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new towels

rjf | Posted in Photo Gallery on

Hi Tish,  What are you weaving these days?  I’m making another pair of shoelaces from the youngest grandson.  What every kid needs:  handwoven shoelaces.  But the other grandchildren thought theirs were wonderful even if they weren’t quite long enough.  I wanted you to see are the latest set of towels, one is cat tracks and snail trails (blue and white) (Snails would be good for that dying business; they leave good squiggles along the way).  The other one is the same warp but different treadling and colors.  I hope you can see the pattern….it looked like an aquarium with fishes going to and fro.  It’s really interesting how many variations you can get with one warp.  What is especially good about weaving these days is that my loom is in a basement room which stays nice and cool.        rjf  

Replies

  1. anneelsberry | | #1

    Wow! You do gorgeous work. I especially love the little "fishies."

    1. rjf | | #6

      Thanks!  I liked the fishies too and they were much easier than the kitties and snails.  I usually plan for four towels but I've never been able to do all four alike.  While I do the first three, I'm thinking "What can I do fast and just for fun?"  It's a good way to use up yarn that's not enough for anything else.       rjf

  2. SisterT | | #2

    I add a "WOW!" too.  Those are beautiful.  Would anyone dare use them to dry a dish?!

    Sr. Tracey

    1. rjf | | #5

      Not only do they dry dishes and hands but golf balls as well.  I did a towel for my golfing buddy to match her golf bag.  The ultimate conceit, I think. She has a good time with it but she explained to me that it's only for wiping off grass, not mud.  Thanks for admiring them.    

      Threads really can ruin your life, you know.  Be careful.....they have too many interesting projects and techniques and if you have to write a dissertation, you could be in trouble.  And it does seem that one project leads to seven more.     rjf

  3. Tish | | #3

    I just got back to the project I warped up in January!  I've had a lot of annoying interruptions.  School.  Made too many promises for things I'd do at the end of the semester, hurt my back (I stand at my loom until I can get a lower loom table), now I'm nursing a weak and painful wrist... One thing after another.

    I've been playing with plain weaves of textured yarns.  Your cloths make me want to go back to playing with patterns.  I love the paws and trails.

    When I was a girl, my mother would buy pretty dish towels and reserve them for lining the bread basket.  After a few years they'd look a little worn and then they'd be used for dishes.  I think that if I had dish towels as nice as yours I find a way to show them off, not wear them out!

    What cotton do you use?  Or are you using linen?

    1. rjf | | #4

      I used cottolin, 60-40 (not sure which is what) for those towels and I really like it.  Such a nice hand!  It costs more than plain old 8/2 cotton but they tell me it lasts forever and stays looking new.  I saw some towels that were quite old and well-used but they really didn't look it so I guess the cost is worth it.

      What kind of textured yarn are you using?  I remember when you did the baby blanket (I think) that was a little problem shed-wise.  Do you use the same thing for warp and weft?  I've got some space-dyed, soft but thick, rayon and I wonder if it would work for both.  It's hardly ever that I want a particular item but just that I want to weave....anything! 

      Sorry about your back and wrist.  Table looms are not easy to use.  Mine is on a slightly higher table on the back porch but I'd like it just a bit higher.  Standing is tiring but when you have to reach to change the shed, sitting doesn't seem convenient.  I hope you get a floor loom as a graduation present!     rjf

  4. HNYMAMA | | #7

    Those are great,  you are very talented.

    1. rjf | | #8

      Thanks!  It's nice to have daughters; my three are grown up and I'm glad to see that they're good friends.  Grandsons are a race apart, not having had any boys.  They are way more rambunctious than I remember my girls being.  It still surprises me when they come to visit.         rjf

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