The subtleties of language

Residing on my desk is a lovely daily calendar of knitterly wit from none other than Stephanie, The Yarn Harlot. It is a lovely daily treat, and hard not to jump ahead and read the entire year in one fell swoop. Sometimes, a day’s saying, quote, or funny anecdote will move me, and I save them on a little wall here in my cube at the office.

Mondays will be joining this army of wisdom. Here’s a picture, and I’ll quote it for you, as it can be difficult to read in the photo:

There is a huge difference between nonknitters and knitters. Take language, for instance. I keep hearing this phrase that nonknitters use, and I’ve been trying to understand the substance of it. They say this phrase and then I turn the words around in my mind, trying to grasp what they are talking about. I’ve seen other knitters struggle to grasp the meaning of it too, so I know it’s a nonknitter vs. knitter thing, and not just my own stupidity. Still, try as I might, I just have no idea what nonknitters mean when they say, “You have too much yarn.”

Does anyone understand this phrase? Please enlighten this knitter, I, like the Yarn Harlot, don’t speak nonknitter-ese!