Autumn Leaves Towels Are Completed

Last October, I made a long warp for towels.  My inspiration was the beautiful fall colors on the trees in Michigan and was why I named the towels Autumn Leaves.  I was able to finish four of the towels before Christmas and they became Christmas gifts for my daughters.

I put the warp on my Leclerc Jano table loom, and after the first towel, I removed the two outermost stripes.  It was just too wide for the loom.  The next three towels wove a little better.

After cutting the first four towels off the loom, I retied the warp and started what I hoped would be five or six more towels.  As the warp decreased on the loom, it became easier to weave.  I cut a few more towels off and continued to weave the rest of the warp.  Each batch got easier.  I'm not sure if it was because of less warp on the loom, or I just got into a routine with the weaving.

I finished the last towels a few days ago.  The were wet finished, dried, pressed and hemmed, and then they were posed for a photo.  All of the towels were woven as checks with a single color except for the last one.  I had a little fun playing around with the block sizes, and I used all eight colors instead of just one.  I think I like that one the best!  It was a good way to empty all the bobbins of the yarn left on them.

Now, I am back out in the studio weaving a rug, and thinking about more rugs to follow.

I started with the intention of doing a rug with dark cloth strips in a twill pattern, but couldn't find the fabrics I wanted to use, so I went back to doubled threads in an almost tabby.  I am using up more polyester doubleknit strips I had sitting around in a box from an old braided rug attempt from many years ago.  Yea stash reduction!  This one is going quickly, but is not on my Weaver's Delight, so it is a little harder on my arms and shoulders.  I should have it done in a few days.

Hopefully, by the time this rug is complete, I will come up with fabrics to try my other design plan.  The way this is threaded, I can weave x's and diamonds, and they show up especially well in the white stripes.  I think it will make a distinctive rug.

Choosing Warp Colors for the Taquette Pattern

I was asked about the colors I used in my Autumn Leaves towel warp.  These are the pairs of 8/2 cotton colors I used.  (top to bottom)
Lipstick and lt. orange
Plum green and rust
Wine and maize
Antique gold and dk. red (which is actually orange)

This is how they look on the cones.  The colors are pretty accurate, at least on my computer.

For anyone else that wants to try the pattern (on a previous post), make your warp uniquely your own.  I would suggest using what you have in your stash, unless you have an urge to add to it.

The fun is in the design.  For my warp, I obviously used the gorgeous autumn leaves as my inspiration.  Look around for other color combinations that look amazing.  The colors in the desert are going to be different from what I see around the Great Lakes.  City colors will be different from out in the country.  How about the colors on your dishes, or your walls and counter tops?  Or maybe colors from a favorite painting.  Have fun with choosing!

At least four colors are needed, two for each block, and two for each stripe.  Use multiples of two, and each additional pair of colors will make another stripe.  I have eight colors and four stripes that get repeated across the warp.  I played around with the colors in a weaving program until I got the look I wanted, and after doing that, I still changed out one of my colors, and the threading order was changed.  Most of my pairs are reds contrasting with yellows.

I wanted to weave a towel with each color, so I put on a long warp.  I wish I hadn't, because it is on a table loom, and it is too much for the loom.  I'm having issues with the fell line curving because of warp tension issues.  The next warp will be on one of my floor looms.

This is the second towel, woven with the plum green.  The towel is actually greener than in the photo.

Autumn Leaves Warp for Towels

Several months ago, my weaving friend Sharon C. gave me this pattern.  It is called taquete.  She has been having all kinds of fun with it.  I finally bought some colors of 8/2 cotton yarn and got a warp for towels put on my Leclerc Jano table loom.

I'm calling this warp Autumn Leaves, because it reminds me of all the beautiful trees in my area of the country (Charlevoix the Beautiful).

I finally figured out a way to put a draft of my pattern on my blog.  I know there must be an easier way, but this is a printout that we scanned and cropped.  It works, so I'm happy!

Here is the Autumn Leaves warp all set to wind on.

Jano had a revamp recently.  She got a nice treadle stand that Bob and I designed and built.  I haven't tried it yet.  I'm looking forward to getting this project threaded, so I can test our work.  I love that the stand has shelves on either side, so I have a spot to set extra shuttles if I'm weaving with more than one.  I also like that the loom isn't bolted to the stand.  The legs on the loom extend below the crossbars, so the legs just hold the loom in place on the stand.  To remove the loom from the stand, all I have to do is unhook the "S" hooks from the levers.

I have a couple other very big projects out in the studio that I need to get photos of, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.