Weaving lure for fall tourists

CLOSE-KNIT GROUP: Classes held at the Hotel Manisses on Block Island are part of an effort to promote knitting retreats in the community. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS
CLOSE-KNIT GROUP: Classes held at the Hotel Manisses on Block Island are part of an effort to promote knitting retreats in the community. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS

Knitting retreats featuring quality yarns made from sheep, yak, llama, camel, goat and alpaca combined with sea breezes and birding excursions are among the offerings the owners of North Light Fibers are weaving together in their efforts to extend the Block Island tourism season.
“On Block Island, most hotels and stores drain the pipes and close from about late October until Easter. It would be nice to have the summer season start in May, but the traditional beach season really starts in mid-June and a lot of that is related to schools,” explained Sven Risom, one of three owners of North Light Fibers, a Block Island-based manufacturer that produces minimally processed, quality yarns, sells hand-crafted goods and hosts a growing knitting-retreat business.
“We believe very strongly we have an opportunity to extend the shoulders of the tourism season in May and October,” said Risom. “We purposely schedule knitting retreats for around May 3 or May 6 so we bring people into the hotels. We try to get more restaurants and stores to open up so there’s more activity while people are here for the retreats.
“There’s a limit to how far we can extend the shoulders of the season, but we have to start somewhere, so we’re starting,” said Risom. The most recent retreat, the Language of Lace from Oct. 11-14, was programmed around specialty yarns and three unique knitting styles.
North Light Fibers started hosting knitting, weaving and spinning retreats in spring 2012 and the gatherings over long weekends have been growing ever since.
“We worked with four hotels to open a week earlier than usual just this past May for our knitting retreat,” said Laura Risom, also an owner of North Light Fibers, who is married to Sven Risom.
The couple has owned a home on Block Island and summered there for 20 years. They evolved from visitors from Connecticut to year-round residents in 2009 when their youngest child graduated from high school.
“We hatched the idea to live on Block Island and have a year-round business a long time ago,” said Laura Risom. “I’ve knitted and sewed all my life. My long-term goal is to create a business that will survive beyond my lifetime and that will drive economic sustainability on Block Island.” Laura Risom and the company’s third owner, Karyn Logan, who was previously a store manager on the island, are in charge of manufacturing, while Sven Risom uses his previous experience in corporate marketing to handle that side of North Light Fibers.
“Our true tourism goal is to make Block Island a fiber destination for knitting and weaving,” said Sven Risom. “Our vision is that if you like quality fibers, you’d want to come to Block Island and you’d want to come to the North Light Fibers micro-yarn mill.”
With 20 years as a full-time Block Island resident and the past two with North Light Fibers, Karen Logan has come to know the fiber-production process inside-out and has seen the interest, often surprise, shown by visitors who come to see the operation and marvel at what goes into making yarn.
“We have built one of the only micro-yarn mills in the country,” said Logan.
A micro-yarn mill is a small production, high-quality yarn mill that develops and designs yarns with different fiber and color blends, she said.
“Micro-yarn is all about local. We wash the yarn, we dye it, we card it,” said Logan. Carding is aligning the fibers. “We manufacture all the yarn we sell and the garments we make. It’s all about being hands-on, about paying attention to quality.”
About 10 percent of the fiber comes from animals on the island and the rest is specially selected to meet the demands of their target market of knitting and weaving enthusiasts.
North Light Fibers went through many months and 12 public hearings to get approval for light-industry zoning on the island.
“Sven presented the idea to the town and had to go before planning and zoning,” said Justin Abrams, owner of Abrams Farm, where the mill is located. “Until this mill was built, there was no industry allowed on Block Island.”
Abrams, who owns about 11 acres on Block Island, enthusiastically supports the yarn manufacturer, including providing bricks-and-mortar.
“Sven was looking for a place to rent or build for the mill and we happened to be one location that had the possibility of having a manufacturing facility on the island,” said Abrams.
Abrams built the three-story facility that houses a retail shop, the mill and storage and leases it to North Light Fibers, which has been operating for four years. As for the llama, alpaca, goat, camel and other farm animals, they come with the territory.
“On Block Island, things are different from the mainland. Everything is done by a handshake,” said Abrams.
Abrams also owns Block Island Resorts, which operates The 1661 Inn and Hotel Manisses.
“We have a working agreement on the hotels,” said Abrams. “They get a good deal from us and it helps us occupy rooms in the off-season.”
Abrams would like to see other entrepreneurs embrace the vision of North Light Fibers.
“They are the forerunners and we hope other businesses will follow suit,” said Abrams. “There’s no question that the only way we’re going to survive in the tourism business is to have an extended season in the early spring and the fall,” said Abrams.
The varied potential of Block Island has to be realized to break out of the box of the traditional tourism season and bring in new dollars, said Sven Risom.
“The whole point of our retreats is to offer an experience,” added Risom, who recognizes the growing tourism hunger for locally sourced products and authentic regional experiences. Mills are a foundation of Rhode Island history and North Light Fibers offers a look at a 21st-century, micro-version of that tradition – with island ambiance.
The niche market is there for the attracting, he said.
“Stitches, a knitting conference in Hartford, attracts about 5,000 people,” said Risom.
The Block Island knitting retreats have drawn visitors from South Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania and the New England states.
In addition to The 1661 Inn and the Hotel Manisses, North Light Fibers works with other hotels, including Atlantic Inn and The Rose Farm, to house retreat guests.
Events to attract larger numbers of tourists are already on the calendar. North Light Fibers has a knitting retreat with six instructors spanning two weekends scheduled in May 2014. Hotel incentives are being offered to those who want to stay through midweek.
“We’re aiming to have about 150 people at the retreat,” said Sven Risom. “Adding companions and teachers, that translates into well over 500 room nights.” •

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