A few towels for towel exchanges and gifts...

And a few to keep...

This all started when I bought my cottage a few years ago. I wanted a mishmash of handwoven guest towels in the bathrooms, just like Suzanne. I love all the different towels she had accumulated over the years from various guild sales that she used as guest towels. There’s a fresh pile every morning in the bathroom during the classes taught at her house.

I’m impatient. I want that pile now *. The only way I could see that happening is if I start a towel exchange. Get the maximum variety out of each towel warp by exchanging one or two towels from each warp.  Either that, or spend a lot of money at the Whidbey Weaver’s Guild annual sale, which I also did.

So, I proposed a little exchange with a Laura and Donna in my guild. That was 2 years ago. I bought a kit from Halcyon, and then it sat. That is, until this summer. I put it on the loom in June and wove it off. It was another month before I pulled the sewing machine out and finished them.

The kit came with yarn and a draft pattern — Four Thread Herringbone from Davison’s book. I had a lot of fun playing with the different treadling. Each towel uses a different treadling. I may have repeated one or two of my favorites.

This was fun. Changing out the weft color and the treadling order, I was able to get very different towels off of the same warp. I might get that mishmash sooner rather than later!

Sampler Towel

But for this one, I mixed it up. I inserted all the different treadlings into the towel and used all the different colors in the weft. This also helped me finish up all the partial bobbins of yarn. This will be a fun reminder of the project.

Specs:

  • Halycon Tea Towel Kit in Driftwood colorway
  • Yarn: Cottolin, 1 spool each of white, natural, blue and brown
  • Weave Structure: Four Thread Herringbone; p.25 of Davison’s book
  • Shafts: 4
  • Reed: 10 dent
  • EPI: 20
  • Warp Length: 8.5 yards
  • Ends: 384 (ends and color order provided in kit instructions)
  • On Loom: 18.9″ W x 34-35″ L for each towel; 7 towels plus a partial (square towel in picture)
  • After Finishing: 17″ W x 27.5″ L (includes 1/2″ rolled hem, so 29.5″ long before hemming)

* Yes, you can stop snickering. It took me two years to make these, so “now” is relative.

P.S. This is likely the last time that the towels for keeping will see an iron…