Comments

Thu, 05/31/2012 - 07:15

mallasch

These are really stunning.  From someone who has never weaved - do you think I could do something like this for my first attempt?

Paula Mallasch

 

 

Thu, 05/31/2012 - 12:08

Michael White

Paula, Susan's dish towels are lovely. Weaving kitchen towels is always a great first project. Why, if you make a mistake the towel is still useable. We have a kitchen full of "reject" towels ( Cheryl sells hundreds of towels and sometimes one gets screwed up) The nice thing about towels is you can use just about any size cotton from fine 20/2 to heavy 3/2. The size of the yarn will effect what you can do with the towel. A fine cotton is great for glasses and the really heavy weighs for bath towels. As you get more experience weaving you can weave towels out of linen and gots of other yarns. The hardest thing you are going to run into is what draft to use. There is also a dish towel group here on Weavo. To see more towels please look at Cheryl's weaving site www.handweaver.us

Michael

Thu, 05/31/2012 - 17:28

Susan Harvey (not verified)

Hi Paula,

If you have an 8 shaft loom with 10 treadles and wide enough.... you can weave these towels. They are a very simple straight draw (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) and all the pattern is in the tie up. The weaving is also 1 through to 8 and repeat. The pattern makes nice tidy little boxes that are very absorbant for toweling!  I think the thickest I would go with yarns for this is 8/2 which would be sett at 24 epi. The ones you see in this post are made with 16/2 cotton, sett at 36 epi. The picture is not the best and I could send you a better copy, plus help you with locating the draft.  Please send me your email address in a *private* message and we can chat more.

Michael also added some good information on various yarns and the versatility of towels as "full sized samples".  

Looking forward to hearing from you...

Susan

Tue, 06/19/2012 - 07:58

mallasch

I will definitely give these towels a go.  I think its the colours and combinations that you have used.  they look so inspiring - too nice to dry dishes with though.  I have finished my first ever weaving project last weekend - a table runner and im really excited to get onto the next project - just need to find out where I can buy cotton from here in New Zealand,  Thanks for your inspiring and helpful comments.

Paula in Wintery New Zealand

 

Tue, 06/19/2012 - 16:17

Susan Harvey (not verified)

Hi Paula,

First up, I used to live in NZ in Dunedin many years ago and so recall the winters there.  

I also have a sister Paula and a step daughter Paula! Great name...  :)

These towels were made in 16/2 cottons (36 epi) and you might also like to look at another of my projects, "(late) spring towels" as its the exact same pattern but this time in thicker 8/2 cottons (24 epi)

If you do colours in single stripes, you get a more pronounced diamond look. It looks like you might have to get your cottons in Australia? I'd recommend Brassards in Canada but the shipping would kill you!  

If you have any other questions, feel free to write me.... or you'll find more details on these projects at the linked blog posts.

Take care, Susan

Wed, 06/20/2012 - 20:50

mallasch

Hi 

I have an opportunity to buy cotton 20/2ECC in New Zealand at a reasonable price at $21.00 per kilo compared to $17.30 per 100 gram.  The only thing is I have to buy it in bulk - 20kg lots.  Im thinking of getting raw white and black to use for warping and then will pick up some 100 gram cones in various colours from another supplier.  My question is - what would be the most usable size in cotton to use for teatowels and other projects? Should I go to a thicker or thinner yarn?  The only options in colour i have are black, raw white and bleached.

As I dont understand the classification of cotton your help would be appreciated.  

Paula

 

Thu, 06/21/2012 - 04:25

Susan Harvey (not verified)

Hi Paula,

I wrote you an email to your home address... did you get that one? I had attached a copy of the towel draft for you as a jpeg picture.

I'm thinking over your cotton size mentioned above. 20/2 ECC... If its 20/2 cotton as we have here it is exceptionally fine ( 10/2 would be 28 epi, so double that to 56 !!) Do they give you the yards per pound at all? (just to confirm the size as it appears.) I have no idea of what the ECC means.

I had a friend here today and we both have stays in NZ in common and weaving. We both know of two NZ weavers who might have more help to give you regarding suppliers.

Dianne Dudfield at http://loomtalk.blogspot.com/

Dianne is in the North Island

and

Meg Nakagawa at http://megweaves.blogspot.com/

Meg lives in Nelson

They must get their yarns from somewhere  and would be able to steer you in the right direction. Better than I can from Canada! Perhaps leave a message in the comment section and leave an email address they can easily reach you at.

All the best Susan

 

 

Wed, 07/11/2012 - 22:33

mallasch

Hi Susan I have finally located and purchased some cotton so would love to give teatowel weaving a go. At this stage I only have a four shaft six treddle loom but will be picking up a countermarch in the weekend, that will need reassembling, cleaning and repairs. It is a 56 inch reed. Yay I can go a bit wider than my 26inch. I never received your email with the pattern for your teatowels. Would you mind resending the draft -- my email is [email protected] . Thanks and hope your enjoying Canadian summer - its flippin cold here..... Rain on the horizon though. Thanks in advance Paula

Wed, 07/11/2012 - 22:34

mallasch

Hi Susan I have finally located and purchased some cotton so would love to give teatowel weaving a go. At this stage I only have a four shaft six treddle loom but will be picking up a countermarch in the weekend, that will need reassembling, cleaning and repairs. It is a 56 inch reed. Yay I can go a bit wider than my 26inch. I never received your email with the pattern for your teatowels. Would you mind resending the draft -- my email is [email protected] . Thanks and hope your enjoying Canadian summer - its flippin cold here..... Rain on the horizon though. Thanks in advance Paula

Sun, 07/29/2012 - 21:55

Susan Harvey (not verified)

Hi Paula,

I keep resending to the email address you posted in the messages above and nothing is sent back (rejected) and I hear nothing back from you. I don't know what else to do. Do you have a yahoo, hotmail or gmail account? I could try sending there instead?

Susan

Thu, 08/02/2012 - 09:57

mallasch

Hi Susan I have discovered that many of my emails are being sent to cyber space and I have not been receiving them. Please try another email address - [email protected] Thank you for your understanding and patience with me. Paula

Thu, 08/02/2012 - 16:48

Susan Harvey (not verified)

Hi Paula,

I have sent an email to the hotmail address...

Susan

Tue, 04/08/2014 - 05:32

JosephWitt (not verified)

This looks fabulous, I would love to try this.

Finished Length Unit
yards
Finished Width Unit
yards
Length Off Loom Unit
yards
Length on Loom Unit
yards
Notes

 

Edited in Nov 2012: replaced fuzzy low resolution pictures with better ones! Now you can actually see the cloth and not just a blur of colour  :)  Susan

 

I have used this pattern before but with 2/8 cottons. This time, 2/16's for a finer towel material. This pattern is all in the tie up. The threading and treadling is a straight draw or run. Great ipod project! Just tromp away and cut apart later!

The pattern makes neat and tidy little boxes that mean no long floats, and great absorbancy.

When ever I'm at a loss for something to weave, on goes this and I bang out a set of towels....the neat 8 thread grouping means you can play with colours and even gradations if you like.

 

Number of Shafts
8
Number of Treadles
8
Project Status
Finished
Sett Unit
epi
Width off Loom Unit
inches
Width on Loom Unit
inches