Color-and-Weave Tea Towels by Jenny Sennott

Color-and-Weave Tea Towels

*Please note - we no longer carry the kits with this yarn, but you can see this pattern re-worked with Mallo, and purchase those kits, here.*

Color-and-Weave is a great technique for rigid heddle weavers to explore more complex designs by using color order in the warp and weft to create intricate patterns. These towels are woven with 2 cones of our Italian Cotton/Linen yarn on a rigid heddle loom.

Jenny writes, "I used this yarn doubled in both warp and weft to create four thirsty, medium weight towels. The weaving is simple plain weave, but playing with the weft color order creates a variety of towels on a single warp. Wind a longer warp and try other weft color orders. You will probably run out of warp before you run out of ideas."

Designed by Jenny Sennott for GIST: Yarn and Fiber.

Need some help getting started? Check out Resources for Beginner and Intermediate Weavers. 

Materials 

Warp & Weft:2 cones of Italian Cotton/Linen Yarn in contrasting colors 

Project Notes 

• Tools Required: Rigid heddle loom with a 20" width, 12 dent reed, two shuttles
• EPI: 12 with yarn strands doubled
• Width at Reed: 19.8"
• Warp Ends: 238 working ends (counting each doubled strand as one)
• Warp Length: 5 yards
•  Draft/Technique: Tabby weave, color-and-weave
• Length of One Towel Under Tension: 34" 
• Finished Dimensions: 4 towels that each measure approximately 18" wide by 25.75" long 
• Finishing Details: Rolled hem stitched by hand or machine 
• Care Instructions: Machine wash cold, tumble dry low, or air dry if preferred

Pattern

Warp Color Order:   

 D = a Dark yarn, L = a Light yarn  

•  (D D D L D D D L L L L) Repeat this sequence 21 times
•  End with (D D D L D D D) for a total of 238 working ends

Weft Color Order: 

• Option 1 (Darker): D D D L D L D L 
• Option 2 (Lighter): L L L D L D L D

See drafts below for a mock-up of these options.

Weave 2” hems using a single strand as weft. Then, weave 30” of color work using yarns doubled on shuttles and following the weft color order.  

Finishing:  Jenny writes, " Zigzag ends of both towels. Cut apart and machine wash in cool water, normal cycle. Tumble dry on low. Turn hem edges twice for rolled hems, and press. Stitch hems by hand or by machine."  If you do not have a sewing machine you can easily complete the rolled hem by hand and wash the towels once you are finished sewing. 

For more information on Color-and-Weave, check out this page on the Interweave website or this blog post by Eva Stossel.