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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

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Tag Archives: Towels

Designing Double Duty

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, Designing, Planning, Towels

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

creative inspiration, Designing, Projects, Towels, Weaving

Blue and Red Towels off the loom

The blue towels came off the loom a couple weeks ago and before the last shuttle thrown, I already knew a red warp would follow.

The blue warp has three shades threaded evenly across the ground with plaid-like bands of pale yellow bordered with purple on either side. This was the first time in a while that I wove distinct bands in the warp and it turned out to be a relaxing weave—I knew the drill, followed old habits and came up with several variations for weft-wise borders.

Even as the blue towels are waiting to be hemmed, I was measuring the red warp, this time a blend of various shades accented with yellow, purple, orange, and fuchsia. Using the same treadling orders, this set of towels wove up fast. All the designing was done already. And yes, I did tie the red warp onto the blue.

The first three towels were an experiment in themselves. Twill draws in more than tabby. Twill woven within a tabby towel often leaves scalloped selvages, but could I reduce or eliminate those scallops by bubbling the weft more? The answer is yes –and no. The twill bands didn’t draw in as much, but there is still some difference. And if I wasn’t careful, the excess weft sometimes left loops on the surface.

This twill threading allows a variety of different treadlings too. This is when I really appreciate the computer. I was able to eliminate a couple ideas because they resulted in some long floats. I took careful notes on how I treadled each set so that I could repeat them with the red warp. Even so, there are plenty of options with straight draw twill:

Straight Draw Twill on Ms and Ws Threading

a combination of tabby and twill (bubbling carefully):

Tabby with twill

woven as drawn in (what is sometimes called “trompt as writ”):

Ms and Ws woven as drawn in

and point treadling:

Point treadling on Ms and Ws threading

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a green warp next. However, a niece is expecting a baby this fall and baby blankets and bibs are next on the to-do list. And then there’s a loom reassignment coming up—more on that next time!

When have your designs done double duty? Share your story!

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Another One for the Books

14 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Weaving Inspiration

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Columbia Weavers & Spinners Guild, Scarves, Table Runners, Textiles, Towels, Weaving

2016 Holiday Exhibition and Sale Postcard

2016 Holiday Exhibition and Sale Postcard

The annual Holiday Exhibition and Sale for our local Columbia Weavers and Spinners Guild has just finished. Those participants selling, and many fellow guild members besides, put in hours preparing our wares for the big weekend and so enjoy each other’s company for the three day event.

The wall of scarves

The wall of scarves

I only do this one local event each year and I have great respect for those who sell at multiple events throughout the season. Just the set-up and take-down require a lot of energy, muscle, and forethought—how best to display and how best to store for another event. But before the weekend ever arrives, there is also all the loving labor that goes into each piece.

The ever popular towel display

The ever popular towel display

Those of us who produce to exhibit and sell soak up the inspiration of seeing how others use their talents. And we usually support each other generously and treasure each item we bring home!

And of course we take notes for 2017. Always planning ahead. Always room for improvement. Isn’t inspiration great!

Have you been to any local art fairs lately?

How Long?

22 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in creating, Planning, Towels

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

creative inspiration, Towels, Weaving

View from the front, warp chains threaded through the reed.

View from the front, warp chains threaded through the reed.

“How long does it take to weave that?

It’s a common question I hear. So, do you want the long answer or the short answer?

The short answer to the question? “About an hour per towel.” The long answer? “It depends.”

I have tried to time projects just to get a better idea on how to answer, but where do I start?

The seed for each warp often springs from an earlier project. As I weave, I consider how I could choose a slightly different colorway or wonder what would happen if I treadle this threading as if it were a different structure entirely, weaving an overshot as if it were a lace weave for instance. So the planning is sort of fluid and therefore, hard to “time.” Putting it into an actual planning sheet doesn’t take long in itself, but my indecision can really take a while to ferment into a cohesive plan.

Then there’s the time it takes to measure the warp. I typically weave 8 or 9 towels at a time. This can run anywhere from 9 to 10 yards. If I use a finer thread, I will need more of them to get a towel 20-24” wide. The warp I measured the other day needed 568 threads, each 10 yards, 8” long. And if there are multiple color changes, that takes time too. To make it easier to handle, I break that number into four or five “bouts” or groups of threads, chain them up and take them to the loom. It took maybe about 3 hours to wind that warp. (You see? Not very exact.)

