Speak!

If you have ever wanted to weigh in with a designer (me!) on forthcoming designs, here's your chance!

For several years now, I have contributed to many clubs, online magazines, and publications and books authored by others. I have been thinking more and more and more about establishing my own club.. or clubs.. in order to gather a community of my particular fans. My ravelry group does a fabulous job of this, of course. But this will be different.. and offer opportunities to give special offers, discounts, and other goodies to the groupies.

I have some firm ideas for these potential clubs, along with some designs in varying stages of completion, but it would help me greatly to have some input.

Right now, I can see two separate clubs on two separate themes happening, each with 5-6 exclusive designs and running concurrently. One will be mainly beaded lace work, but also will include other accessories such as gloves and cowls (beaded of course). The other theme will be Moebius, which I am developing in some very interesting ways at present. Similar to Harmonia’s Rings, which is my most popular pattern, some garment shapes will begin as Moebius and develop into other structures, and some will remain Moebius, but all will start with the Moebius cast on no matter where else they end up. This club will potentially include cowls, wraps, and scarves, but may go as far afield as shrugs or even sweaters. The sky is the limit really.

These two themes mirror my two passions: Beaded lace, and unusual, innovative garment shapes.

So.. want to cast a vote?? Let’s try a poll:

1. Which club would you be interested in joining, or both?
2. Would you like an option to purchase individual installments at a slightly higher price per pattern?
3. What price range do you consider a good one for this type of club?
4. Do you have any special requests for either club? Anything you are dying to see and knit from yours truly?
5. Any things that you DON’T want to see.. sick of triangle shawls, or ?

I would like to offer a gift for your trouble. Using a random number generator, I will be offering gift certificates from my ravelry pattern store to a few lucky responders.

Inkberry

Once again, here I am in Twist Collective, the pinnacle of knit publications. Once again, I have to pinch myself.

Before Inkberry was sent off, I had the pleasure of seeing it on Sorren, co-worker at Twisted, and Vivian Aubrey kindly snapped some pictures. I think they are lovely.. see what you think!















I think Inkberry came out to be a lyrical piece, romantic and flowing. Hope you like her!

Phoenix has Risen

So many people have written to me over the last year asking when the Phoenix Rising shawl would be available after its stint in last year's Year of Lace 2008 subscription club.

After much reworking and in a gorgeous new yarn, here she is on my website, and here on ravelry. Please do take a peek.

You will notice some differences between last year’s version and this new one. I have added beads into the flame-like center lace panel, and a brand new beaded lace edge that I feel is a perfect finish. I hope you agree.











The yarn is Sweet Georgia Yarns’ Cashsilk lace, a wonderful blend of 45% cashmere, 50% silk that is truly sinfully soft. Lovely Felicia Lo, whom you see modeling the shawl, dyes a wonderful yarn.. I used her boysenberry colorway. Yum!

Happy lacing and beading to all,

Sivia

Aphrodite Revealed

Hello all,

Just to let you know that the Summer 2009 Issue of Twist Collective is now up. If you are not yet familiar with this beautifully put together online publication, you can read all of the many articles and features for free, and of course see the gorgeous photographs of all the patterns. If you would like to purchase a pattern, you can do so on the shop page. All patterns are available as pdf downloadable files only.

Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to be a part of this publication, in the company of so many other great designers?

I hope you like Aphrodite... She is on the cover of the magazine, and on page 10! Please do take a peek!

If you are on Ravelry, you can favorite or queue the pattern, and also see what everyone else is doing with theirs. The Ravelry library page for Aphrodite can be found here.

There is also an Aphrodite knitalong just getting started on my Ravelry group.

Now forgive me if I indulge myself by posting these *homemade* blocking pics of both versions of Aphrodite, complete with blocking gremlin!

Lace Conquers All

I saw a preview of Twist Collective's summer issue today.. I am on the cover! Please take a peek...

and let me know what you think!

Sivia

The New Phoenix Rising

Yes, it is almost here! Phoenix is about to rise again.. with a few little changes.



Notice the beads that now grace the center lace panel? I hope you do... there are more changes to follow.. stay tuned for those.

