I had grand plans over the holiday break to weave some towels as gifts for family and friends.  As often happens the best laid plans . . .

This is the first project I have put on the new/used loom I purchased in November.  The photo above is the second towel in progress.  I had some issues with the first one but wove it until the desired length anyway.  It was supposed to be about 27 ppi (this is the number of weft threads per inch – it has to do with the density of the weave) but I think I was only getting about 15 ppi.  I didn’t want to stop halfway through the towel so I just kept weaving.  I have a thing about things being uniform and even.

Once the towel was finished I got out some tools and tightened up every nut, bolt and screw on the loom (something I should have done to begin with). I started the next towel and was relieved that the whole process was much, much better on a much more solid loom.  In my excitement to use the new loom I forgot the most fundamental thing – make sure your loom is solid.

These are the first striped towels I’ve done and the colors are fantastic.  The towels are a nice size too – 23″ x 36″.  They are done in an M and W twill pattern.  I had a difficult time getting into the swing of the treddling initially because it wasn’t making sense to me but I finally got into a rhythm and it went along fine.  This is also a little different to weave because the weft threads are counted to make the design instead of measuring the piece as you weave.  It’s very precise and as you know that is something I love.

Once this towel is finished I will weave the original towel again – it’s an advancing twill treddling pattern.  I’m sure this one will look completely different than the first attempt.  That will teach me not to lose sight of the most basic rules just to get a project going.