View from the back of the threads coming through the reed and the heddles.

View from the back of the threads coming through the reed and the heddles.

Once at the loom, every thread has to go through the reed and a heddle—in the right order!  Sleying the reed usually doesn’t take as long, typically about an hour or so, again depending on the fineness of the threads and how many go through each dent (slot). Threading the heddles, though, can take the better part of a day and half. Not as young as I used to be and I have to get up and stretch more often.

After the warp is threaded, it has to be wound onto the warp beam. Here is where I find out if I’ve inadvertently crossed any threads between the reed and the heddles. If I don’t have tangles, the winding on goes pretty quickly—about an hour or so, depending on the length of the warp. After I tie it onto the breast beam, spread the warp, and adjust the tension, I’m ready to weave. This is the fun part.DSCN1466

So the next question, sometime spoken, sometimes not, is “Why do you do something by hand that can be done so much cheaper commercially?”

There is a value in the connection between the hand and the product. We’ve gotten so far away of an item’s source that we don’t care about it anymore. But if we know that a person took the time to choose the colors and plan how those threads will cross, will we not see that cloth in a different light? Will we not appreciate that item more and elevate the task it’s used in to be more than it was? Whether it’s a handmade quilt, or homemade jam, or handspun yarn, or handwoven towel, it’s the “hand-“ and the “home-“ that make those items more valuable because someone took the time.

Besides I love to weave.

How long does it take you to do what you love?

What Goes Around…

12 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Craft History, Towels, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Craft History, Early American Weaving, Towels

Red Cotton Towel woven "as drawn in."

Red Cotton Towel woven “as drawn in.”

You know the old saying : What goes around, comes around.  This is certainly true in weaving, but I can always learn more from early weavers.

For some time, I have belonged to the Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts study group through Complex Weavers. Through the years, members of this group have worked to find and preserve old weaving drafts and manuscripts. The eastern United States had quite a number of professional weavers in its early days and they often kept account books, recording not only what they charged for weaving, spinning, and dying, but also often their patterns. Apprentices began their studies by copying their masters’ draft books, sometimes even including doodles in the margins. These manuscripts are treasured when they are found. And often, they are digitized so others can study and weave them.

Handweaving.net is a wonderful archive of over 60,000 weaving drafts and documents, many of which are public domain according to the site. I can get lost browsing through these patterns; they offer a glimpse into what weavers were doing 100 or more years ago.

Red and Plum Towel woven "as drawn in."

Red and Plum Towel woven “as drawn in.”

And these drafts do take study. Weaving notation is pretty consistent now, but early weavers had their own notation conventions and it isn’t always apparent to us in the 21st century what the weaver of the 1700’s meant by his marks. Does the pattern go from left to right, or right to left? Does the first line represent the closest shaft or the farthest? Many times, all that is shown is more like a musical staff than a pattern, a set of horizontal lines with a series of tick marks. Sometimes there is a tie-up, many times not. Rarely are there any directions on the treadling.

This is what makes these early drafts fascinating.

I particularly like the fancy twills that often show up in these old manuscripts. I picked one from the Jacob Snavely manuscript for my recent towel warp. It’s called variously Ms and Ws, or hin und wieder. I’m told that’s German for “back and forth” which is really quite descriptive of the motifs. They are characterized by fancy diamonds within diamonds, crosses, and stars.

Tangerine and Reg Towel woven in point twill.

Tangerine and Reg Towel woven in point twill.

The draft I picked was just a series of lines over lines, but it did have a tie-up included. After making some adjustments to suit my taste and yarn, I had to decide how to treadle this draft. Often these old drafts were treadled in the same order as they were threaded (woven “as drawn in” or “trompt as writ”). But there are other possibilities. In some of my towels, I did weave as drawn in, but in the orange one, I treadled a simpler point – just back and forth. Both designs are pleasing.

Now the warp is off the loom, but I don’t want to leave the design just yet. I’m in the process of tying on another warp so I can play some more. This new warp will feature blue, rose, and natural. We’ll see how far I can go with this early draft.

