So, as many of you know, I have been trying to keep up with the lessons in Jane Stafford’s Online Guild.  Now that we are in Season 4, my approach is to watch the videos, take notes, and absorb the information presented.  Then I let it sit for a bit and gather its juices while I wait for availability of looms and materials and inspiration.

I understand the value of sampling, however, I have reached a time in my life and in my weaving, where I don’t want to fill another drawer with samples.  I want my samples to be both beautiful and useful, and out where I can see them.  And here I am at Season 4, Episode 3, Small Threadings Gamp.  Heck, I thought, I can make my samples tea-towel size, then I can see them hanging in my kitchen and use them as needed.

I do remember hearing Jane say not to make the samples in too fine a thread, because it is visually harder to see the details of the thread interaction, but I thought, I’ll be ok.  I put on an eight-yard warp of butter coloured 2/8 cotton, with red dividers, and went for it.  I kind of like the fact the details gets lost from far away, but can be filled in and studied as you hold the cloth close, as you might do when drying dishes.

Boy, are they busy!  The first two towels I wove in dark brown for high contrast.   I love the punctuation of the red basket weave hems.

Two turquoise, a nice contrast.  Notice how the red dividers in the warp look so different from the red dividers in the weft, even though they are exactly the same colour.

Two light brown.  I liked this soft contrast, but I didn’t like the extra long floats I can see in the bottom of the second towel.

All different treadlings.  And the last towel I wove with all three weft colours, as well as the yellow from the warp and the red used in the dividers,  all while trying out different border ideas.  Kind of my favourite.

All fun.  All nice.  Just different than the picture in my mind.  And that’s what makes weaving such an interesting journey.