Revisiting Susan Poague‘s Circles and Checks

The Fall 2024 issue of* Handwoven *includes a letter from Sheila O‘Hara about weaving her own version of Susan Poague‘s popular Circles and Checks towel design. Sheila wove her towels using 10/2 pearl cotton—and she shaded the warp colors to make the circles appear three-dimensional. You may know Sheila from her own design work, including the Vis-à-Vis runner on the cover of the same issue

We applaud Sheila for playing with this design to make it her own. Interested in trying out the Circles and Checks draft yourself? Take a look at the original project instructions or download the WIFs linked below, and consider putting a warp on your loom. We’d be delighted to see what you make of it!

The Original Draft

Susan Poague’s Circles and Checks Towels project from Handwoven’s May/June 2019 issue. Photo by Joe Coca

Just as in any other field, there are ebbs and flows in weaving interests—changes in the number of projects you see in a certain weave structure, yarn type, or weaving style. A certain draft or yarn type will catch the eye of someone, they will weave something beautiful with it, and that will propel others to look at that draft or that yarn in a new way.

The Circles and Checks Towels in Turned Taqueté by Susan Poague from Handwoven’s May/June 2019 issue is the type of project that catches people’s eye. It’s a draft that is easy to envision in your own colorway and is readily adapted to your stash at hand.

Your version of the Circles and Checks towels will make wonderful gifts. Photo by George Boe

The towels are woven on an 8-harness loom and require only one shuttle. As you can see in the photographs, Susan chose a green/blue palette using 8/2 cotton, but we’ve seen some stunning rainbow versions and other colorways that are equally beautiful online.

We created free WIFs for three versions of this draft: Circles, Checks, and Circles Variation. Download and play around with them, adjusting them to fit the color scheme of your choice. Or follow Sheila’s lead and take the circles into another dimension entirely!

Originally published Mar. 26, 2020; updated Sept. 5, 2024