The Great Handwoven Towel Challenge Continues!

Weaving towels is a bit hit with many RFG members.  Some of the towels have been woven for months, and are just now surfacing, but there are those that have a continual towel warp on their looms and are planning for the sale season this fall.

So, we are going to continue this thread for another couple of posts because it is interesting, we are learning new things and who doesn't like a handwoven towel in their kitchen or bath?

 Shelley dyed some warp chains of white Lily yarn at the Kathrin Weber workshop over a year ago.  She had downloaded a free set of directions for these towels from Handwoven (the e-book is still available here).  The article was entitled "Towels as Gamps" and gave instructions for 8 different towels on a straight draw threading.  The article states that the different tie ups are available in the Strickler 8 Shaft book and I suspect there are also available from other sources too.  These are all 8 shaft designs.

 Shelley followed the instructions given in the e-book which indicated that the width in the reed would be 12.5" and the sett for 6/2 cotton, 28epi.  Shelley was disappointed that the towels are so narrow and will add width to them if she weaves this series again.  However, they will make fine hand towels for the bathroom and the array of different weave structures is fun to examine.



 Laurel sells her towels during the holiday season and now has people requesting certain colors and patterns.  The following towels came from her studio this summer.

The plaid towel to the left is one that a customer ordered.  The colors are plain, but are just what she wanted and so Laurel obliged with this elegant plain weave towel

 Handweaving.net has just added a new collection of weaving drafts to their already astounding online resource.  Laurel picked one of the drafts 68026, to weave the turned twill squares within squares.  A timeless design from 1825.

 And, Marguerite Davison still has surprises after all this time.  Here is her "Myrtle Westola" draft on page 69 and Laurel's interpretation.