Join me in Paradise

Spring and Fall Joy of Knitting Retreats at Lakedale Resort in Friday Harbor, WA

The Joy of Knitting Retreats have already become a bit of an institution; In 2013 I held two, in the spring and the fall, and I hope to do the same in 2014. 

The retreats follow a relaxed format of four full days and five nights. After arrival on Sunday, each day's schedule consists of morning classes, free afternoons, and joining together for evening activities after a sumptuous chef-made dinner.

Our retreat theme is different every time. This spring, we will have a scintillating array of knitted jewelry projects to work on; each one is small and interesting, a tasty confection suitable for special gifting. As special guests, I had The Plucky Knitters (along with their coveted yarn) at both retreats in 2013, and I plan to continue to feature more such guests at the 2014 retreats. I won't even talk about the goodie bags and giveaway prizes. Last time, it was such an embarrassment of plenty that I think everyone was amazed.

The Lakedale Resort is well known in the knitting community for hosting Cat Bordhi's Island Knitting Retreats, also in the spring and fall. The space is idea for knitters: beautiful, spacious, luxurious, and welcoming. The great room is truly great, featuring a huge fireplace and a wall of windows looking out on the beautiful lake. Our caterer, Deb Nolan, is a legend among those who have attended retreats at Lakedale. The lodge rooms and cabins are well appointed and comfortable, and we receive a special rate.

Because there are several options for lodging (including sharing with a friend or asking me to match you with a roommate), I ask you to arrange this individually with the lodge; the meals are also separately paid for. Please email me for full details if you are interested in coming to a Joy of Knitting retreat. I take pride in taking excellent care of everyone who attends.

Come and join me in paradise!

OK, here's the link to the shopping cart!

Get ready... set... go!!


http://siviaharding.bigcartel.com/

And now what you really want to hear... the details of the new Mezzaluna Club.

The Mezzaluna Club will explore all aspects of the crescent shawlette, including shawls worked from the top down, the bottom up, and just about everything in between.  

In this club, you will receive six exclusive crescent-shaped shawl 
designs, along with premium yarns from top yarn dyers in exclusive colorways and beautiful Japanese beads to compliment the designs.

Each shipment of the club is meant to make your heart flutter, or cause you to break out in a chorus of "That's Amoré!" I love beautiful things and I know you do too. 


The first shipment will go out August 25, 2012, and will proceed to you on an every-other-month basis. Your last shipment will be in June, 2013. Imagine a year full of lace and beads. It's enough to put you over the moon! 


The fee for membership in the Mezzaluna Club is due within 5 days of signup. Payment can be made through our shopping cart or by check. Please contact us at siviaclub AT gmail DOT com if you need to pay by check so we can hold your spot in the club while your check is in the mail. The check payment option is for US knitters only, sorry. Membership is limited and registration will close once the maximum level is achieved so please register early and get your payment in quickly. If your payment is complete before July 1, 2012, you will receive a bonus pattern in the final shipment, bringing the number to a total of seven patterns for the club. All patterns are digital PDF downloads and are delivered straight to your Ravelry library.



For the Mezzaluna Club kit option, you will receive six exclusive Sivia Harding designs with exclusive colorway yarns and beads, along with access to the Ravelry group and pattern support from Sivia. You receive the same pattern support and access to the group if you choose the pattern-only option. There will also be a group KAL for each pattern.  


Pricing will be as follows: For US and Canadian full club shipments, $294. For international full club shipments, $325. For pattern-only option, $45.

If you have any questions, please address them to: siviaclub AT gmail DOT com. I can’t wait to begin sharing my designs with you!!

On the Eve of Mezzaluna...

It is a momentous day here! The start of my first subscription club ever!

Watch for full details in the next day or so.

I am so excited. Plans are still being formed and dyers are being spoken to. Things are all abuzz here at Sivia Harding Knit Design.

Keep yourself abreast of the new developments by doing one of the following:

1. Add yourself to my mailing list. To do this, go to my website contact page and select "request to be added to mailing list" from the pulldown menu of subjects. If you want to use a different email address than the one you are mailing from, then put that in the body of the letter. Send!

2. Join my Ravelry group (Sivia Harding, under my name). My wonderful moderators and I will happily keep you up-to-speed.

3. Friend me on FaceBook. While this won't be as thorough information as the other two, it will give you the basics.

If you are wondering about the name of the club, Mezzaluna means "crescent moon" in Italian according to Babelfish. At least that is one translation. My dear husband who has spoken Italian from birth says it means more like "half moon". I think either interpretation will work actually.

My idea was to have a club that explores all aspects of the crescent shawlette. And from all directions. That means sideways, top and bottom, and hmm, well maybe some others too. Hehe.

The lineup of glorious yarn dyers who are going to be working with us is simply stunning. When it is time to reveal the full lineup, wow, just be sure you are sitting down.

Enough tantalizing details... now I must get back to planning! Wha-hooo!! We are going to have a really fun club!!

Harmonia Again, for the First Time

A most exciting development!

