Meet designer Ragnheiður Ösp Sigurðardóttir

Ragnheiður Ösp Sigurðardóttir design icon Knot is so much more than a cushion. Made from a knitted tube, several meters in length, it will stand out wherever it is put, like a sculpture in its own right. Knot is a success story of design combining fantasy and function. We sat down with the designer and asked her what Knot is to her and why she thinks it has become a worldwide success.

It's no surprise that Knot has found success at the MoMA Design Store in New York and the renowned design emporium, Design Within Reach. Why do you think your Knot cushion has become such a success?

’I think it is the timing. We are overwhelmed with mass-produced things and crave for objects that show the craft that has been invested in them along with all these tactile qualities that we miss. We cherish things that reminds us that hands have been involved in the crafting of something like Knot.’

Your Knot design was born when you were making a teddy bear with really long legs, and then the whole process took on a life of its own.

’Yes, I was trying to crotchet the legs and it took a lot of time. I managed to get hold of an old machine in a knitting factory and then it went so much faster: suddenly the legs just got longer and longer, several meters in length. I started to tie them into knots: what couldn’t I make out of these tubes!’

You were no stranger to making knots when you were really young.

’As a child I was in the girl scouts and yes, I was very good at doing knots. Stitching was mandatory already in the first grade at school here in Iceland.’

How do you use Knot by yourself?

’It is so much more than a cushion, always at hand. I use Knot for meditation a lot, and I have some really young cousins that like to fool around with them. Knot can be both soft, accommodating and playful ready for all kind of uses.’

You are a great fan of the Eames, how have they influenced your work as a designer?

’They were great at fusing function and aesthetics. And to create these objects which are whole, and where everything just clicks together. Charles Eames once exclaimed, in a time when everything was supposed to be about the functional aspects of design: “Who ever said that pleasure wasn’t functional?”’ ocused on what creativity really is.’