Introducing! ... 80/20 Towels

Cariboo Handwoven towels, all the hundreds of them so far, have been 100% cotton. I regularly hear nice comments that they are the best - they dry hands and dishes well, they dry out quickly for the next use, and they last for ages. All of that very positive feedback has certainly inspired me and given me the comfort that my towels are worth their price. As well, I have more than a bit of fun with the patterns and colours.

I've had a supply for quite awhile of cottolin from Sweden, which is a lovely blend of 60% cotton and 40% linen. Linen is renowned for being absorbent and adding a little more body to a fabric. The colours I bought long ago are rich and harmonious. I decided to pull out all this cottolin and weave it on a cotton warp for towels.

Do the math: 60/40 cotton/linen weft woven on a 100% cotton warp gives an 80/20 blend overall, roughly speaking. I've always liked the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, which is that 80% of results come from 20% of the causes or inputs. This is thought-provoking in many ways - in our personal lives and our work, for starters.

But back to 80/20 towels - here are some samples:

80/20 towels have life and energy, and they should perform even better than pure cotton ones. I'm featuring them at $38 each, or three for $110, from my studio or at a craft fair. I was pleased to witness one studio visitor in early September spy the first ones stacked far away and be immediately attracted to them. My supply was soon reduced by two ... and then by two more this morning!