by Carolyn Steele Lane
using 8/2 un-mercerized cotton, 24 epi
I fell in love with the colours in the Sunset Towels pattern by Sarah Resnick and bought several cones in Canada minus the Italian Cotton/Linen cone. Without the Cotton/Linen, I decided to find another pattern to use it on.
Then I discovered the Circles and Checks Towels in Taqueté by Susan Poague that were in Handwoven May/June 2019 and I just happened to still have a 8-shaft loom on hand.
Right away I was conscious of the fact that I chose colours that looked awesome in a stripe and proceeded to make something that had a yellow tabby in the warp. Unsure of the yellow, I added some nile green and as I didn't like how the colours flowed, I added purple because well, I like purple. And two greys - one of which ran out one thread short on the warp, so I substituted.
The first sample I wove made me think I might create something very ugly indeed. Then I learned how many errors I had made in setting up the loom. There were many.
It didn't improve the next sample.
I tried to relax and enjoy the process more. This of course went out the window when I was finishing the last towel. I learned that I had room for one more "last" towel and proceeded to weave it in a day.
I think I learned about colour. The colour of the weave changes with the angle you look at the cloth because I had a tabby in my warp. This lesson is still sinking in. I definitely learned about tension and got better at it as I went along - my last towel is probably the best. And washing improved everything!
I've already got another project on the loom and its in plain weave on 4-shafts. What a difference! I can actually walk away and easily pick it up again without losing my position in the pattern. It's quite relaxing and this time I'm only making two towels.
using 8/2 un-mercerized cotton, 24 epi
I fell in love with the colours in the Sunset Towels pattern by Sarah Resnick and bought several cones in Canada minus the Italian Cotton/Linen cone. Without the Cotton/Linen, I decided to find another pattern to use it on.
Then I discovered the Circles and Checks Towels in Taqueté by Susan Poague that were in Handwoven May/June 2019 and I just happened to still have a 8-shaft loom on hand.
Right away I was conscious of the fact that I chose colours that looked awesome in a stripe and proceeded to make something that had a yellow tabby in the warp. Unsure of the yellow, I added some nile green and as I didn't like how the colours flowed, I added purple because well, I like purple. And two greys - one of which ran out one thread short on the warp, so I substituted.
The first sample I wove made me think I might create something very ugly indeed. Then I learned how many errors I had made in setting up the loom. There were many.
It didn't improve the next sample.
I tried to relax and enjoy the process more. This of course went out the window when I was finishing the last towel. I learned that I had room for one more "last" towel and proceeded to weave it in a day.
I think I learned about colour. The colour of the weave changes with the angle you look at the cloth because I had a tabby in my warp. This lesson is still sinking in. I definitely learned about tension and got better at it as I went along - my last towel is probably the best. And washing improved everything!
I've already got another project on the loom and its in plain weave on 4-shafts. What a difference! I can actually walk away and easily pick it up again without losing my position in the pattern. It's quite relaxing and this time I'm only making two towels.
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