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| Handwoven Hand Towels by RepWeaver, Warp #91 |
These hand towels are from a warp tied on to my previous two warps. This means they are of the same threading but a different color-way than the other two. This time I decided to place the variegated ends in regular spots within the warp. For instance, I decided the thin middle stripe in the first five towels should be variegated. There are a total of four variegated ends within each threading repeat.
The drafts are #443, #444, and #446 from Carol Strickler's "A Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft Patterns", my favorite drafts from one of my favorite books.
While weaving these I was thinking how well they would go with granite countertops. My house does not have granite, maybe some day . . .
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| RepWeaver #91-4, Hand Towel detail |
As a general rule I aim to chose a solid color from one of the middle hues of a chosen variegated yarn. That way there are both lighter and darker highlights sprinkled in with the solid colored main warp color. And if I match the main warp color to a mid hue, the variegated ends will sometimes seem to disappear into the background.
An issue on my mind while weaving these is how so often handwoven towels are referred to as "dish towels." I beg to differ. Handwoven towels, at least my handwoven towels, are meant to be used to dry your hands. I call them "Hand Towels". A dish towel is a thin flour-sack sort of cloth, preferably embroidered with a cute design to brighten up a sometimes tedious task. Something like this:
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| Two of my favorite "dish towels" and their embroidery patterns from Bird Brain Designs ( #325) and Aunt Martha's (#4009) |
Another thought is that towels such as these would work equally well in the powder room as in the kitchen. No longer will I label my towels as "Kitchen Towels" which is the way I have been doing it.
