Designer Spotlight: Sivia Harding

I first learned about Sivia when I started knitting shawls and was attracted to her amazing shawl patterns. Of course she has so much more than just shawls in her designing portfolio, and you’ll see some of those patterns below. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about this wonderful designer, and be sure to read to the bottom for a special offer!

Loopy: Hi Sivia! Thanks for being in our Designer Spotlight today. How long have you been a knitter and who taught you to knit?

Sivia: Hi Loopy – thank you for these questions! I hope my answers illuminate some of the lesser known things about me! I learned to knit in 2000 from a video that I checked out of the Vancouver Public Library. Shortly after that, I found a knitting guild nearby and starting learning in earnest. I am grateful to the ladies of that guild! They gave me a good grounding in both traditional knitting AND thinking out of the box.

Loopy: Well, I would have thought you’d been knitting your whole life, with the amazing designs that you come up with! That has to give hope to newer knitters everywhere. You’ve put out so many wonderful things since you started. What is your favorite type of item to knit?

Sivia: Oh, gee. Whatever I am working on at the time, I suppose! Right now, I have a cowl, mitts, and a sweater. Oh, and maybe a shawl too.

Loopy: Multiple projects. I like that. 🙂 What is the most challenging thing that you have knit to date?

Sivia: Hmm… this might have been the Goddess Shawl that was in the book More Big Girl Knits. It had a shield-like upper back section around which there were intarsia striped cable panels that were short rowed and shaped in a very um, interesting way. And there were beads too.

Loopy: Pretty. I like how the cables trail out from the top. There is a lot of yardage in that one! When did you start designing, and what spurred that interest?

Sivia: I have always done art and design. It was my profession before I was a knitter. So I started designing almost immediately after learning how to knit.

Loopy: Do you have a favorite pattern that you’ve designed?

Sivia: Yes. Harmonia’s Rings Cowl. I always have one around on the needles. I think I’ve made dozens of them!

Loopy: Oh, we have a sample of that on display in our shop! It always gets a lot of attention and it’s really cozy to wear. And I just saw the sweater version of it on Ravelry. Very unique and flattering. What is your favorite part of your designing? And your not-so-favorite part?

Sivia: The most favorite part is daydreaming and sketching out new ideas. The least favorite part is crunching numbers.

Loopy: Do you have other jobs outside of pattern designing?

Sivia: Teaching knitting!

Loopy: It sounds like you stay very busy in this industry. Do you do this business full-time, or on the side?  And is that hard?

Sivia: Full time, or probably way more than full time actually! It’s hard in the same way that having a home business is hard for any self-employed person. I’m the head cook and bottle washer.

Loopy: The To-Do List never seems to end, does it? Does anyone else in your family knit?

Sivia: No one else in my family knits. But they appreciate ;-). Some of my family, including my mom and two sisters, live in the Washington D.C. area, and I try to go there for visits as often as I can. I also have two grown sons who live in California, one in the Bay area and one in San Diego.

Loopy: Are there other hobbies that you enjoy?

Sivia: I love dancing, walking in the woods, gardening, reading, and the list goes on. It’s quite a list 😉

Loopy: With all of those things that you love to do, what would be your favorite way to spend a day off?

Sivia: A day off? What’s that? Seriously, I would be on a beach. Doing absolutely nothing!

Loopy: A day at the beach always sounds like a good idea! (No knitting? Just relaxing?) Ok – last set of questions: Morning or Night person? Coffee or Tea? English or Continental? Solids or Multicolors?

Sivia: I am not a morning person, especially on the east coast! I love a really good cup of coffee but I am mostly a tea drinker at home. I knit continental but I can throw if I have to. I love working with beautiful shaded solids.

Loopy: Thanks again for spending some time with us today, Sivia!

As a bonus to our blog readers, Sivia is offering you 20% off of one of her patterns between today and next Friday, October 3rd. Pop over to see all of them and use the code: knittogether when you check out! (Note – be sure that when you type in the code, it doesn’t auto-correct to two words. Two words: knit together won’t work, but one word: knittogether does!)

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