Lucky Ladybug Towels

Make a pair of cheerful towels for your kitchen, or use doubled ends for a table runner or set of placemats.

About this Project

Sue Anne Sullivan has been exploring variations on an original twill draft that produces groups of dots. Handwoven’s call for insect-themed submissions prompted her to imagine a variation that would evoke ladybugs. She enjoys the hand of kitchen towels that use a combination of 8/2 cotton and 8/2 cottolin, so she worked with those fibers in red, orange, and yellow (for the ladybug wings) and black (for their dots), as well as two shades of green (for striped garden accents).

Contents

• Project Instructions PDF
• Towel WIF

Details

Structure
Twill.

Equipment
7-shaft loom, 23" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 3 shuttles.

Yarns
Warp: 8/2 cottolin (60% organic cotton/40% linen; 3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #1757 Emerald Green, 108 yd; #1831 Pale Green, 54 yd; #83 Black, 273 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #5116 Scarlet, 378 yd; #3161 Yellow Orange, 216 yd; #1316 Rust, 324 yd.
Weft: 8/2 cottolin, #1757 Emerald Green, 12 yd; #1831 Pale Green, 23 yd; #83 Black, 965 yd.

Dimensions
Width in the reed: 22 ⁷⁄₁₀".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 72".
Finished size: (after wet-finishing and hemming) two towels, 18½" × 31½" each.

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