Valley Yarns #122 Festive Summer & Winter Towels

Valley Yarns Festive Summer & Winter Towels

Project Overview

The Festive Summer & Winter Towels are handwoven dish towels designed by Paula Veleta using a classic Summer and Winter weave structure on a 4-shaft loom. This downloadable PDF pattern produces two finished towels measuring 15¾" × 31" each, combining vibrant seasonal color palettes with traditional block weave techniques to create festive striped homeware pieces.

What Is Being Made

These are functional dish towels suitable for kitchen use, woven as a pair from a single warp. The design emphasizes decorative striping through color choice and weave structure, creating both solid-colored and mixed-color stripes that give the finished towels a festive appearance. The towels showcase the versatility of Summer and Winter weaving by stacking small blocks to form long, continuous stripes throughout the fabric.

Weaving Technique: Summer and Winter

Summer and Winter is a block weave structure worked on a 4-shaft loom that creates distinct color blocks and patterns. This technique is particularly valued for its ability to produce crisp geometric designs with excellent color definition. In this pattern, the Summer and Winter structure uses small blocks that stack vertically to create elongated stripes running the full length of each towel. The weave structure allows for pattern weft and tabby weft to work in concert, with the pattern weft creating the visible design while tabby weft provides stability and structure to the finished cloth.

Stripe Design and Color Work

The towel features multiple stripe widths and color combinations:

• Wide accent stripes: Created using Azalea Pink and Magenta for bold color impact
• Main body stripes: A subtle combination of Light Gray and Daffodil that creates the appearance of pale lavender
• Narrow accent stripes: Black and Daffodil stripes running the full length of the towel for definition and contrast

The color strategy combines both solid-colored and mixed-color stripes to achieve the overall festive quality of the design.

Equipment Requirements

This pattern requires a 4-shaft loom at least 20 inches wide, equipped with 2 shuttles and 6 bobbins for managing multiple yarn colors and weaving techniques. The loom is dressed with a warp of 422 ends at a sett of 24 ends per inch, using a 12-dent reed with 2/dent threading.

Yarns and Materials

Warp Yarns: Valley Yarns 10/2 Cotton (100% mercerized cotton, 4200 yards per pound) in four colors:

• #8418 Silver Birch: 678 yards
• #6186 Azalea Pink: 348 yards
• #1325 Daffodil: 165 yards
• #8990 Black: 198 yards

Weft Yarns: Two types of Valley Yarns cotton are used for different purposes. Pattern weft uses Valley Yarns 6/2 cotton (2520 yards per pound) in Light Gray (780 yards), Magenta (146 yards), and Banana (118 yards). Tabby weft uses Valley Yarns 10/2 cotton in Daffodil (780 yards), Azalea Pink (146 yards), and Silver Birch (118 yards).

All yarns are 100% mercerized cotton, providing durability and absorbency suitable for functional kitchen towels. The 10/2 weight creates a balanced, medium-weight fabric, while the 6/2 pattern weft adds definition to the woven design.

Warp Setup and Specifications

The warp is wound to a length of 3 yards with 422 total ends, including 2 floating selvages for finished edges. The warp color order follows a specific repeat pattern that establishes the striped design. The warp is dressed at 24 ends per inch using a 12-dent reed threaded at 2 ends per dent, resulting in a finished width in the reed of 17.6 inches. This dressing produces two towels at the finished dimensions of 15¾" × 31" each.

Design Inspiration and Technique Notes

Designer Paula Veleta selected the Summer and Winter structure specifically for its block weave capabilities, which allow for clean color separation and geometric pattern development. The small stacked blocks create visual interest while maintaining the structural integrity of