The Color of Cotton

28 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, Towels

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Color, Cotton, Handwoven, Towels

Twill Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton

Twill Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton

Before my weaving days, my exposure to cotton was limited to one color: white. White t-shirts, white sheets, white hotel towels. What color there was came from dyes. And many times, that color was fugitive—over time, red turned to pink, navy turned to powder blue, and yellow faded to cream.

Then I learned to weave and of course, needed yarn. I love shopping for yarn! There are so many different fibers, different spins, and hues to choose from. And that’s when I discovered that cotton is also available in colors that come from nature!

Kitchen Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton

Kitchen Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton

Cotton has always grown in a variety of browns, tans, greens, and even reds, and many peoples over time have spun and woven beautiful naturally colored textiles. It has a shorter  staple(fiber) length than white cotton and produces a softer cloth than white cotton. And the amazing thing to me is that the color deepens with washing. I wove a series of hand towels several years ago and had a small piece left over which I kept and use as a basket liner. This little towel is still the same soft green and brown as when I wove it.

The white cotton we are familiar with today was bred in response to the Industrial Revolution. The development of inexpensive dyes and improvements in spinning and weaving manufacturing led growers to breed just that one variety. Colored cotton became a novelty until the early 1980’s when a small number of cotton breeders began developing the line again.

Kitchen Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton Twill

Kitchen Towel in Naturally Colored Cotton Twill

Remembering the towels I wove earlier, I decided to weave another run in naturally colored cotton. Cotton is a great fiber for towels, very absorbent, durable and easy to care for. And twill is my go-to weave structure for just about everything. The towels are off the loom now and I’m almost finished hemming. I’m happy with the feel of the towels and the warm colors of the cotton. And I know they won’t fade!

An Uplifting Weekend

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by jeanweaves in Weaving Inspiration

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Columbia Weavers & Spinners Guild, creative inspiration, Fiber Arts, Handweaving, Towels

Our  local guild’s Holiday Exhibition and Sale has come and gone. What an inspiring weekend! I am always awed by the variety and quality of artwork that all the members share.

Ornaments, Cards, and Felted Playset at the 2014 HES

Ornaments, Cards, and Felted Playset at the 2014 HES

We had a lot more wall art this year, felted pieces as well as hand-made paper. One of our members needle-felted playsets for small hands — adorable landscapes for ducks, hedgehogs, and turtles. Another member repurposed linen clothing into scarves dyed with rust (yes!) and embellished with stitching; so creative!

And of course, we had a colorful collections of towels that seemed to fly out the door. I selected an exquisite Scandinavian-style linen towel to come home with me. Yes, we some of our own best customers!

Towel Display at the 2014 HES

Towel Display at the 2014 HES

 

 

I am also humbled, knowing that a guild like this is something to be treasured. Not everyone has this kind of support and inspiration, not to be taken for granted. I wish all weavers were surrounded by an inspiring, encouraging fiber family, if not locally, than at least over the net.

May your fiber connections bring you inspiration as the fall quiets into winter. Stay warm!

“The Good One”

11 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by jeanweaves in Planning, Towels, Yarn Stash

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Color, Cotton, Handweaving, Towels

Cotton Lace Kitchen Towel

Cotton Lace Kitchen Towel

One of my sons-in-law made me laugh recently. Here’s the story.

Many years ago, more years than I’d like to admit, I decided to make Roman shades for my daughters’ room. I had some commercial fabric with red and blue flowers on a pale pink background. That was my starting point. I chose yarn to match those colors and chose lace as the weave structure. I wound the warp and started weaving, but the colors just didn’t “sing” the way I had envisioned them. Being a new weaver, I thought they would grow on me. Not so. After 11 yards, the cloth came off the loom and still, no “song.” I was so disenchanted that I folded the fabric and stowed it away. The curtains never came to be.

Fast forward to this past winter when I decided to clear some of my stash. At the time, I was thinking about using yarn that had been on the shelf too long, but my curtain fabric still haunted my linen closet.

Because I had used cotton in a lace weave, this fabric was actually a good candidate for towels. So I put scissors to fabric, cut the yardage into several towels and gave them out to my family. They aren’t pretty–the colors still don’t sing after all these years–but they work as towels.

