Sivia Harding Designer Interview

Meghan: When did you start knitting? Did someone teach you? What was your first project?

Sivia: I taught myself how to knit from a rather awful video that I checked out from the library. I had wanted to learn when I was a child but no one else in my family could teach me. When I finally learned, I was in my mid-40s at the time and desperate for a new hobby, having just moved to a new place far away, without the ability to do any of the art and fiber crafts I had done in the past. After I struggled with solitary knitting for a while (this was before there was much on the internet), I found a knitting friend and a knitting guild, and I was set. I think my very first project was a garter stitch scarf made with thrifted yarn. Sound familiar? 

Meghan: When did you start designing patterns? What prompted you to begin designing?

Sivia: I started designing very soon after learning, since I was already a graphic designer and artist. It just came naturally. I think the first impetus was to make original things to sell at the guild charity events. Several of my designs that are still popular came from that time: Diamond Fantasy, Victorian Shoulderette, and the Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl, among others.

Meghan: What inspires you to design a pattern? What inspired this (these) patterns specifically?

Sivia: Hmm… the inspiration could be almost anything! A new shape, a beautiful stitch pattern (or several), a reflection in a puddle… With Diamond Fantasy (still one of my favorites), I wanted to see if I could do a edging pattern at the same time as a tip-to-top lace design. The shaping of the inner lace taught me tons, and putting it with an edging was a fascinating exercise. The piece ended up having a very satisfying knitting rhythm, and the interesting parts of the design set the bar for the others that were yet to come.

Meghan: I notice that you use a lot of beads in your designs, (which are beautiful!!) is there a specific reason for this other than just loving beads?

 Sivia: Oh gee, I get asked this a lot, and I embarrassingly can’t remember when I started putting beads in my knitting. It seemed like a very natural extension of lace in terms of highlighting points of the lace pattern and incorporating extra dimensions of light and color into the knitted fabric. I am not sure whether that entirely answers your question! 

Meghan: Do you design full time or part time, what are your other hobbies or jobs?

 Sivia: I work at my knitting full time, and that includes teaching and designing. I do travel quite a bit to teach, which means that I have a hard time fitting my schedule together with a regular part time or full time job. I have been doing this full time for over six years now. I have lots of hobbies too, but most of them are things like movies, books, music… I have immense appreciation for the arts and I am trained in painting and printmaking. 

Meghan: What is your favorite knitting technique?

 Very hard question to answer!! This is changing all the time as I keep learning… may that never stop!! I am known for lace and beads, of course, but I love to incorporate colorwork and cables (to mention a couple of other techniques) into my designs.

Meghan: Where can we find you on social media? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Ravelry, Blog, website?