Ask Madelyn: Good Fibers for Dishtowels
I want to use some old project instructions that call for 10/2 unmercerized cotton for dishtowels. I can't seem to find any of that yarn in colors!
Loading the latest stories…
Category
I want to use some old project instructions that call for 10/2 unmercerized cotton for dishtowels. I can't seem to find any of that yarn in colors!
I can’t think of a better way to pay tribute to weavers long gone than to use their drafts in new and inspiring ways. Elizabeth Evans does just that with her Keep Me Warm Towels from the September/October 2018 issue of Handwoven.
There’s nothing quite like finding the perfect draft for your chosen yarns.
The Syracuse Weavers Guild challenged their members to do just this, and the results were stunning. For her entry, Nancy Smothergill chose to weave huck towels. Here’s what she had to say about the inspiration behind her Tintes Naturales Huck Towels fro
There’s nothing like a guild challenge to kick-start creativity. In this case, members of the Syracuse Weavers Guild of Syracuse, New York, were challenged to use the yarn from Tintes Naturales Friendship Towels kits to weave their own, original towels.
Weaving inspiration can come from anywhere as Connie Westbrook shows in her Pool-Inspired Towels that she based on the tiles in the pool where she swims. The 8-shaft turned twill pattern mimics the lanes in a public pool and also the tiling around the edg
You never know how two colors will react with one another in weaving until after a few throws of the shuttle. It took Sarah H. Jackson a few tries to find just the right design for her gorgeous Inspired by Color Towels from Handwoven May/June 2018.
Before the creation of every great piece of art, the artist asked, “What if?” What if I use dots instead of brush strokes when painting a picture? For his huck towels in HandwovenMay/June 2018, Tom asked “What if” .
You might think that the inspiration for wonderful weaving pieces comes from things that are grand, like the Bolshoi or the Grand Canyon, but in my experience, great weaving designs also come from everyday objects as is the case with these towels.
The last issue of Handwoven shows a rigid-heddle project for towels (Jenny Sennott, Two Savory Towels for the Rigid-Heddle Loom, November/December 2017).
I wanted a project that wasn’t even remotely wintery—something that evokes summertime. The obvious choice was Sarah H. Jackson’s beautiful Shades of India Towels.
When life is busy and if you’ve only got time to weave on the weekend, you may prefer something that doesn’t take too much concentration. For those times, look for something you can easily warp that doesn’t have too many color changes.