Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Quotes

“The number one reason knitters knit is because they are so smart that they need knitting to make boring things interesting. Knitters are so compellingly clever that they simply can't tolerate boredom. It takes more to engage and entertain this kind of human, and they need an outlet or they get into trouble.
... knitters just can't watch TV without doing something else. Knitters just can't wait in line, knitters just can't sit waiting at the doctor's office. Knitters need knitting to add a layer of interest in other, less constructive ways.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“100 years ago, buying something you could make was considered wasteful; now making something you could buy is considered wasteful. I am not convinced this is a step in the right direction.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It is a peculiarity of knitters that they chronically underestimate the amount of time it takes to knit something. Birthday on Saturday? No problem. Socks are small. Never mind that the average sock knit out of sock-weight yarn contains about 17,000 stitches. Never mind that you need two of them. (That's 34,000 stitches, for anybody keeping track.)
Socks are only physically small. By stitch count, they are immense.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Sometimes, people come up to me when I am knitting and they say things like, "Oh, I wish I could knit, but I'm just not the kind of person who can sit and waste time like that." How can knitting be wasting time? First, I never just knit; I knit and think, knit and listen, knit and watch. Second, you aren't wasting time if you get a useful or beautiful object at the end of it.
I will remember that not everyone understands. I will resist the urge to ask others what they do when they watch TV.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Advice for New Knitters
When choosing a pattern, look for ones that have words such as "simple", "basic", and "easy". If you see the words "intriguing", "challenging", or "intricate", look elsewhere.
If you happen across a pattern that says "heirloom", slowly put down the pattern and back away.
"Heirloom" is knitting code for "This pattern is so difficult that you would consider death a relief".”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

