Weaving the towels shown in the last post challenged me to follow up with the article and weave a set of towels each month.  I extend the invitation to “weave along” to other weavers out there, both new weavers and experienced.

The resource for the pattern is found in the article, “Weaving Towels as a Means of Learning the Basic Four-Shaft Weaves”, by Clotilde Barrett, Weavers Journal, Fall 1983, Volume VIII, Number 2, Issue 30, pages 11- 19.  If you don’t have a copy of this old magazine, you can find it on the On-Line Digital Archive of Documents on Weaving and Related Topics.  The link is https://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/periodicals/wj_30.pdf

The May towel is woven in turned Atwater-Bronson Lace, in lace blocks. For my purposes, I changed the draft for the May towel to use 2/8 cotton sett at 18 ends per inch.  The revised draft is:

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

I am in the process of winding the warp for these towels now, and will make my warp 6 yards long to make five towels.

As a weaver, I move between trying something completely new to me, and bouncing back into the traditional weaves.  I move around the circle back to the place where I began, but when I arrive back at the beginning, I am now a different person, with different experiences, so I see it through a different lens.

I have woven lace occasionally throughout my weaving journey, mostly with success.  Now as I look at the original draft from 1983, the notion that this is a “turned” Atwater-Bronson lace intrigues me.  In 1983, when I was a new weaver, I would have just followed the directions, seeking out the exact materials and methods, leading to a wonderful learning experience and a beautiful set of towels.  And that was perfect and recommended for beginners.

With that experience under my belt, I am now very curious about the difference between original “Atwater-Bronson Lace” and “Turned” Atwater-Bronson lace.  I’m off to do the research and will report back my findings.  Your comments, as always are appreciated.