Planning Swedish Towels

After spreading out a few Swedish weaving books and other resources, I am ready to develop my own version of towels in plattväv, a classic Swedish weave. I have double-checked my calculations, so I’m ready to wind the warp. This set of towels has a cottolin warp and linen weft.

Planning new handwoven Swedish-style towels.
Planning sheet holds all the details for a weaving project. I use digital devises for planning most things, but for my weaving plans I still like paper and pencil the best.
Winding a striped warp for cottolin towels.
White, black, silver, ash gray, and pale blue gray. The pale blue gray seems to turn the other grays into brownish hues.

As always, I started with more than enough thread. Unfortunately, I made a major error while winding the warp. By the time I noticed the error, I had already wound 264 meters (289 yards) of warp. I chained off the mistake, putting it aside for another use. I started over, correctly this time, but I had a nagging worry that I might run out of white thread…

Warp winding for cottolin towels is complete.
Warp winding is complete. Smallest tube of white thread is close to empty. Spool crate is elevated to reduce the distance needed to bend down.
Warp chains for striped towels.
Smaller warp chain on the left was wound incorrectly. The threads will be divided up and used for weaving bands on the band loom. The two warp chains on the right will become striped handtowels with plattväv (platt weave) patterning.

Worry doesn’t make anything better, and big worries can lead us into a downward spiral in our thoughts. Prayer pushes worry away. When we pray about the things we are tempted to worry about, God’s peace acts as a guard over our hearts and minds. His peace frees us from the weight of worry. And we often learn later that our worry had been unfounded. Like my worry about the white thread, which, despite my blunder, did not run out.

May you forget your worries.

All the best,
Karen

10 thoughts on “Planning Swedish Towels

  1. Oh, your towels will be so lovely! These colors together are some of my favorites. I certainly know that feeling of concern that one color will run out and it has happened to me on a number of occasions. That “mistake” warp chain will no doubt become something beautiful.

    1. Hi, Julia, I’m excited about working with these colors. It will be interesting to see how they mesh together with the golden bleached linen weft.

      I’m glad this “mistake” is still usable. I don’t want to waste that much thread.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  2. Can’t wait to see these beautiful towels, love the color blend.
    Just another example, everything and everyone, is needed and has
    a purpose in this life.
    Enjoy the Wonderful Day

  3. It makes my heart sing to see chained warp threads ready for the loom. Looking forward to watching your warp turn into towels and curious about the pattern you will use with the mistake threads. Blessings.

  4. Lovely colors, I have returned to weaving after about 15 years and I can’t get enough now. I am having to rehone skills, but I am loving to see what others are doing after my long hiatus. Thank you.

    1. Annie,
      I’m sure you’ll have a pleasant re-entry to weaving. Isn’t it like riding a bike? Those skills never really go away. I enjoy seeing other people’s projects and progress, too.

      Karen

  5. Karen, I see in the photo your yarn crate. Do you somehow thread the yarns through holes in the crate instead of the screw eyes? Also I have had a trouble getting my Swedish 12/6 warp to unwind SMOOTHLY from the tubes. I place a tube or two on my yarn rack and thread the ends through their individual screw eyes, and very often the yarn catches on the bottom of the tube and yanks the yarn in my hand, sometimes so hard that the tube is pulled right off the dowel. Have you experienced that, and do you have tips to help with this problem?

    1. Hi Lynette,

      I know what you’re talking about. The 12/6 cotton has such high twist that it can cause problems when winding a warp. I do not put it through screw eyes. This yarn just wants to twist around at the screw eyes; and if it won’t come through smoothly, your warp isn’t getting wound evenly.

      My husband inserted dowels that stand up in a flat board that fits in the bottom of a plastic crate. If it is yarn that will twist with its neighbor, I turn the crate on its side and send the yarn through separate holes above the tubes. This keeps them separate enough to eliminate most problems. When the spool is close to empty and starts jumping around (it does that even without screw eyes), I just lay the tube in the bottom of the crate or a separate small tub and let it unroll that way.

      Another trick that I don’t use very often, but does work well is to thread the tubes horizontally on dowels and put the ends of the dowels through the sides of the crates. There is almost no resistance and the tube unrolls freely.

      I hope that helps!
      Karen

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