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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Functional Tea Towels

Way back in May I struggled to put a tea towel warp on my table loom. It didn't go so well and I was afraid I wouldn't get very far with the weaving.

It was my intention to weave four tea towels. I only managed to weave off two towels before all the twists in the warp became unmanageable and threads started breaking. The towels aren't perfect, but they are functional at least.

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I was asked not long ago why I bother weaving tea towels. After all, they are inexpensive to buy but relatively costly and certainly time consuming to make. My answer? I'm a new weaver, I need the weaving practice and tea towels are still functional even if they are full of mistakes.

11 comments:

aija said...

They look great to my (albeit non-weaving) eye :)

Anonymous said...

I think they look fantastic - and I agree, for a relatively new weaver tea towels are certainly a fantastic thing to learn and get more practise! Great job!

e's knitting and spinning blog said...

okay I know I'm weird but towels are the reason I want to learn to weave. They are like knitting socks, beautiful, handmade and clearly functional. there is something special about that!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! - on the baby to be and the tea towels. I must be weird too because I agree with e completely. Weaving a tea towels must be the approximate equivalent of knitting a scarf. I don't knit to save money either.

Mary Heather said...

I think that your towels look great! I love to make things that are useful.

Anonymous said...

I used to weave and really like your tea towels. If I remember correctly, my teacher had me warp from the back of the loom, because by the time you wound it onto the front beam(?), the kinks were worked out. But it is a very long time since I last did any weaving and I've sold my loom.
Gillian

Maggie Ann said...

They sure don't look 'full of mistakes'...very lovely!

Marlene said...

Um....that would be the art of creative folding Maggie Ann. I made sure the mistakes weren't showing for the picture. They really aren't *huge* mistakes anyway, and certainly don't effect the usability.

Anonymous said...

For a beginning weaver you picked a moderately difficult project to thread up. I do these towesl all the time, and I love them, but threading them can be... frustrating... even when you have been weaving a long time. Hang in there.

Jane

P.S. I have a great baby blanket pattern for your loom if you want one.

Marlene said...

Jane, you didn't leave an email address for me to contact you. I hope you find your way back so you see my response.

YES PLEASE, I would love to see that baby blanket pattern....if it will fit my table loom of course. I can weave a maximum width of 23" but would be willing to seam if the design allowed.

vanessa said...

beautiful towels!