handwoven towels 2026

 Well I finally got back on the loom this year.  I have been looking for a pastel warp after all my pastel towels sold quickly last fall.  When Amanda at Shiny Dime Fibers popped up with Summer Meadows, it looked to fit the bill.  In person it wasn't as clear and bright as I had hoped for. Nothing wrong with it at all, just computer screen brightness had me tricked into thinking it was something different. It was not a problem other than adjusting my expectations and figuring out different weft colors than planned. 

There was this smoky section between the yellow and the aqua that was a dusty gold. The Jaune yellow just wasn't going to look good going through that area and maybe not the bright orange either.  

After I got it, and the two thread stripes in between pattern repeats tied on to my previous warp on the Louet Spring, I started out with my usual black weft when I can't make a decision. This gives me time to see how the warp colors progress and time to think more. 

I ended up using a different pale orange for the second one and then instead of pastel teal, a darker Aquamarine teal next. 

  

Oh that dusty section between yellow and blue, 

oh, well it looks fine when i get to the pink sections. 

 Still undecided about yellow, I went with a dark orange that took on a coral look with the pinks in the warp.   And as I wove I realized it looked inspired by the Enkianthus currently blooming in the garden. 

One more to go I went with black again to bring out the brightness of the warp but I used a different treadling and wove it longer so it could also be a table runner. 

Well, my warp was not really 6 yards which I discovered when making the 6 yard  stripes, so there was not enough for another towel.  Now I like to play with color and see what happens for as long as the warp will let me. I ended up using a bronze and got another ~14" woven which can end up as a little table mat or other use. 

 Here's the little mat: 

 

and the 5 towels:  

 

Then some fun time for a little modeling with each towel separately: 

 

the coral orange one

 

the Aquamarine

 

I'll call this light orange one "peach"  

 

the two black ones showing the different 

treadling patterns and different lengths. 

 

the longer towel as a runner. 

Bad photo angle - it looks square, it's not. 

18.5" x 33" 

Hand dyed TOWELS AND TABLE RUNNERS 2025

Updated after the Gift show: 

 

two available: the teal and the yellow

Patina towels, two available 

Handdyed to match your kitchen cabinets with these. 

two still available

 

shades of grey kitchen towels-5

3 available

 brights and oranges

one on the right available

 

pastels

middle one sold

 

fiesta towels and/or table runners

two still available

 

 

 

table square or hand towel

 

 

hand towel or table square

sold at gift show

 

Bread cloth or table square

sold at gift show

 

bread cloth or table square

sold at gift show

 

bread cloth or table square

Patina Reprise

I made handwoven towels in the 'Patina' colorway a few years ago 

for hostess gifts and just got an order for another. 

so I reordered some more skeins from Carr Park Artisans and wove a few more. 

One is in the kitchen of its new home in Albuquerque NM, 

and these three (scroll down) are ready for the gift show in Edmonds Nov. 15 & 16. 

#heddleandhook  #artistsconnect  #edmondsgiftshow  

Here's the whole process: 

 

Ordered these skeins from Carr Park

 but the brown in the center didn't quite match what my originals were. 

This is typically fine and expected with one of a kind 

hand dyed and handwoven items. 

But I gave it try to do a little matching and over dyed the center sections. 

They came out very close to the previous colors so I was happy with that. 

 

Lined up the colors on the warping board. 

 

tying on to the previous warp on the Louet Spring loom. 

430 little knots to keep straight and organized and to tie. 

 

Now to wind on and get even tension.

Those encyclopedias serve as good weights and 

their weighty history inside will serve well when the electronics fail. 

 

changing weaving pattern between towels 

 

finished towels for your kitchen

More Utilitarian Art Kitchen towels

 

Sold the first batch of 6 in these colors, so I hand dyed my own skeins and made some more similar ones.  Great sturdy, soft, absorbent towels for you and the cooks in your life. 

Getting ready for the Artists Connect gift show November 15 and 16, 2025

    

The dyed skeins, I always forget to get a photo of the dye process. 

With wet gloves on the dye getting on everything It's just as well. 

 

wound into balls.

Oh, I think this would make a good tweed scarf in these colors, too. 

 

on the warping board lining up the colors the way I want.  

 

on the loom and starting the weaving 

 

finished! and ready for your kitchen 

 

six different weaving patterns

to choose from

size ~18" x 27"-28"

From SUNBURST skein to FIESTA TOWELS

  Fiesta colors for my next set of towels

#heddleandhook #handweaving #blazingshuttles

5 towels and one end of warp experiment with treadling variations.

I used two handdyed Blazing Shuttles 'Sunburst' skeins with 8 little solid stripes. Wefts were turquoise, fuchsia, jaune, orange, and aqua with different treadle patterns for each. The table mat, woven with black, was my own design using varied treadling.

I used 18epi for this 6/2 RS cotton. they came out nice and thick with great texture. 

 

 

 

 

 

RETURNING TO THE LOOMS LATE SUMMER 2025

 Inspired by weaver friend to not let empty looms sit. I'm back to my looms.

Here's my next set of towels in process. So long story: I had two skeins of Blazing Shuttles handdyed cotton in color Smoke and Rust that I wanted to have some black sections. So I overdyed a part of them last week. I'm happy how they turned out. I got a 6 yard warp out of them on Sunday and then tied on 432 threads to my Louet Spring loom yesterday along with the addition of some handdyed Eugene Textile cottolin multi color threads for some color pop variety. Started the first towel this morning. First towel weft color of black, considering maybe a gold for one, and then the the other 4--who knows....

 

I ended up weaving three with noir- black and 3 with rouge vin- wine.