And this is how my son-in-law made me laugh–my daughter has been using her towel and on laundry day, put it in the wash. Her husband happened to be washing up in the kitchen and looking for something to dry his hands, asked her, “Where’s the good one?”

One weaver’s failed project is another family’s “good one!”

Now I am working on towels in the same weave structure, but with colors that work much better than my original ones. Can you hear the song?

When is a Towel Not a Towel?

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by jeanweaves in Towels, Uncategorized

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Handwoven, Towels

There is a familiar line we hear when talking to others about handwoven towels: “Oh it’s too pretty to use for dishes!” We laugh, but if you have to do dishes, why not do them with something pretty? Handwoven towels are absorbent, they are soft, they feel special, and are a pleasure to work with. But when is a towel not a towel? What are some of the other uses for a “towel”?

I have a collection of towels woven by friends of mine. They grace my coffee table. They cover my end tables. They accent the center piece for festive dinners. They line bread baskets. They make great hostess gifts. A friend wove one in a pattern from an early American weaving manuscript but with rich hues of plum, ruby, blue, burgundy, and gold. Another in my collection blends pastel colors of cotton and linen. There is the terra cotta towel with a natural accent border. And just recently, I purchased a delightful towel with dragonflies floating across the surface.

We like to weave towels. They are short projects and you don’t have to match one to another like placemats or napkins. You can warp a loom for 10 towels and weave a different pattern and color for each. And when we get tired of a draft, we can just thread a different one next time.

So next time you see a handwoven towel, remember all the places you can use it. And remember–they do dry dishes!

Moving into Autumn

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by jeanweaves in Overshot, Table Runners, Towels, Uncategorized

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Table Runners, Towels, Weaving

Autumn is my favorite season.  The weather cools down (or is supposed to!). Leaves start to change color in our part of the country. Winter squashes like butternut and acorn ripen. Apples appear in the farmers’ market. Hmmm…nice time of year!

The lemon yellow and daffodil gold hand towels are finished and off the loom. Spearmint green worked well as a weft, so that showed up in more than just one towel. These soft colors complement each other. The burnt orange pushed the yellow to the other side of the spectrum and resulted in a sassy, bold look that made the woven motif pop!

autum-1The hand towels were quickly replaced on the small loom with warp for overshot table runners. Overshot is a weave structure most often seen in early American coverlets. Snowballs, roses, stars, pine trees and other figures combine to make the overall design. Usually, overshot is woven on a finer warp using a heavier “pattern” weft alternating with a finer “tie-down” weft. Having two wefts means weaving with two shuttles but they are needed to create a stable cloth.

The longer floating weft threads of overshot give the structure its name. Each throw of the shuttle is called a “shot.” The pattern weft is shot over several warp threads before being tied down. The advantages are very clear motifs and uninterrupted colors. Because of the floats, an overshot works better in textiles like coverlets or table runners rather than kitchen towels. For these runners, the red threads float over the natural threads to show a bright rose-like figure.

autum-2The variety of overshot designs make them popular for traditional weaving. Volumes have been written, tracing the motifs through the various parts of the country.American Woven Coverlets by Carol Strickler (1987, Interweave Press) is a great resource. American Star Work Coverlets by Judith Gordon (1995, Design Books) is another. Look them up to find out more about overshot!

Greetings from the Weaving Room!

09 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by jeanweaves in Table Runners, Towels, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Damask, Table Runners, Towels, Weaving

It’s another pleasant, late summer day in Missouri. The beans are slowing down and the tomatoes are trying to ripen before the squirrels get them. They are on their own. I’m working on a couple new warps!

Last week, I put the draw attachment back on my Glimakra loom and rethreaded a damask warp, this one in forest green to grace holiday tables. I’m using a star pattern from an early coverlet which repeats for the length. The beauty of this damask threading is that I can change patterns at will and get a variety of designs on one warp.

tumblr_inline_mr9nl1hHDc1qz4rgpThe other warp on my smaller loom is for hand towels. I combined a lemon yellow cotton with a daffodil cotton to make nice, thirsty towels. I just wish I had more of each color to use as weft as well, but alas, both cones are empty now. So it’s time to get creative in using what’s on the shelf: perhaps a soft spearmint green, perhaps a bold orange, maybe a paler butter yellow. We’ll see what works.

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