I love this yarn.. allow me to sing the praises of Sweet Georgia, whose cashsilk lace yarn this is, in the boysenberry colorway. I swear that several folks at the Three Bags Full knit night last Wednesday evening were swooning when they touched it.

My picture does not do justice to either the super saturated color or the intensely pleasurable feel of this yarn.

I close with a few shots of San Diego, where I was when I started this version, and where a very pretty springtime is to be found.

Design your Heart Out.. Announcing The Spring Workshop!

Hello everyone,

It's almost Spring and lace is blooming! For any of you who may in the
neighborhood (Pacific Northwest), or may be interested in traveling here, I have
a new workshop offering that will take place this May on beautiful Vancouver
Island. This one is especially for lace knitters who have always wanted to
design your very own lace shawl… but weren't sure where or how to start.

Here are some of the details:

Creating Lace Filled Triangles
with Sivia Harding
May 14 - 17, 2009
Cobble Hill, BC, Canada

I will walk you through the design process in an inspiring, safe, and supportive
atmosphere. Bring a variety of yarns that you love, and any stitch dictionaries
that you may own.

The Location
Sage's home is so beautiful and we are very lucky that she is opening it up to
us to share for the weekend. The air is sweet, the view stunning and the
Cowichan Valley area is full of delightful surprises. You may wish to add a few
days to your trip and give yourself time to enjoy the region.


(View from Sage's Porch)

Accommodation
Once you've registered we will give you tips on where to look for places to
stay. There are many lovely bed and breakfast options very close by – several
are within minutes of Sage's home. There are also "budget" accommodations
available, too.. contact Sage for details.

Registration – Don't Wait!!!
Space is limited, so please contact Sage right away if you are planning to
attend. Leave a message at 250-733-2999, or email her

Questions?
Most of the answers can be found by downloading the original poster:

http://www.siviaharding.com/Spring_Workshop.pdf

Or by contacting Sage…

See you in May!!!

New Year, New Lace

Harbour Lights has some new fans over at the IcelandicLaceShawl group on Yahoo. They voted to start a KAL featuring my pattern on January 1, 2009. I have become a member of their group and they are a very enthusiastic bunch over there!

You too can join them if you have been hankering to knit this shawl...

What a great way to start the year...

Uno Amore, Up Close and Personal

Kristine asked for a closeup of the scarf, so here it is... ask and you shall receive!



Click for bigger.. hope this fills the bill.

She also asked for information on how the beads go into the design. Here is a description of sorts.

First, the beads go across the beaded purl edging. After the edging is complete, the pattern separates into several patterns across the row, of which two are beaded: the right and left cables and the Fan pattern, which only contains 3 beads in itself but after 20 rows becomes the Beaded Center Pattern which features one centered bead every fourth row of the scarf. Most of the 500 beads go into the beaded cables, and you could still get the impact of beads by just beading the center stitch in my opinion. Hope that helps you sort out your bead priorities!

In other news, I have written a draft of the Rolling Thunder Glove pattern but still need someone to test the larger size. Is anyone up for that??? Please contact me here or at my regular email address, siviaharding AT shaw DOT ca.

In other non knitting news, I have taken up learning the ukelele! Hehe... more on that later, perhaps MUCH later...

Happy almost Canadian Thanksgiving, everyone!

Two Lovers

Now available: the Dué Amori Gloves and Scarf.

Two Lovers... Lace and beads provide sinuous lines in this poetic glove and scarf duo. Fan and Leaf lace motifs are framed by twisted ribs in the gloves and mirrored beaded waving cables in the scarf. The gloves are in two lengths, sized for women’s small, medium and large.

The Dué Amori Gloves and Scarf Set is designed for fingering weight yarn and requires 400 yards of yarn for the scarf and 180 (300) yards for the shorter (longer) gloves. I used a US 2-3 (3 mm) needle for the scarf and US 2 (2.5 mm) needles for the gloves, which are knit in the round. The gloves are sized in two lengths for women's small, medium and large.

The set shown above is worked in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction (50% merino, 50% tencel, 400 yds/100 g) in the Quilla colorway. The set required two skeins. The pattern features beads as a prominent part of the design. The scarf requires approximately 500 size 6/0 beads; the shorter gloves, 114 (122, 130) beads. The longer gloves require 134 (142, 150) beads. For the samples, I used off-white pearl finish seed beads.

