I wet finished the towel by boiling it in water with dawn detergent for one hour and laid it flat to dry.
I used a 19th century draft for a southern counterpane from Martin Marshall an Alabama weaver. I have not been able to find the original owner of the draft attributed to a private owner in the Made in Alabama book.
Delightful Weave. Fantastic fabric. Total number of ends: 498. Increased EPI at selvedges. Serged and Hemmed.
I have started into Jane Stafford’s School of Weaving and this towel is a variation of the Asymmetry sample from the second season. I substituted turquoise where Jane used red, and enlarged the graphic to get the size towel I wanted. I played with the warp colors to get my own design.
Each warp stripe is 6 ends wide, alternating black and white except between wider sections where I doubled the black stripe. Weft stripes can repeat as much as you like.
This pattern was inspired by my recent trip to New Zealand and the preponderance of black and white checked fabric I encountered there. White represents good and black represents evil. The red used for the hems represents blood or life force.
I adapted this pattern from an episode of Jane Stafford’s online Weaving School and a pattern she offers entitled “Mocking Around.”
This basic design was on the Handwoven Magazine website but woven in huck lace on 8 shafts. I liked the design and wanted to try some Swedish lace on 4 shafts so I modified the design and moved blocks around using weaving software. When I found a threading I liked, I could weave different towels by altering the treadling blocks and adding or deleting horizontal color stripes.
Scottish Meadow Towels
I created this pattern while watching the series Outlander. It’s a very easy draft to weave and goes very quickly.
Warp Threads: 282 (7 pattern repeats + 2 selvedge threads))
Warp End Color Sequence: Maysville Navy Blue 20 ends + 1 floating end
Maurice Brassard Mauve 40 ends
Maurice Brassard Olive Fonce 40 ends
Maysville Spanish Blue 80 ends
Maurice Brassard Olive Fonce 40 ends
Maurice Brassard Mauve 40 Ends
Maysville Navy Blue 20 ends + 1 floating end
Pattern Weft Picks: 360 (9 pattern repeats)
Weft Pick Color Sequence: Maysville Colonial Blue 20 picks
Maurice Brassard Lilac 40 picks
Maysville Colonial Green 40 picks
Maysville Chalk160 picks
Maysville Colonial Green 40 picks
Maurice Brassard Lilac 40 picks
Maysville Colonial Blue 20 picks
Notes:
Hems: 1-1/2 inch plain weave in Colonial Blue before and after the 9 pattern repeats
Loom Width: 23″ (allowing for 20% shrinkage)
Loom Length: 34″ (allowing for 20% shrinkage and hem)
Finishing: Washed with laundry detergent, dried in dryer, pressed then machine hemmed.
Finished Width: 19″
Finished Length: 27″
I used 6 shafts to reduce the number of heddles on shafts 1 & 2; putting the plain weave portion on #5 & 6. This could be woven on 4 shafts as well. I used Valley Yarns variegated “Cotton Candy” for the plain weave portions of the warp.
Wanted to make the towel look like the sunrise I see most mornings from my garden window. It also was a stash buster. I hope when you are stuck drying dishes the towel will make you smile and think about the peace of nature.
My weaving Study Group had a plan for a towel exchange this year. I was inspired by bright colors and designed a very colorful warp to include a mixture of smooth cotton yarns and boucle. I planned some color mixing in the warp with sections of warp alternating between a smooth cotton and a cotton boucle thread. As I came to the end of my warp, I decided to experiment with some zanshi weaving using the thrums saved from my other weaving projects. I had to use care in what I chose as weft to ensure the colors did not clash with the very colorful warp. I wove a little and planned my further wefts by how the color of the woven wefts interacted with the warp. As the cloth developed, I tied more thrums to contrast the previous wefts, using care not to create a muddled mess. As the cloth grew I realized I had enough warp left to weave a whole towel! Wefts used varied from 6 strand embroidery floss (used sparingly), 10/2, 8/2, 8/4 cotton and cotton boucle.
Upon completion, I decided to enter this towel in the MAFA exchange with the hope that it will inspire others to use thrums to create cloth that not only is useful and fun, but is environmentally friendly as well. I hope you will enjoy this towel.
