve been ashamed to admit that your response to a situation is more Christlike than mine.)
    You’ve helped me realize that everybody makes mistakes, and that’s ok. I’ve marveled at your strength of character, while being stalked by a crazy person, or on a bike ride rally. Your heart towards children mirrors my own. You’ve introduced me to charities that I feel really good about supporting. I could go on and on. Ten years is a lot of history. Thanks for all of it, and for sharing yourself with us.

  434. You’re welcome! And thank YOU! You’ve made me a better knitter! I started following your posts years ago on Knitlist. Without your blog, I may not have thought to upgrade from ubiquitous acrylic worsted weight to the vast arrays of wools now available, and in such varied weights. I may never have taken on challenges of full sweaters, more complicated designs, and I certainly never would have taken on lace knitting without the stunningly beautiful examples you’ve showed over the years. So Thank You!

  435. Proud to be part of The Blog. Thanks for sharing with all of us for the last 11 years. Congrats on the first 11, here’s to 11 more……

  436. Happy Blogiversary! I, for one, am very glad you keep up the blog. Your blog has brightened my day more than once. It has also made me pause for thought and occasionally brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for doing what you do! Cheers!

  437. Thank YOU Steph! For me, you were my first Blog. You opened my eyes to the wonderful blogging world where other people, like me exist (sadly I don’t know many people like me in person). But I feel especially tied to you, not only for being my “first”, but also the only one I’ve met in person! A few times even! I look forward to the day I can attend another Yarn Harlot book signing event and be with my “people”. Until then, I remain your devoted reader and look forward to 11 more years of yarn, family, bike riding and traveling adventures!

  438. Congratulations on 11 years and thank you for sharing your knitting and life with us. I have resolved (a rare thing) to make a better effort at letting people know they are important to and appreciated by me. Like the 600+ before me, I’m letting you know. Keep up the good works that you do,

  439. Belated happy blogiversary! As much as the Blog does for you, I’m sure you do more for the Blog. I know I would not be a knitter without you!

  440. Warm congratulations to you, and I will toast you all tonight, as well. You’ve brought me some sanity and insanity, and it’s been a blessing to have this peek into your life for these years you’ve been writing. It’s been fun to see you find your words as an eloquent writer, and your eyes as a really nice photographer! You got me back on my bike again, and up off my ass on some occasions that really made me want to stay down there. Keep on being awesome, and take care. Cheers!

  441. 11! It goes by so fast!!!Meeting you in 2005 at Audrey’s Bookstore in Edmonton – Meeting you again last fall in Edmonton for the River City gathering – reading all the posts, sharing posts with family and friends – you add to my life in the same way that my cousins and Aunts do – as the others have said – reading the beginning of the anniversary post feels a little odd – Maybe, if 2016 is NOT the last one (Please G*d?!?) you could say, at the outset, that it isn’t? Then we could relax as we read it. Rams and Presbytera and the others have a great idea – the collected posts of the Harlot! Thank you, your family, and Ken for the great ride!

  442. Wow, you scared me, I thought you were going to resign! My YarnHarlot addiction has gone a bit loopy…during recent insomnia/night feeding the baby I read your first year of blogging (it’s ok, I’ve stopped now). Happy bloggiversary and thank you for sharing with us all.

  443. No Thank You Stephanie! I’ve enjoyed your blog, your books, and just seeing what you’re knitting and spinning. It’s been fun watching you. (((hugs))) and congratulations!

  444. Thank you for sharing your life with us. I’m glad Ken gave you such a fabulous gift, because you’ve brought so much humor into my life and it’s been an interesting journey! I’m happy that I’ve been fortunate to see you speak several times, taken a class you’ve taught and run into you at Rhinebeck. Without your blog, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do any of that! And that would have been a pity!

  445. Geez, I’m a sappy person and your post got me a little choked up. Thank you for sharing your and your family’s lives. Without The Blog I would have had the opportunity to take a class from you a year ago in Chapel Hill. I remember when I first heard of you, my MIL gave me your book At Knit’s End. I was pregnant with my now 9 yo son. Thank you and carry on…

  446. Oooh, big throat-lump. I haven’t been here for all 11 years, only about 6. You inspired me to try knitting, even though the stuff you showed here was STUPENDOUS, I still thought, “maybe I can do that”. My husband takes an interest in what I knit (and now, crochet, too) and says, when I’m pondering a sock construction, “What Would The Yarn Harlot Do??”. I’m proud to be part of The Blog! xxx

  447. How wonderful! Congratulations. Your writing about your blog anniversary made me curious as to how long I’ve been blogging – I really could not remember……I posted my first post on Jan. 21, 2006! I wrote about my shock that it has been NINE years…….In case yer interested, my post is under the title: “I’ve been blogging for HOW LONG?!?!?!?”

    Here’s to many more happy times in the knitblogosphere. 🙂

  448. I want to thank you Stephanie. Through your blog and books you’ve changed me – for the better of course. I was someone who knits and now I’m a knitter. I have a much greater appreciation of the craft of knitting and the magic of it. I’m more skilled, more daring and more enthusiastic. You’ve added value to my life and for that I thank you.

  449. What i do not understood is actually how you are no longer actually a lot more smartly-favored than you might
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  450. You are what is right with the Internet and the world. Thank you so much for sharing, for inspiring, for caring and for entertaining. Thank you for being you.

  451. Thank YOU, Steph, for opening your home, your life, your thoughts to us lurkers. I am fairly new to knitting, and your comments and stories have been so encouraging. When I’m frogging something for xxx time, I think about your post where you ended up knitting 3 times(or was it 6?) the number of rows for all your tinking and re-knitting. I don’t suffer guilt for increasing or decreasing a stitch when my count is off, and when things go really wrong, I can laugh about it. so thank YOU and happy blogiversary. 🙂

  452. See, I figured it would be wise of me to save the reading of this post until I could give it full attention, and my instinct was correct.

    It’s a joy & delight to be part of The Blog. Thank you, and thanks also to your family & friends, for letting us in. It’s a comfort to know that in these times where digital connections can outnumber in-person connections, the digital connections don’t have to be any less “real” or authentic than the in-person ones.

    Here’s to at least eleven more years! Wishing peace, love, laughter, and good health to you & yours.

  453. I’ve been a lurker here for a number of years. I love reading your posts and seeing your pictures of yarn and love ones…or is that redundant? Congratulations on your 11th anniversary and I look forward to a day I can attend an event you are at and say thanks for your company in person.

  454. I usually read your blog with my second cup of coffee, but I went to Ohio, (I live north of Buffalo) to visit my mom, son and grandchildren and got stuck there due to snow. So I missed this one and have to say, it is one of my favorites, so far. You make me smile, you inspire me, and you make me dream of the far away places you travel. Wish I could go to your retreats, they must be marvelous! I especially enjoyed your toast, it reminded me of a favorite quote from The Help and I say it to you now:
    “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

  455. I am just catching up on some of my reading…and wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed the Blog so much. I think that I have been reading since almost the beginning. It was a time of great stress in my life and I had just really dived back into knitting. It was a great resource for a newbie and I have loved it. I have loved your books and been happy to come to a couple of readings and signings (my friend Janet and I gave you Nunzilla and Mouth Party caramels and were glad to share that connection). Thanks for eleven years.

  456. Many thanks for sharing your life, wit, and knitting joys/traumas with “us” all collectively.
    Having a voice that is sent out to everyone yet no one all at once is a good feeling. Reading this is reminding me of that; perhaps I’ll start anew.
    Best, and may you feel some of the happiness you share today back to you tenfold.

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