Anatomy of a Hand Towel

Its been just over two years now since I walked into my first Midnight Shuttles Guild meeting on a "dark and stormy" November night.  Being completely new to town, I had no idea where I was going; the wind was howling and the rain was coming in sideways and I was trying to find a little blue house down by the seashore.  Its called Sybil's cottage as that is where famous artist Sybil Andrews had lived.  I blew in a few minutes late and have felt at home there ever since.   A warm and caring group of people...

I have shown them some of my weaving as show and tell at meetings and one member asked if it was possible for me to do a small program on finishing details and techniques.  Reasonable enough request but it would mean having a variety of finished samples on hand, and some in mid progress to show them. Since I do all my work on floor looms, and finish things to completion (no WIP's), how could I demonstrate this in as a small program?   My work is done on finished items and then usually sold and gone. I have posted blog posts here that show different techniques I've used but that's meant for the solitary browser, who at best, may share the link with a friend or two.

Then I got the idea of setting something up on a table loom to demonstrate and show them..... then it evolved into a group project where the loom is passed around.  So the birth of the guest towel project was hatched.  🐣

I got ahold of the guild's 8 shaft Dorothy table loom and found it needed a good cleaning and tune up.  I cleaned it with Murphy's oil soap and some diligent scrubbing and took some corrosion off the metal bits.  All the lashing cords came off and were washed and rethreaded back on. 

I noticed it had some bits missing and some rather elderly and sparse wires heddles. Not enough for my project ( and there were no heddles at all on shafts five to eight!).  I was given approval to purchase some new inserted eye heddles from Leclerc and one member's husband kindly made some beautiful oak lease sticks. The old girl was looking rather grand now!

I had planned a four shaft Swedish lace project, found in The Handweaver's Pattern Directory by Anne Dixon (page 191),  to do a small hand towel each, using 10/2 cottons, and featuring hemstitching details.   So I wound a six yard warp, sett 24 epi and Hubby helped me beam it.

Here's the loom being threaded. Its a bit of a reach to even the front four shafts!  (There are holes predrilled in the sides so I suspect this could be added to to make it a twelve shaft. It would explain the reach.)

The new heddles just slip along nicely.....and being Swedish lace, its a heavier count for heddles on shafts one and two.

As you can see here in this close up below, the inserted eye is nicely open and smooth for any yarn type with out fear of snags or pinching. Being stainless steel, there's no corrosion to deal with either.

The new oak lease sticks are doing a fine job!

Finally, I trussed up the beater bar assembly to stand upright and sleyed the 12 dent reed.  

Ready to lace on. I'm being economical with the warp as there are 11-12 participants. I might even need to do a second warp if some want to weave more than one.

I had used my Fiberworks program to work out the project width and number of lace repeats. At 12.88 inches in the reed, its using a great deal of the loom's width.  I had  planned a rough outline of how the towel will be proportioned, but only weaving one up will tell you the final result.  Below are two pictures showing hem allowance of six inches done and the motif border is complete and hemstitching is under way.

I found this diagram on line which shows the steps nicely too.

Then I changed from the cream  10/2 cotton (same as the warp) and used a slightly deeper beige called Shell and wove the main part of the towel doing eleven repeats of blocks A and B and ended with a final A to balance.
Block A:  (do 3 times)
1, 3
2
1, 3
2
1, 3
2, 4

Block B: (do once)
1
2, 4
1
2, 4
1
2, 4
1, 3

This progressed along nicely and with a final block A and 8-9 pics of plain weave, it measured roughly 13- 13 1/2 inches and I switched to the cream 10/2 and wove an inch of plain weave.   Then using my colour change as my 'bottom line', I did a row of Italian hemstitching (or box hemstitching as I have also heard it called).  The entire box is in the cream section. You can also find diagrams showing this in  Finishing Touches for the Handweaver by Virginia West (page 24) .  This book should be in every weaver's library.

step one: choose the size of the box, here its 3 x 3 threads.

Step 2: bottom right hand corner to to left hand corner and make the 'floor of the house'

Step 3: Go from top right corner to bottom left corner to make the 'roof of the house'

Step 4: Go from top right corner to three threads left into new territory, and make the 'wall of the house'
...and repeat. 😊

I resumed weaving the five inch hem on the towel, and also added some fine scrap yarn to hold my edges and cut out off the loom! Why five inches and not six as the front was done? I like the look of a slightly smaller back hem and it places all the emphasis on the front where you did all that pretty stitching! The Italian hemstitching on the back hem gives it a neat treatment and emphasizes the colour change.  I machine straight stitched the edge of the cream hems to secure them and washed by hand.  While still damp, I gave it a good steam pressing with my Singer press.

