Quiet Friday: Threads of Love

Talk about thick and thirsty towels! Double weave makes these hand towels thick. And the linen in the cottolin threads makes them highly absorbent. The colors are fantastic together. When our daughter Melody moves with her little family to Chile, she can set up her new home with these made-for-her towels. My love is woven into every single pick.

I have included two short little videos just for the fun of it. Enjoy!

This project started in my weaving studio in our Houston home, where I beamed the warp.

Colors for Towels

Winding a warp for double weave towels.

Beaming the warp for towels.

And then we decided to move! We sold the house and moved into an apartment. The big loom was dismantled, with the towel warp on the back beam. Then, we moved all the pieces to our Texas hill country home.

Dismantled loom for moving.

Moving a Glimakra Standard loom.

Putting the Glimakra Standard loom back together.

Recently, I spent a week there to finish dressing the loom and weave all four towels. Whew! (Here’s what I did that week: Testing Color Surprises with My Little Helper and Weaving Deadline)

Threading 12 shafts. Double weave towels coming!

Lower lamms ready to go!

Starting the hem on double weave towels.

Double weave cottolin towels on 12 shafts. Karen Isenhower

From the back beam. Double weave on 12 shafts.

Double weave towels. Loom with a view!

Squares in a double weave towel.

Towels on the cloth beam. Karen Isenhower

Double weave towels on the loom.

Double weave cottolin towels on the loom. Karen Isenhower

Towels on the cloth beam.

Glimakra Standard loom in Texas hill country.

Cutting off!

Cutting off! Double weave towels.

Fresh double weave towels, ready for finishing.

I wove hanging tabs on my band loom. And I discovered that I could showcase both sides of the colorful towel if I stitch the hanging tab on the side of the towel, off center.

Glimakra band loom.

Hanging tabs for towels woven on Glimakra band loom.

Hanging tab stitched to side of towel.

The towels are hemmed and pressed, ready to brighten the day!

Double Weave cottolin towels. Side A.

Double weave cottolin towels. Side B.

Double weave cottolin towels! Karen Isenhower

Cottolin towels, hanging from the side. More pics on the blog.

May you put threads of love into everything you do.

Love,
Karen

22 thoughts on “Quiet Friday: Threads of Love

    1. Hi Laura, It’s such a pleasure to weave something with the purpose of giving it to somebody special. I think she’ll be happy with the towels. 🙂

      All the best,
      Karen

    1. Hi Nannette, You’ve touched on one of my favorite aspects of weaving. Exploration! Every new towel is a chance to explore another design. It’s awfully hard for me to weave any two or more things exactly alike.

      Thanks!
      Karen

  1. Goodness, those are beautiful towels that exude your love in a very joyful way. Thanks for documenting your process so well and sharing your inspire pictures. The placement of the hanging loops does the trick of showing both sides off it a very neat way. So very wonderful.

    1. Hi Jen, Your thoughtful comments make my day! I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures. This is the first time I’ve tried putting the hanging loops off-center on the side, but it really worked for this.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  2. Just beautiful! When you pin your twill tape marker to the woven piece on the loom, do you unpin the beginning section of tape before it goes rolls around the beam?

    1. Hi Robin, Thank you! I’m glad you like it.

      I modified a draft that is in “The Big Book of Weaving,” by Laila Lundell. If you send me an email through my “Get in Touch” page I will be happy to give you more information.

      All the best,
      Karen

  3. so will you get this, if it is written so much later? anyway, this is fantastic how did she like the towels? i would be interested in making something like this for a bath towel, what do you think? also, robin, above, asked for more information. would you mind forwarding that email to me also? if you have time. spring today–the snow will melt someday…ellen santana

    1. Hi Ellen, My daughter really liked the towels, and still uses them regularly. I kept one of the towels for our home and it is one our guests choose off the shelf most frequently. This would be perfect for bath towels. It’s nice and thick. I’m not able to find that email. If you have some specific questions about it, send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer.

      All the best,
      Karen

  4. Karen, I went down a rabbit hole today when I saw a some woven fabric online that looked like a patchwork quilt. I eventually ended up on your page….lucky me! Thanks for all your post as they are so helpful to many of us. Where can I find out more about this pattern or one similar?
    Beautiful towels!

    1. Hi Sheila, This is a draft for an 8-shaft double-weave blanket that I adapted into towels. The original draft is from “The Big Book of Weaving,” by Laila Lundell, p.180 “Picnic Blanket.”

      Happy Weaving,
      Karen

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