Stephanie Pearl-McPhee | |
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Pen name | The Yarn Harlot |
Occupation | Writer and Blogger |
Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. The Yarn Harlot) (born June 14, 1968) is a writer, knitter, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and doula living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pearl-McPhee's grandmother, a professional knitter, taught her to knit when she was four years old. She has three daughters, Amanda (born May 30, 1989), Megan (born August 15, 1991), and Samantha (born February 17, 1994). Stephanie and Joe were married on September 30, 2006. Joe is not the biological father of Stephanie's children.
Pearl-McPhee has contributed articles and patterns to knitting magazines such as Cast On, Interweave Knits, Knitty, Stranded, and Spin-Off. She also contributed a chapter to the book Knitlit Too. In addition, she has written eight books on knitting.
One of Pearl-McPhee's best known works is her blog, which also carries the moniker "The Yarn Harlot". In 2004, she founded Tricoteuses sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders), a group dedicated to raising money for the non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). As of the 6th anniversary of Pearl-McPhee's blog (January 2010), they have contributed over $1,000,000 CAD to MSF/DWB.
In 2006, she started the 2006 Knitting Olympics, a competition for knitters to start and finish one challenging project during the timeframe of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Over 4,000 knitters worldwide participated. The event was also the catalyst for a 2006 Crochet Olympics, which held the same rules but was organized elsewhere.
Pearl-McPhee often makes personal appearances at conventions, book stores and other craft-related events where she shares her view of life and knitting with fellow crafters. Her 2008 tour included venues across the USA and Canada, including branches of Barnes & Noble and the Borders Group, independent bookshops, knitting shops and fibre festivals. The tour included her first ever appearance in Europe, at I Knit London's I Knit Day in September 2008.