After many requests (and in some cases, begging and pleading), I have developed a tunic sweater based on the popular Harmonia's Rings cowl. The tunic begins like the cowl (and the yoke has identical structure), but the pattern has now been engineered to fit seven sizes. The yoke creates a perfect cap sleeve shape by virtue of its construction. In addition, the drape of the yoke contrasts beautifully with the close fit of the shaped body. The pattern is knit entirely in the round, every single blessed stitch. Every knitter who has seen this sweater wants to make one!

This is only the current installment in a series of Harmonia patterns. The next will be sleeved versions of the sweater, now in testing.









See details on my website here.

And on Ravelry:

The model is actually the beautiful and brilliant photographer Vivian Aubrey, who consented to be a model one day, in the middle of her class on photographing knits at Twisted Yarn Shop in Portland, OR.

Huge, huge thanks to my tech editor, the incomparable Jeane deCoster of Elemental Affects Yarn, who patiently endured hours of teaching me spreadsheet math, and my many lovely and hardworking test knitters, long may they hold yarn and needles in their blessed hands.

It's About Time

Gee.. so many weeks have flown by! I can't fight tempus fugit, so I won't try. But much wonderfulness has come and gone.. forgive me if I list the ways..

In March, I attended an Island Retreat for Curious Knitters with Cat Bordhi, and it goes without saying that it was indeed a retreat in all of the best senses of the word. I emerged refreshed, renewed, restored, and very well fed!! Cat is expanding the number of island retreats she is offering to six per year (3 in spring, 3 in fall), so take note.

In April, I taught at the first Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival.. what fun!! The event was sponsored by Lavender Sheep, and Yvonne did a marvelous job of putting the marketplace and classes together. I would have loved to hang out for hours with all the yarnies and spinners, but darn, I had to teach!!

Later in April, Midwest Masters Weekend in Neenah, Wisconsin, sponsored by Yarns by Design, was simply delightful!! Casual and intense.. and that's just how I like it! I had fabulous students. I am looking forward to going back to Wisconsin in November to give a talk to the Madison Knitters Guild, and do some more teaching.

So.. time to look forward now! Here are the upcoming events for 2011, because I know you want to know!

Continuing classes and drop-in clinics at Twisted Yarn Shop in Portland, OR
Drop-in clinics are Thursdays from 3-7 pm. Please see Twisted’s website for other classes and details, or call the store at 503-922-1150.

Lace Design Workshop at Twisted Yarn Shop in Portland, OR, May 29, 2011
This is an all-day workshop. Please see Twisted’s website for details, or call the store at 503-922-1150.

Moebius Workshop at Knitting Bee Yarn Shop in Portland, OR, June 4, 2011
This is a three hour class, from 1-4 pm. Please see Knitting Bee’s website for details, or call the store at 503-439-3316.

Heart to Heart Beaded Scarf Workshop at Serial Knitters Yarn Shop in Kirkland, WA, June 18, 2011
This is an all day class. Please see Serial Knitters’ website for details, or call the store at 425-242-0086.

Fibre Week at Olds, Calgary, AB, Canada, June 24 - July 1, 2011
See Olds College website for registration and more information.

Sock Summit!!, Portland, OR, July 28 - 31, 2011
I am teaching classes on Blossom Dearies Beautiful Baby Bootees and Aquitaine Beaded Gloves. See Sock Summit website for registration and more information.

A weekend of workshops at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas in Bainbridge Is, WA, August 13-14, 2011
Please see Churchmouse’s website for details, or call the store at 206-780-2686.

Knitting Cruise with Serial Knitters, September 11-17, 2011
Alaskan cruise departing from Seattle to points in Alaska and Victoria B.C. Please see cruise details here, and contact Serial Knitters for registration and details.

Lace Design Workshop at Maiwa Textile Symposium 2011 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, September 24-25, 2011
Please see Maiwa’s website for details. Registration opens June 20.

A weekend of workshops at Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood, WA, October 22-23, 2011
Please see Yorkshire Yarn’s website for details, or call the store at 253-589-YARN.

Lace Design Workshop for the Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild, October 29, 2011
This is an all-day workshop. Please email Molly Stanton for details at mstan30311@aol.com.

Guild talk at Madison Knitters Guild, Madison, WI, November 14, 2011
See Madison Knitters Guild website for details.

A weekend of workshops for the Knitters Guild, Broken Arrow, OK, December 3-4, 2011
Topics TBA. Please email Kat Lefevre for details at lefevrek@cox.net.

Madrona Recap

I haven't yet written a proper recap of my Madrona experiences, largely because I forgot to bring my camera (bad bad me), and also because it's so incredibly hard to capture the fabulousness that is Madrona in so many prosaic words. Madrona, that event that some of us pine for 51 weeks out of the year. Madrona, that some of us love and adore to a ridiculous degree.

Fortunately, I don't have to now because Franklin Habit just posted an end-all description of Madrona in his blog, the Panopticon. Do please give it a read.

And yes, I am so enjoying my 15 minutes of fame, thank you for asking.