Below, the longer gloves are worked in Seduction in the Tanzanite colorway with silver lined amethyst beads. The longer pair requires one skein of yarn.

Thank you, Jamie and Francesca, for the modeling, camera clicking and pinch hitting all around!

And especially a huge, huge thank you to my test knitters, Carin and Kat, who are my saving angels and I bow at their feet...

The pattern is available for sale (so far) on ravelry, my website, Patternfish, and the Knitting Zone as a pdf download. More soon I hope!


Happy knitting to all... enjoy.

Progress and More Progress

So... just to catch up, since I have been back from the retreat, most of my time has been spent visiting with my Mom (she went back home a little over a week ago), answering emails and such, and working at the shop.

But a few things have been getting knitted too.. and here is a little progress report on those.

First, the Dué Amori items now include a pair of long gloves in the works as well as a pair of shorter (gauntlet length) gloves, and the scarf is close to being finished.


The scarf, like the shorter gloves, is being done is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction in the Quilla colorway, with 6/0 pearl beads. More pictures promised when finished... it promises to be one of the nicest eye candy lace pieces yet, if I do say so myself. Here it is shown about one-half blocked, one half unblocked, and still on the needles for the rest.


The longer gloves are in progress too, and they are lovely in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction in the Tanzanite colorway with silver lined matte amethyst beads that Nancy gave me during the retreat... thank you my dear! They are perfect for this yarn! Here you see the Fan Pattern that begins all of the gloves, and then the beaded lace pattern that continues up most of the length of the glove to culminate in the leaf pattern on the hand, which I promise to show when it's done!

This shows the decreases on the back of the long, opera length glove. I think this view is quite elegant actually...


And here is actually something JUST FOR ME! Yes, I DO knit for myself sometimes, strangely enough! I picked up this beautiful Rowan Felted Tweed yarn at the Beehive when we passed through Victoria on the way to the retreat, and I truly love working with it. The Leaf Yoke Pullover pattern is from a Classic Elite Summer booklet but it will be very fall-like by the time I am done. I love the in-the-round top-down construction and it is a perfect foil for the detailed knitting I am doing otherwise. I am making several mods of course, starting with the leaf cable, which if you can tell is a bit fatter and rounder than in the pattern. What can I say... it's probably pathological the way I just can't do a pattern as written... ahem.

And here is something I had to start, with a great new yarn we are carrying at Three Bags Full, Malabrigo Sock. Hehe... my mom literally walked away with my only samples of my Rolling Thunder sock pattern so I just had to start another pair... right? This one is working up beautifully (if I do say so myself) in the Tiziano Red colorway with some amazing Toho triangle beads. I am really enjoying the knit, even though the most interesting part is done and now it is just ribbing and regular top down sock stuff, which makes it my designated car and bus project for the next little while. Here is a pic of the sock top so far:

I guess I am getting the Fall Knitting Bug...

Dué Amori Unveiled

I think it's time for a little unveiling... this is the first glimpse of my new design that will be released soon, right after the workshop that will be happening on Vancouver Island in early September. It might be a little premature because the patterns are not completely ready, but I just couldn't wait any more!

The Dué Amori Glove in its shorter version, medium size. There is also an opera-length version, and two more sizes available.

The start of the Dué Amori Scarf, unfinished and unblocked. Note the beaded cables and lovely little cable needle... more on that later.

The Dué Amori Glove and Scarf set is shown using a stunning yarn in a new and very ethereal colorway: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction in Quilla, one of the brand new Spirit Colorways. I feel so privileged to be working with this yarn... it is literally angelic in look AND feel. I am using size 6/0 pearlized seed beads, which lend a sweet Victorian air to the design.

I do hope you like them so far... more progress shots promised soon.

In other news, a big thank you to all who expressed such delight in the new stole pattern, Midnight Lace Stole from Alt Fiber. I have now added the pattern to Ravelry so you can queue it up! Go over and do it right now!!!

