M & W Twill with a Pop of Red
While I was working on my Quilt Block Towels, I had a custom order from a friend via Facebook for a set of towels. He requested towels in creams and beige. As someone who appreciates neutrals but really likes colorful fabrics, I asked him if he wanted any additional color in his towels and he chose "a pop of red."
I opted to weave more M & W Finnish twill from The Handweaver's Pattern Book. Choosing the colors from my color cards was really fun. I selected Brassard 8/2 from Yarn Barn of Kansas and placed an order. I also purchased iWeaveit so I could play with the placement of the red stripes I was envisioning. It was so helpful to have that software to plan the color layout!
Winding this yarn on was a bit painful. The natural had an incredible amount of twist to it. When winding onto the back beam, it was a constant struggle to try to keep the yarns from twisting. It made me reticent to use Brassard again for warp. I asked on Ravelry and only one other person had a similar problem. I later in a subsequent project that other colors I had purchased were fine so I assume there was a problem at the mill with a batch of this yarn.
I discovered when I sampled that the red stripes were dominating the fabric too much. Instead of a "pop," it was the main thing I noticed when I looked at the fabric. The red stripe was composed of three threads so I left the center thread and cut the outer two threads of each stripe and replace them with natural. It looked MUCH better after I did a bit of warp surgery.
I opted to weave more M & W Finnish twill from The Handweaver's Pattern Book. Choosing the colors from my color cards was really fun. I selected Brassard 8/2 from Yarn Barn of Kansas and placed an order. I also purchased iWeaveit so I could play with the placement of the red stripes I was envisioning. It was so helpful to have that software to plan the color layout!
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| The finished product! |
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| 8/2 Brassard in Natural, Cerise, and Camel |
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| Winding the warp |
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| Ready to wind on |
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| Threading the heddles |
Winding this yarn on was a bit painful. The natural had an incredible amount of twist to it. When winding onto the back beam, it was a constant struggle to try to keep the yarns from twisting. It made me reticent to use Brassard again for warp. I asked on Ravelry and only one other person had a similar problem. I later in a subsequent project that other colors I had purchased were fine so I assume there was a problem at the mill with a batch of this yarn.
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| Sampling. Warp is natural and cerise. Weft is camel. |
I discovered when I sampled that the red stripes were dominating the fabric too much. Instead of a "pop," it was the main thing I noticed when I looked at the fabric. The red stripe was composed of three threads so I left the center thread and cut the outer two threads of each stripe and replace them with natural. It looked MUCH better after I did a bit of warp surgery.
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| "Post Op" with new yarn wound onto sewing machine bobbins |
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| Just right! |
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| Fabric cascading off the loom |
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| All hemmed and ready to go! |
I was so gratified to hear such a positive response from Sarah and Jason. They loved the towels, declared them heirlooms, and said that they will only use them to dry their wine glasses. :)
More project details available on my Ravelry Project Page.
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