Block Island is such a special place!!! In fact, it was the perfect location for Deborah Newton’s first Knitwear Design Retreat. She has a special connection with the island and with North Light Fibers yarn company, so wanted to share that with us.

Inspiration was everywhere around us. So when I decided to design a cabled cowl, I had many aspects from which to draw. The wavy cables represent the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapping on the Block Island shoreline. Traveling cables are reminiscent of the old stone walls and meandering paths we walked on our nature hike. The cables twist and turn and come together to a point like the top of a lighthouse, in particular the Southeast Lighthouse we visited…and the color of the yarn chosen truly captures the many colors of the Atlantic Ocean.

The actual knitting of the sample for this pattern occurred during a visit to another very special island, Shetland. There I had the wonderful opportunity to visit two other lighthouses; the Sumburgh and Eshaness Lighthouses. From my hotel, I had a great view of the Bressay Lighthouse. This recurring theme of lighthouses during my design & knitting of this cowl prompted me to name it to reflect this… thus the 4 Lighthouses cowl.