And a little word about a beautiful knitting tool from Leslie Wind, the sinuous, lovely cable needle necklace in bronze. I don't have it on a necklace as I prefer to keep it stowed in my knitting tool box, so forgive me Leslie! I love the heaviness of the bronze which makes it stay put while you are doing your other manipulations, and the squat shape of mine (each one of her cable needles are completely unique in size and shape) is perfect. Leslie will even customize your cable needle for the size of yarn you use most. What more can you ask for????

You can go here to view a video of the cable needle necklace in action and purchase your own. I was fortunate enough to get mine in person at Three Bags Full.

Happy knitting to all...

And now for something dark and silky...

It's out! It's out!

What, you may ask?

Why of course, Alt Fiber: 25 Projects for Knitting Green with Bamboo, Soy, Hemp, and More, Shannon Okey's newest knitting opus, which includes a stole design by yours truly!


And what is the stole like, do you say?

Well, as a matter of fact, it is a not-completely-rectangular type of stole, which in this case means that it includes the lovely little back panel treatment that I have been exploring lately in all my designs. Here is the schematic that I submitted to the book folks in the beginning (in case you are at all interested):

I have found that adding a little shaping to the back of a shawl or stole helps tremendously in the ability of the garment to feel comfortable and stay on the shoulders.

This particular design felt like a real departure from "the norm" and I walked on eggshells until I saw that it was indeed going to work out, quite well indeed as a matter of fact. Wearing this stole (which is really more of a wrap) is a lovely experience, and the long side panels look and feel like wings. Really nice to wrap and wrap and wrap around yourself.

The yarn is sea silk in the Midnight colorway. A sensuous experience in itself.

Here are a couple of (rather bad) pictures of the final product:



I really can't wait for the official book pictures to come out so I can salvage some self esteem and look good again, in print anyways...

From the Book Summary:

Twenty-five projects to knit and crochet using environmentally friendly plant fibers from a popular craft author, teacher, blogger, and shop owner.

Although DIYers have been using salvaged materials for years, the fastest growing trend in knitting and crochet takes reduce-reuse-recycle to a whole new level. In ALT FIBER, craft author and teacher Shannon Okey presents 25 patterns for sweaters, wraps, socks, hats, pillows, bags, and more using non-allergenic plant fibers. From the seaweed-derived Seacell yarn, which transmits vitamins and nutrients to the skin when worn, to soy-based yarns made from tofu manufacturing waste, alternative fibers are readily available, easy to care for, and good for the environment. And because these fibers work up, drape, and wear like no other yarns, Okey teaches crafters of all skill levels about each fiber's properties, how to incorporate them into existing patterns, and how to hand-dye them. Knitting green has never been so easy.

I haven't actually seen the book myself yet, but I have high hopes that the book truly delivers what it promises to. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think!

New Wave, or Further Adventures in the Land of Pink

First, thank you for everyone who has queued or favorited my little sock thong... it is wonderfully fun to see those numbers go up and up!

Next, here we go back in time, to a design that just begs to be reworked again and again... gee, I hope that's the hallmark of a really great design and not the opposite!

This version of the Waves in the Square came about because I seem to be trying all of my patterns, one by one, in lace weight yarn. The latest lace yarn to tempt me is Misti Alpaca, just lately available in the Vancouver stores. It was a big surprise to me that I really wanted to try this corally pink, normally a stay-away color for moi. You will have to tell me what you think about the end result when you see the pics below...

Now for the story of the new version! This was to be a store sample for Three Bags Full, where I teach most of my classes and where I work one day a week. Francesca, owner and boss extraordinaire, allows us shop girls to knit during times when the store is slow, and this has been my shop project of choice for a couple of weeks now. Since I haven't been working on it at home, having multiple deadline projects to do there, it has been sort of dragging on and on, and the knitting hasn't been adding up to what I would have hoped, being tiny yarn and needles and all. So, not to make too fine a point of it, I stopped short: a little middy shawl that just covers the shoulders. And I added beads into the lace. And I love the results. Hehe.

Pictures and specs below.




Yarn: 1 skein of Misti Alpaca Lace in Color CD43, with which I used 3.25 mm Addi turbo lace needles and size 8/0 silver lined crystal beads. Finished size after blocking: 27" wide across the back, 12" long at center back.

