Pearl-McPhee on Patreon

As I recently spoke about… COVID is making me do some odd things, like Westknits Webinars….and more.  While listening to the Grocery Girls podcast a few months ago, Tracie mentioned that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was sharing her sock knitting wisdom on Patreon.  I’d never really paid attention to Patreon but now decided to look into it.

Background

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is a Canadian writer who is affectionately known as The Yarn Harlot, after writing a book about knitting by the same name.  I read it awhile ago and really enjoyed it.  But Stephanie also has a blog that I’ve kept up with for years.  It’s very inspiring!

Since all knitting events – and all events in the world – are cancelled (thank you, COVID), I won’t be seeing Stephanie in person anytime soon.  But to have the opportunity to learn from her – virtually – was too good to pass up.   Tracie had only great things to say about her Patreon content so I decided to give it a try.

Details

Patreon costs different amounts depending on who you are subscribing to.  Stephanie charges $6 a month for her content.  She usually puts out one or two hour-long videos a month.  I don’t plan on subscribing long-term but for a few months, I think it’s well worth the price.

Stephanie walks you through every step of the sock-knitting process through a series of videos and, if you enjoy socks, they are indispensable.  I learned a lot and I knit a lot of socks.  I thought I knew most of the tricks – but I learned quite a few new ones.  

There are also great tutorials on yarn and how it behaves, what to knit with it, and how to store it.  Seriously, there is some exceptional content here.  I took a lot of notes!

Conclusion

Pearl-McPhee is so calming to listen to.  I’d never heard her speak in public but she is so charming and so intelligent about all things knitting.  Her sock tutorials, for newbie sock knitters, make you feel truly comfortable with the idea of knitting socks.

One of her videos, on how to repair damaged socks, is one of the best tutorials I’ve ever seen.  I haven’t worn any of my socks long enough to wear them out in any way, but when I do, I’ll know how to repair them.  For those socks that have holes in them, just from being in a drawer….  Stephanie will tell you what bug ate through your sock!  Amazing!  

If you’re looking to improve your knitting, especially with socks, these videos are priceless.  I’d pay $25 just to watch that one sock repair video!