10/22/2026
At 81 years old, she's busier than ever, all because of a sweater on Netflix. 🧶❤️
Barbara Harpur of Conception Bay South, N.L., designed her Newfoundland Guernsey sweater pattern more than 25 years ago. Now millions of people are seeing it on screen, worn as a cardigan by Newfoundland actor Andy Jones in the Netflix hit Below. Netflix says the series got more than 17 million views in its first week.
The N.L. knitting shop Cast On, Cast Off has been selling kits to make the pattern since the show came out, and it's struggling to keep them in stock. Harpur says Jones "wanted that pitcher plant colour. That was his sweater, that was it."
Her new pattern book is coming out right now, printed at a local shop so it's cheap and easy for everyone, especially people her age who don't print patterns online. After the cod moratorium, Harpur taught knitting to women who had lost their jobs at fish plants. "I think it's important to pass on what you know," she says. (Source: CTV News, Oct. 19.)
A Newfoundland sweater, a grandmother's design, and now the whole world wants one.