The hems were folded into thirds, pressed and then hand sewn  as shown here.  Voila! the towel is complete.

Now: what would I do differently?   The over all length of the towel is just a tad bit too long for the narrow width so perhaps reduce the lace repeats to ten instead of eleven?  I feel it would have a better proportion.

I also struggled with getting a good tension on the loom and so my edges are not to my usual standard.... but as I have heard said many a time, that's a Dorothy loom for you.   I cranked it up as best I could but still end up laying the weft in pic by pic which meant it took a long time to weave.

Also it was difficult to get a good tap with the beater if you advanced that bit too far (spongy feel), so there really is a 'sweet spot' of only two inches with the table loom. You would advance the warp and then fight to get the tension right all over again.

 I considered using a small temple to help reduce draw in but reckoned my students may not have one to hand so best to work without it.  The end result of this is the lace portion draws in further than the hems.  I decided this is a teachable moment to discuss drawn in.  It produces a full sized towel sample of Swedish lace and its unique little windowpane look, and features  hemstitching techniques  and (for many) using finer threads than they normally do.  Lots of new things all wrapped into one project!

.... but give me a floor loom any day!

So here are some beauty shots....

My notes to travel with the loom are almost set and I will be in touch with a student shortly to take the loom.   I think this loom may be circulating for awhile given everyone's schedules!

For The Men in my Life

I have been busy beavering away at a project, trying to make a deadline! I'm a slower treadler these days as my right foot is being cranky. I'm waiting to see a surgeon to fix what arthritis has been doing.

I had shown you little peeks of what was on the Louet Spring last post.... and now the scarves are finally done. One is on its way to my (slightly younger) brother who is about to celebrate a significant birthday!  I saw at Christmas that he's been wearing a ratty old chenille scarf I made him years ago and I thought him well overdue for a new, spiffier scarf. He works in the offices in downtown Vancouver where the basic office wear is black...so something to go along with his winter top coat.

The warp is a 70% alpaca and 30% silk blend...with the small brown stripes being  merino.  Its a four shaft twill I found in Anne Dixon's book:  The Handweaver's Directory. It was a simple four shaft threading and a standard twill tie up. Quite the opposite to what I normally weave!  I found when I was treadling that my feet kept on looking for more treadles than the four tied up. Even after finishing the third  scarf I found I still hadn't adjusted and wanted more treadles.  I'm a structure weaver... I love the complexity.

The scarf in the picture was woven with the same alpaca silk blend as weft and its super soft. It will be nice and warm while my brother waits for the rapid transit to work.

Now the sett was a bit tricky. I have very limited experience with alpaca and so I relied on doing wraps on a ruler. I got twenty wraps into one inch and so I thought going for sixteen epi might work for a twill. The first scarf I wove was wider and was more weft dominant. It was a 2/2 twill and I was going to remove the weft, re-sley and try it again, but my husband saw it as asked me to keep on going as he really liked it!  So... I did.

Bruce loves it and has already worn it  twice. He likes it the way it is. Now, me, as the weaver wanted to make changes and produce a more balanced twill.  Its an interesting lesson that sometimes what we want isn't what the customer wants...

Here you can see its weft dominant and so with that, I cut off the scarf and then re-threaded for a broken twill, then resleyed, This time the sett was 20 epi.  The scarf for my brother is the second one woven  and I was much happier!   I ran into a difficulty with scarf number three. I ran out of alpaca weft!  Oh, I could get more but I want to reduce my alpaca stash and  run down my current stock of alpaca. (I have lace weight alpaca in soft cream but that's all). I dug through my stash for alternatives and my options were actually few. I have 20/2 and 30/2 black silk but they were too fine for the warp (which is 875 yards for 3.5 ounces). I end up going with 8/2 black tencel as it was a better fit. It also seem to polish up the look and help with drape. So its warm, elegant, with luxury fibres and beautiful drape. Works for me!

This scarf has a bit of sheen to it and a cooler hand. I quite like it and think it could be worn by either gender. Its going in the Etsy store. This way when it sells it will cover my costs for my materials for all three scarves. The weaving time? well you know how that goes....

