My basic plan is to do a sample from the book, and then do a project of my choice. I'm not a weaver who loves to sample....although more and more I'm learning why people sample!!
My first project was this scarf from Halcyon Yarn, which they no longer sell. It's a combination of Harrisville yarn and an eyelash yarn. I brushed one side of it and left the other side unbrushed.
The Yarn Barn also sells lots of kits. I haven't ordered from them, but other local weavers have loved their products.
For me, weaving kits were a great way to start because I could produce objects that I liked, without having to know much about yarn or project design.
After the scarf, I started a series of dishtowels. We don't actually dry dishes in our kitchen. Life's too short! But we do dry our hands when working in the kitchen, so we go through plenty of kitchen towels in a week.
This first set of towels was also a kit from Halcyon, similar to the Cottolin Tea Towels but in a different colorway.
This project was fun because it produced eight different towels from one warp and tie-up, just by changing the treadling. Plus I changed the order and dimensions of the plaid in each towel. The project was well-designed for a beginner because it was asymmetrical - and symmetry isn't always a beginner's friend!
Plus, who would not fall in love with working with cottolin? Yum!
The star towels that I made next were also cottolin, based on a project in Handwoven. I changed the colors to yellow from white in these towels. I loved this project!
This project is from Handwoven, September 2003, "Star Towels", pg 28 - 31 by Britt-Marie Lamb. Another article with related towel designs is on Interweave's website.
I still think it is so cool that the front and back are opposites!
Finally, I made these blue cotton crepe towels.
That's where I am in my dishtowel series...with one more set of towels on the horizon. I've definitely learned a lot from this series of projects!!
5 comments:
Way to go, you've really found a way to learn that works for you. I love the yellow and blue colour and weave tea towels, so fresh looking.
Thanks so much!
I love the yellow and blue color combo too! I worked hard to find a blue and yellow that would have very different values so there would be enough contrast for the color and weave to really pop.
While I was weaving these towels, I heard from other weavers that sometimes combining yellow and blue makes a green effect, but fortunately, these towels never look green! (Not that there's anything wrong with green - it just wasn't what I wanted in these towels!)
Sue
Wow...you are doing amazing work on your own! All of your projects look so nice.....does that mean you haven't had any "failures" to learn from?
Weaving can be such a fun adventure. Thanks for sharing.
It looks as though you are progressing wonderfully!
Part of the fun of weaving for me, is how colors and weave structures combine. Often in unexpected ways. Never a dull moment!
It's good to go back and look at progress - and I appreciate all of your comments!
I'm stuck at the beginning of my current warp....figuring out how to get unstuck.
Hopefully I'll figure it out soon!
Sue
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