The best reason for a knitter to marry is that you can't teach the cat to be impressed when you finish a lace scarf.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“In the nineteeth century, knitting was prescribed to women as a cure for nervousness and hysteria. Many new knitters find this sort of hard to believe because, until you get good at it, knitting seems to cause those ailments.
The twitch above my right eye will disappear with knitting practice.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I will always buy extra yarn. I will not try to tempt fate.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“I recognize that knitting can improve my mood in trying circumstances”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“I am a person who works well under pressure. In fact, I work so well under pressure that at times, I will procrastinate in order to create this pressure.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“As long as there has been knitting there have been battles about it. There are self-declared "yarn snobs," who frown on using anything but natural fibers; "gauge snobs", who wouldn't be caught dead with chunky yarn; and "experience snobs", who claim you can't declare yourself a real knitter until you abandon novelty yarns. The truth is that the knitting world is a tiny metaphor for the real world. It takes all kinds.
I will not allow myself to feel bad if someone disapproves of my knitting. I will also resist the urge to stuff his mailbox full of chunky acrylic fun fur at 3:00 am.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“When confronted with a birthday in a week I will remember that a book can be a really good present, too.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“I will not let the non-knitters of the world decide how normal I am.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“You don't knit because you are patient. You are patient because you knit.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Some knitters say that they buy yarn with no project in mind and wait patiently for the yarn to "speak" to them. This reminds me of Michelangelo, who believed that every block of stone he carved had the statue waiting inside and that all he did was reveal it. I think I've had yarn speak to me during the knitting process, and I've definitely spoken to it. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong, or maybe my yarn and I aren't on such good terms, but it really seems to me that all I say is "please" and all it ever says is "no".”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It is pure potential. Every ball or skein of yarn holds something inside it, and the great mystery of what that might be can be almost spiritual”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Many years ago, when I used to smoke, my lighter was often easier to find than my scissors. If I couldn't find the scissors, or was feeling too lazy to get up, I used the lighter to burn the yarn in one place to break it. Other than the smell, this worked fairly well. Later, when I found my scissors, I would cut off the little charred bits.
One day, I was knitting a cotton facecloth and needed to cut the end. I flicked my lighter, expecting to singe the one spot, thus breaking the yarn.
I will remember that cotton is highly flammable, and that the knitting Fates punish laziness. I will also remember that a flaming facecloth can be extinguished with a cup of coffee ... in a pinch.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“I will resist the urge to underestimate the complexity of knitting.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Achieving the state of SABLE is not, as many people who live with these knitters believe, a reason to stop buying yarn, but for the knitter it is an indication to write a will, bequeathing the stash to an appropriate heir.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Dear designer of questionable intent,
Please send me a photo of yourself. Please be wearing the knitted pants that you designed. It's not that I don't believe that there is anyone out there thing enough to wear horizontally stripped trousers knit from chunky wool, it's just that I would like to know whether you are deliberately cruel or whether you are the one woman these would look really great on.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It's only knitting and it's one of the few times in your life when there are no bad consequences to a mistake.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Five things I'd rather do than swatch for my new project
1. Get a spinal tap.
2. Scrub the bathtub after all three of my daughters have come home from "Sandbox day" at the park.
3. Babysit two-year-old triplets while simultaneously diffusing a bomb.
4. Bathe a cat.
5. KNIT MY NEW PROJECT.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Knitting is still trying to teach me
That no matter how well you knit, looking at your work too closely isn't helpful. It's like kissing with your eyes open: nobody looks good that close up.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Even when it isn't going well, knitting can be deeply spiritual. Knitting sets goals that you can meet. Sometimes when I work on something complicated or difficult - ripping out my work and starting over, porong over tomes of knitting expertise, screeching "I don't get it!" white practically weeping with frusteation - my husband looks at me and says, "I don't know why you think you like knitting." I just stare at him. I don't like knitting. I LOVE knitting. I don't know what could have possible led him to think that I'm not enjoying myself. The cursing? The crying? The forteen sheets of shredded graph paper? Knittong is like a marriage (I tell him) and you don't just trash the whole thing because there are bad moments.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“As usual, the sock yarns have no idea what is going on.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Hat head is a sad affliction wherein the chosen hat and the selected hairstyle are grossly incompatible. The unfortunate combination results in a condition that can be hidden only with the application of another hat.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It turns out that knitting isn't about the yarn or the softness or needing a hat (although we really can't argue with these secondary motivators). It's really about this: Knitting is a magic trick. In this day and age, in a world where science and technology take more and more wonder and work out of our lives , and our planet is quickly becoming a place running out of magic, a knitter takes silly, useless string, mundane sticks, waves her hands around (many, many times ... nobody said this was fast magic), and turns one thing into another: string into a hat, string into a sweater, string into a blanket for a baby. It really is a very reliable magic.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Sweaters need to be imagined, dreamed over.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Ribbing, moss, seed, and garter are all balanced and combine the yin and yang of knitting”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. - RAY BRADBURY”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“The only difference between an experienced knitter and new knitter is that the experienced knitter makes bigger mistakes faster. Be bold; there are no terrible consequences in knitting.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“When people see me knitting, I tell them I'm a knitter. Not the sort of knitter they may have run into before, but a passionate, constant, deliberate knitter. I knit everyday, all the time, everywhere I go.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I explain at the parties that I believe knitting is a transformative and intriguing act that can change the life and brain of the person doing it, and that knitting is a perfect metaphor for life and insight into some better ways through it.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“If you have time to knit, if you've taken up knitting, it means you're not worried about the essential stuff.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Knitters use knitting to value-add to the world.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“The essay is one of my favourite forms of writing, and I feel like what's inside is really personal, more so than with shorter pieces.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“All Newfoundlander men can knit.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“There are twice as many knitters as golfers in North America. Still, if you walk into any airport in North America, you can find a golf magazine but not a knitting magazine, even though you can't golf on a plane.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I do know that there isn't ever going to be a time when there aren't any knitters.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“There is no wrong way to knit ... We should all agree to stop correcting each other and deal with the more important issue. How wrong crochet is.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It is some kind of miracle that all knitting is constructed of only two stitches: knit and purl. Sure, you throw in some yarn overs, and sometimes you knit the stitches out of order, but when it really comes down to it, knitting is simplicity. The most incredible gossamer lace shawl ... the trickiest aran ... a humble sock ... each just made with knit and purl.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“The chances of running out of yarn on a project are directly related to the difficulty that you will have getting more.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“When you are knitting socks and sweaters and scarves, you aren't just knitting. You are assigning a value to human effort. You are holding back time. You are preserving the simple unchanging act of handwork.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“It is a little known fact that much like birds, who can always find north, knitters can always find yarn.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

You know you knit too much when ... You take knitting to a wedding, in case there's a little time before the bride comes down the aisle. Double points if you are the bride.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“You know you knit too much when ... You will check out a book from the library just because you heard that one of the characters knits.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Just because something is fun doesn't mean it's a waste of time.

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“I'm a knitter. My projects are the ultimate in 'some assembly required.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“Knitting is a boon for those of us who are easily bored. I take my knitting everywhere to take the edge off of moments that would otherwise drive me stark raving mad.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

“With great effort comes great gratification.”

— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee