Towels, Towels, Towels

It may be a silly title, but it's a big part of my weaving life lately - designing, playing around and weaving towels. Both looms have seen some long warps for towels.

Jon and I have each woven a few towels in waffle squares on the old loom. They're warped at 28" wide to allow for ample take-in from this weave structure. I've woven many blankets, small and large, in waffle weave over the years, and these should work really well as absorbent, quick-drying towels. This is the weave structure I call waffle squares.

On the new loom, I continued with more towels in advancing twill. I finished a commission for two table runners ...

... then wove more towels in a variety of colours and patterns.

Next project, I combined advancing twill and straight twill diamonds in the latest set.

Straight twill goes down the centre with advancing twill on each side.

And my latest project is to combine a towel and small cloth in a set, which has been requested too many times to remember. Good idea!

Towels are fun to design and to weave, and Cariboo Handwoven towels are popular as gifts because they're so unique while working well throughout their long lifetime. Summertime is best for weaving with cottons; I'll surely return to the wool blankets when the weather starts to cool.

Cariboo Forests Through the Seasons

Cariboo Handwoven and my email moniker, cariboojane, stem from the Cariboo region of British Columbia, where I've lived (so far) for 36 years. The Cariboo is more or less centred around Williams Lake, with unofficial boundaries to the north, east, south and west, depending on whose opinion you hear. This area has become a special place in my life because of its landscapes, people, culture - and its forests.

My "Oh Canada!" series began with special blankets for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC. I was selected as an artist for the VIP gifting program, and six of my wool blankets left Prince George last winter for different parts of the province and country. This was a huge honour for me, and it inspired me to design and weave blankets that depicted Canada's forests in winter.

"Canada's Forests in Winter" | Oceans at each end with rock, soil and snowy trees |
Special design for the 2015 Canada Winter Games

Last fall, while staring out the plane window flying south from northern BC to Prince George, I had this neat idea to take that design concept to something more local - Cariboo forests through the seasons. I could show the green conifer forests overlayed with spring flowers, summer blossoms, fall colours and winter's snow. Then I would end with the first sign of spring.

I wove this blanket after a little ecological research to check my proposed species and their colours.

Cariboo Forests Through the Seasons | 100% wool | 185 cm x 127 cm (73" x 50") | Private collection

And I knew who deserved it: a hard-working, very dedicated, very effective volunteer in my community who I wanted to personally recognize with a gift. The recipient loves it!

The "Oh Canada!" series will grow and I already have more ideas. That same flight more recently gave me new inspiration for other designs that depict Cariboo forests and ecology.

A Local Source of Icelandic Fleece

I'm celebrating Icelandic wool on Canada Day!

Almost a year ago, I posted a blog about local Icelandic fleece and I was back to see Donna last week. I had spun her Icelandic fleece that had been processed into beautiful roving. I wanted to show her my spun wool and we talked about some upcoming ideas and plans together.

Last year I bought two lots of Icelandic fleece: the first was beige and when spun I wove it into a blanket - which later sold in Ottawa.

SH137 | Shetland wool and handspun Icelandic wool | 175 cm x 138 cm (69" x 54.5") | Sold

Donna told me that the darker wool I'd spun was from Nancy. I still have it ready for a special blanket. Here is Nancy and here is what I spun from her fleece:

Nancy

Plied wool spun from Nancy's 2015 fleece

Last week I bought two washed fleeces. One is from Coco -

Cocoa and one of her lambs

- and the other is from Dimayo, the herd's ram. Dimayo is a noble character who was seeking shade on the hot day. He's considered a badger colour because he has cream-coloured fleece with strong elements of beiges, golds and even black. This wool will be stunning when spun and woven.

Dimayo

I am so delighted to have a friend with a local product that I want to buy from her, work with and add to my own products. To me, this is the heart of a local economy. Add Donna's small-scale farming practices and this weaver's artistic input - and it's a really exciting partnership.

Warping Towels

Experienced weavers will probably find this post a big hohum, unless you can help me become more efficient and don't mind letting me know. I've just woven two table runners and always like to involve a customer with the steps to produce the project; this is what I sent her yesterday.

Each inch of warp has 24 threads, which come from the bobbin rack,
through the tension box and then onto the back beam.

 

Here are two views from the back.
I warped on about 20 metres so that I can also weave lots of towels.

Glimpse of three cones of cotton on the bobbin rack feeding into the tension box.

Each thread goes through one metal heddle on one of eight harnesses.

The threads are gently knotted in 1”-wide clumps.

Then each thread comes through the metal reed.  The reed has 8 spaces per inch,
so there are 3 threads per space at 24 threads per inch.

The warp is tied on and a header woven to start the cloth and check for errors.
Note the t-pin in the middle anchoring a fixed thread.

This warp is almost completed, and I'm eager to unwind the table runners as well as all the different towels I've woven.

Big Cotton Blankets in Advancing Twill - Part 2

Following my last blog with eight new big cotton blankets in advancing twill, I have another seven to show. Both projects used the same basic warp design but different colours. This set has outer wide stripes of alternating purple and navy in the warp, the next stripes in are two shades of blue, and the centre stripe was warped in two shades of green. I really like this set, too.

One more blanket is at the fringing stage now. All blankets below are machine hemmed and can be machine washed and dried - except C267, which I wove with a lovely blend of merino wool and Tencel.

As always, let me know if you're interested in any of these blankets.

C263 | 100% cotton | 194 cm x 129 cm (76.5" x 50.5") | Sold

C264 | 100% cotton | 183 cm x 130 cm (72" x 51") | Sold

C264 Detail

C265 | 100% cotton | 189 cm x 127 cm (74.5" x 50") | Sold

C266 | 100% cotton | 193 cm x 129 cm (76" x 50.5") | Sold

C267 | approx. 50% cotton, 25% merino wool, 25% Tencel
180 cm x 127 cm (71" x 50") | Sold
* This blanket has a lovely drape, and the Tencel gives it a beautiful sheen. *

C267 Detail

I wove the last two blankets with Bockens cotton from Sweden, really lovely cotton with a little sheen to it. These two blankets are pretty nice and I designed them to highlight the fibres through a subtle pattern.

C268 | 100% cotton | 183 cm x 130 cm (72" x 51") | Sold

C269 | 100% cotton | 190 cm x 130 cm (75" x 51") | Sold

Big Cotton Blankets in Advancing Twill

Further to recent blogs on advancing twill, I finished eight big blankets and have them ready for presentation. All are 100% cotton, machine hemmed, and can be machine washed and dried. These blankets are super for summer!

C255 | 100% cotton | 188 cm x 130 cm (74" x 51") | Donated to June 3, 2017 fundraiser
for Island Mountain Arts

C256 | 100% cotton | 183 cm x 130 cm (72" x 51") | Sold

C257 | 100% cotton | 193 cm x 130 cm (76" x 51") |
Donated to Island Mountain Arts fundraiser on June 4, 2016 

C258 | 100% cotton | 186 cm x 130 cm (73" x 51") | Sold

C259 | 100% cotton | 180 cm x 128 cm (71" x 50.5") | Sold

C260 | 100% cotton | 186 cm x 130 cm (73" x 51") | Sold

C261 | 100% cotton | 193 cm x 128 cm (76" x 50.5") | Sold

C262 | 100% cotton | 191 cm x 130 cm (75" x 51") | Sold

And more blankets are underway for another blog to come soon.

Adventures in Advancing Twill

I've been on a bit of a weaving streak with advancing twill. Starting with a set of towels that sent me back into this very interesting weave structure, I wove another set in a lighter-coloured warp and then just finished eight big cotton blankets - and another eight are underway. It's fantastic to really explore a weave structure and see even just some of its potential with different colour combinations and designs.

Here are some of the latest towels. The eight blankets will be posted soon when all are ready to show.

These are all cotton hand towels, priced at $34 each or three for $98. Let me know if you're interested in any.