All Things Towel
For the past few months, I have been fixated on weaving bath towels.
I have not actually woven any bath towels, but I have been in bath towel mode, which means I have been acquiring kits, patterns, and thread to gear up for making bath towels this summer.
The first week of March, I ordered the In the Buff towel kit and Sumptuous Spa Towel pattern from Lunatic Fringe Yarns.
These photos are from Lunatic Fringe:
The In the Buff towels use unmercerized 3/2 cotton in natural.
The Sumptuous Spa towels are woven in 8/2 unmercerized cotton in a waffle weave pattern
In addition, I picked up the Home Spa Towel pattern from Yarn Barn of Kansas in 4/2 cotton (Photos from Yarn Barn):
Based on the photos, my favorite are the Home Spa Towels in 4/2 cotton; however, I have never used or even touched 4/2 cotton.
Of course, I have the most experience with 8/2 cotton. I have even done quite a bit of waffle weave, but I remain unsure how they will work for bath towels.
As to the 3/2 cotton, I have only used it once. In the coverlet I wove for our bed, I used 8/2 cottolin for the warp and 3/2 mercerized cotton for the weft. I have never used 3/2 unmercerized for warp and weft.
Because all this is a bit of uncharted territory for me, I thought the proper thing to do would involve a run of each of the three towel patterns to test them. My ultimate plan is to make gifts of bath and hand towels, perhaps, even a few wash cloths.
For my daughters last year, I made dozens of cottolin waffle weave wash cloths, heavier hand towels (8/2 warp with 5/2 weft), and several batches of homemade soaps for them to package as a group and give as gifts to their friends.
One of my daughters stated she would like some waffle weave bath towels, while the other daughter reported back that the hand towels were a hit with friends.
A twenty yard run of hand towels with 10/2 warp and 5/2 weft is currently in one of the looms now. This first towel is actually using 8/2 weft to test the pattern, but most of the rest of them will use 5/2 as weft.
One of my issues at the moment is the width of the bath towels, I have only one loom, which can accommodate them, the Beast.
I was supposed to dress him for the In the Buff towels a month and two warps ago, but each time I became side tracked with a new hand dyed warp I created...
It is a lovely problem to have, truly.
The current hand dyed warp on him is ten yards and called Feisty Carnivale.
It is such a joy to weave, but I have shifted my attention to the medium sized loom (Lil Miss) because she has a 30-yard warp on her...
Meg currently sports 11/2 cottolin with this gorgeous M & W pattern:
Below, I decided to hand dye some weft:
This next shot shows that I have been using an accent color for my hems, which I prefer to do in pattern. The thin solid line is for cutting.
Thirty-yards is a long warp, but this pattern is such a delight, I find it goes quickly. I am a third of the way through the warp.
I know the ten-yard warp on the Beast would be faster, but this warp has been on the loom longer. Plus, I have another hand dyed warp on deck that I am anxious to get on a loom. I am afraid if I finish the Beast’s current warp, I will push back the towel warp...again. Ha!
The newest hand dyed warp is an experiment in dye strength. I made five chains, each four inches wide. I dyed two fuchsia with spots of color and three truffle brown, also with spots of color; however, one chain of the fuchsia was dyed full strength while the other was dyed half strength. Likewise, the truffle brown chains were dyed full, half, and quarter strength.
However, I am one step closer to my towels project. I sat down and ran the numbers on the towels.
For the In the Buff kit, I received 5 pounds of the 3/2 unmercerized cotton, enough to make four bath towels.
These are the cones of 3/2 cotton. They are so soft!
If I used all five pounds from the kit, I could make a 14 yard warp. I just needed to order another five pounds for the weft!
As the 3/2 unmercerized cotton is natural, I am actually squelching the desire to dye it.
For the 8/2 waffle weave towels, I had enough thread for the stripes of color, but I needed more white, especially as I am going to do a 20 yard warp for 9 towels. If that seems like a lot for 9 towels, there is a tremendous amount of shrinkage with waffle weave. Each towel will be woven to 72” under tension to yield a 64” long towel. I added that to my order.
Lastly, my favorite Home Spa Towels called for 2 pounds of 4/2 cotton for warp and a pound each of blue and juniper green for two towels (one of each color). Warping for only two towels was not worth the effort for me, so I decided a twelve yard warp would yield six towels and added the thread necessary to my list.
A little while ago, I placed my order with Yarn Barn!
I fully expect the thread to arrive long before I am ready, but the pressure of having all that thread sitting there waiting on me, will get me going!
Fortunately, I gave myself the summer to get them done.
As this weekend will be a holiday weekend, I may take Friday off for four full days, hopefully, of weaving!
Comments
They sure do!
;)