I placed the beads with a crochet hook wherever a “yo, k1, yo” occurred in the pattern, on the k1 stitch. I followed the pattern up to row 86, after which I skipped to row 168 with the following changes:

Row 168 had 321 stitches, not 561.
Row 170 had 323 stitches, not 563.
I ended with 324 stitches, increasing 1 st as the pattern says to do for row 179.
The beaded picot edging was done exactly as it says to do in the pattern.

Just a note about that: In the beaded picot instructions, I omitted the part about transferring the last bound off stitch to the left needle before casting on the 2 additional stitches. I know most of you will have the sense to do this anyway, but I must apologize to anyone who has been confused and/or unable to follow these instructions because of my omission.

The instruction paragraph should read:

*CO 2 sts using knitted-on cast on method, place bead on last st made with small crochet hook, BO 6 sts. Transfer last stitch on right needle to left needle. Repeat from * across row. End with picot, then pick up and knit 1 st at bottom corner of picot, BO 1 st. Cut yarn and draw through loop.

I think this version may be an ideal summer lace item... drop me a line and let me know if you agree.


Well, at least somebody is happy... my blocking gremlin, Mooshie, gets this way every time I block something!

Happy summer lace knitting, everyone...

Fibre Ecstasy

A few hardy bloggers have already documented the weekend...

So here is my take on things to add to the pile.

Marilyn G. started things off with a bang on Friday night with the fashion show at Med Grill, a posh establishment on Fort Street in the Mosaic Bldg. No photos unfortunately, but I did get to wear the Harbour Lights shawl in public for the first time, and I got to see what the other fibre folk in Victoria have been up to. I saw some lovely, lovely pieces and met some wonderful knitters.

Saturday, again no pics, in the afternoon I gave a class on the beaded necklace design that I did a couple of years ago that I still regard as my play therapy project. You simply cannot remain in a bad mood and do this piece. It was a rather jolly class, thanks to all the glorious, sparkly beads that people brought to swap with their classmates. Beads do bring out the little kid in all of us, don't they??? To take advantage of the nice sunshine that was very kindly with us, we took our stuff outside and had our class right there by the marina. I wish I had kept an audio of the ships horns that seemed to echo from one side of the water to the other. It was really atmospheric.

In the evening, I gave a little talk to some lovely knitters, about life, knitting, and my incredibly fortunate career. I say that because I have only been a knitter for a few years and I still need to pinch myself to see if it's real that I am lucky enough to be working in the field I have come to love above all else. My audience was very kind, especially since it was my first time speaking about myself rather than just teaching folks about knitting, which I feel quite relaxed about and do quite often.

Here are some of the sweet faces I saw looking back at me, most holding their knitting:



The talk was given in the old part of town, near this bridge:


And near this square of interesting little shops, Bastien Square, where we found a great restaurant, ReBar. Here is the square and a couple pics of the interesting mosaics inside the place:




Sunday I checked out of the hotel, sorry to say goodbye to my little balcony overlooking a running fountain, which I particularly appreciated. We headed over to Saxe Point Park by the sea, a lovely spot for a fibre festival. Others have posted nicer pictures, but here are some high points that somehow made it into my camera:


My friend Annette, who was a guardian angel for the first leg of the trip...


My friend Mel, who found the elusive yarn she had been looking for to do a lovely Lyra...


My table at the Community Knitters.com booth...






...and spinners and knitters and yarn galore, along with beautiful views of the sea.

I had a wonderful time talking about lace, knitting, and fibre among the spinners, knitters and yes, miniature llamas. They were wonderful, happy creatures with long, long eyelashes.




And here is Mary Kozicki's highly original version of River Rock, which I love. It uses very fine yarn and tiny beads, looking more like a waterfall than a bubbling stream full of rocks. I appreciated her vision - so refined and beautiful. Please click on the picture and look at it bigger to get the full effect.


I am glad the day was wonderful because the trip carrying loads of stuff home without a vehicle (thank you forever and forever, J!) was, well, less than fun. But I am safe home now and recovering from the highs and lows of the weekend, waxing a little nostalgic about it all.

The best of all is that Harbour Lights is now officially available to all. Go here or here for more information about purchasing the pattern. And bless all of you for your letters impatiently looking forward to its release date!