We are so happy to introduce the newest member of our Koigu designer community, Pope Vergara! Koigu has two designs releasing with Pope in the next month, the Diamonds Top on May 26th and the Garden Sweater in June. We will have Koigu kits made up and available for both (also available through Mont Tricot).
Since she may be new to many of you, we took some time to ask her a few questions so you can get to know her and her beautiful work better.
Photo by Domestika.
1.Tell us a little bit about yourself!
My name is Josefina Vergara, but everybody has called me Pope. I'm a knitwear designer based in Chile. I am married to a fantastic man, Cristobal, and we have two kids, Julieta, and Santiago. She is six years old, and he is four.
2. How did you get started knitting?
My Grandmother taught me to knit when I was a little girl, but I was terrible at knitting. I always left a hole in my work. But when I was pregnant with Julieta, I must be confined to my bed for three months. And at this moment, I started knitting, and I was so bad, but I'm such a perseverant person, and I try, and I try until I can make it, and at this moment, I never stop. When my grandmother saw my first design, she couldn't believe it.
2. What makes you like beaded knitting?
I love working with beads because I use the bead as another color method; the beads shine, and I want everyone to shine.
Courtesy of Pope Vergara
Diamond Top. Courtesty of Pope Vergara.
3. What's your favourite way to get inspiration?
I have been creative since I was a child, and they make me who I am if you add a slight sensitivity to that. My designs come from my soul, representing me or what I want to say. Expressing my feelings with words is complicated, so I tell them in my designs.
Also, My inspiration comes from nature. The human body, music, science, and artwork inspire me… What I never do is use other knitting as reference.
4.What's your favourite part about being a knitwear designer?
Three things: I can make people happy, and I can make my clothes, and is my passion.
Courtesy of Pope Vergara.
5.What's your knitting community like in Chile/ in your town? Is there anything that makes knitting in Chile different?
It is challenging to be Chilean and stand out from the world since my native language is Spanish, especially when English is complicated for me.
I recently went to Madrid and saw this highly developed city, which needs improvement in Chile, but something caught my attention. I had four bags in hand, and I was waiting for someone to offer me help. In Chile, that doesn't happen. Someone is always there to help; if it were not for the Chilean knitters, I would not be who I am. They supported me from the beginning, which I will never forget, and it's so beautiful of my country.
6. Anything else you want to share about your work or you!
I want to thank you, it is always good to do that, and sometimes we forget, to all the people who have supported me in my career, brands like you who believe in my work, yarn shops, friends, knitters, and the people who knit my patterns, without you this would not be possible.
And that I'm constantly improving for you since I do this job with a lot of passion and love, and if I'm ever wrong or you need help to understand my patterns, I'll always be here in this beautiful community.
Pope has an upcoming Beading Workshop launching June 1st, on Domestika.org.
You can check out all of her designs on her website and Ravelry as well as follow her on Instagram.
