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.