Speaking of selling, I have been ferreting out odds and ends from my studio and selling them off. A few books here, some yarn there and the odd piece of equipment. It all adds up.  I'm liking the extra room in the studio and every few days will open up a drawer or go through a shelf and see what can go to a new home... or go in the garbage.  I swear this stuff breeds after the light is turned off for the day!   I must also say that its quite liberating as if something is gone, then the pressure to use it, or learn a new technique is gone. Fine tuning your focus! If I'm unsure about something, I keep it....

There are some new additions to the studio coming and are on the way. I've parlayed my old stuff into new shiny stuff. (I feel like I'm channeling comedian George Carlin and his Stuff routine.... (warning: George uses cuss words. Gosh, I miss him and his steely wit!). Hopefully it will all arrive in the next week or so... and I'll share then.

Finally, the Woolhouse Tools countermarche threw me a curve this week. I got my new warp on and when I stepped on the treadles, the shed was awful! Its all out of whack and so I must reset the cords again. When I have the locking pin into hold the jacks in place and the treadles raised and blocked is the time when I can pull each cord and set the right spot for the pins. Any difference even by one or two slots can make for a mess at the shed so I'm working my way through them.

As you can see the towel warp is in place and waiting to go!  So why am I having to do this so frequently? The cords are brand new this past fall and I've had two warps on the loom. The tie up's have been different and so different cords are being used each time. While texsolv is not suppose to stretch, it does a wee bit. It seems to be one centimeter (1/4" +/-) or one slot in the cord. It will take time to get each one settled into its spot and so "maintenance happens". (The benefits of this system still out weigh the work!)

I've been catching up on my samples and record keeping and also doing some future project planning. How are you keeping busy in these weaving days of Winter?

Review: Warping Your Loom

Some posts ago, I showed you some DVD's I received just after Christmas and promised to review them for you.  I will do all three sets in time but I'm just doing one today:

Beautifully presented by weaving  instructor Madelyn van der Hoogt

It is  a two disc set produced By Interweave Press has a total running time of 148 minutes.  I would say that this DVD is aimed at new to intermediate weavers, or those who need to brush up in their techniques. There are some great tips as well for anyone at any level!

 Filmed in a nice location, bright and cheery. Sound and picture quality is good.   In the first disc, Madelyn takes you through winding a warp and then warping  from front to back. I used to do this method back in my newbie days  but not as efficiently as Madelyn shows it!  I like the way you can stop the disc, go back and watch it again (and again!)

On the second disc Madelyn shows how to wind multiple threads on the warping board. How to maintain the thread by thread order whether its two threads or multiples with a warping paddle. How to wind colours without constant cutting and knotting ends.  There are demonstrations of vertical warping mill and also a horizontal warping mill. (Like Madelyn I prefer the warping board.) How to transfer the cross from one side of the reed to the other is very helpful as well as winding striped colours individually and combining them at the reed if all that colour switching at the warping board is not for you. I found how to wind a even and tight bobbin a nice bonus as this is often overlooked.  Learn the various techniques and then make choices which is best for you!

There is a full demo of winding a warp with a thread by thread cross at one end, and a raddle cross at the other and then beaming the warp from back to front  for finer or fragile threads such as silks or linens.

I have no negatives to say about this DVD and found it to be like having Madelyn van der Hoogt right there in your home. She will go over and over a point as many times as you need and never get tired or want a lunch break!  :)
At first I thought it a bit simplistic but after viewing it a second time I have to come to realize that this is  its point. Keep it simple and stress free. Show proper techniques in small simple steps and the weaver will have success on their looms at home.  The better a warp is wound and beamed onto a loom, the better the weaving can be!

This is a nice 'private' lesson in your own home and can also be a good visual aid for a beginners class.

To follow up on this DVD, a new weaver can refer to Handwoven magazines for inspiration. I would also recommend heartily Weavers Craft  by Jean Scorgie  which are specifically written for the student weaver ( and bonus:  no ads!) For bright colourful  four shaft pattern, with explanations on the weave structures: Anne Dixon's  The Handweaver's Pattern Directory.  There is also the classic (which I learned from) Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler

The next review will be of Madelyn van der Hoogt's companion disc: Weaving Well. From Yarn to Cloth.


Unfortunately I seem to be dealing with cranky lower back issues right now so I'm not sure how much weaving will be happening around here. I went out for a short time period to tidy spent spring bulbs in the flower beds around the house and now paying the price.  Another true confession is that I was recently diagnosed with Lupus and will actually be seeing a specialist today. [ edit: I have Arthritis Lupus]
 I'm still learning what all this entails, but I'm resolved to keep on weaving!