3kcbwday3 -- The Harlot

Today's challenge for the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week event is to write about your knitting hero. My knitting hero is probably not very unique or suprising-- she is someone whom even those only tangentially familiar with the knitting world have probably heard about: The Yarn Harlot. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is not only a speedy and talented knitter, but also a brilliant writer with the kind of sense of humor and world outlook that makes me think we could totally be friends if I ever got the chance to meet her (not to be a creepy fangirl or anything). But seriously, so many of the things I love about knitting I came across because of her work: knitting blogs, Ravelry, knitted socks, BMFA Socks that Rock yarn, and several gorgeous patterns that she chose to make. To top it all off, her blog posts are by turns poignant, educational, touching, and downright funny. I think it takes an enormous amount of skill to write with such a clearly original and personal voice, and I appreciate how she writes honestly about her opinions and views.

Her writing extends well beyond her blog, too-- I'm pretty sure I own every single one of her books.

Here is the lovely, newly-unpacked-and-organized Knitting Section of my bookcase, in the northwest corner of which you will find Harlot-ville. Hiding behind the Connecticut Farm Map is one of her most practical and useful books: Knitting Rules! The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks. This is the book that taught me how to knit socks, thus I will love it always and forever. She writes as if she's having a conversation with you, it's not a pattern so much as it is a description of how all the sock bits work. It makes you feel as if someone is walking you through the process, rather than just throwing some numbers at you. I think it's a great way to learn. She has some wonderful views on yarn stash, too, that make me feel quite a bit less guilty about the size of mine. :)

If you haven't read anything by the Yarn Harlot, then you must be living under a rock absolutely should as soon as possible. It will be good for your knitterly soul, I promise.

Do you have any knitting heroes? Who should I read right now?