Valley Yarns #182 Spring Towels

Valley Yarns Spring Towels: Woven Cotton and Linen Homeware

What Is Being Made

The Valley Yarns Spring Towels are a set of four finished woven towels, each measuring 18 3/8" x 26 3/8". Designed by Barbara Elkins, these are functional homeware pieces created using a traditional weaving technique on an 8-shaft loom. The project produces four coordinated towels from a single warp setup, making it an efficient use of materials and loom time.

Weave Structure and Technique

Point Twill is the primary weave structure used in this project. Twill weaving creates a distinctive diagonal line pattern across the fabric surface, which is both visually appealing and functional for towel production. The diagonal lines in twill construction provide excellent absorbency and durability—ideal characteristics for everyday towels. A temple is recommended when working with twills to maintain consistent fabric width, though it is not strictly essential for completing the project.

The design incorporates striped patterning throughout the warp and weft, creating visual interest through strategic color placement. The warp color order alternates between sections of Banana, White, Dark Green, and Burnt Orange, while the weft uses Stone Green as the primary color with accent rows of Banana. This color blocking technique is achieved through careful planning of the threading and weaving sequence rather than complex stitch manipulation.

Equipment Required

• 8-shaft loom with minimum weaving width of 24"
• 10-dent reed for setting the sett at 20 ends per inch
• 1 shuttle and 1 bobbin for weft insertion
• Temple (helpful but optional)

Yarns and Materials

Warp Yarns: The warp is composed of premium cotton and cotton-linen blend yarns. Valley Yarns 8/2 cotton in #1205 Banana (100% unmercerized cotton) forms the primary warp color at 1435 yards. Accent colors come from Brassard 8/2 Cottolin, a 60% cotton and 40% linen blend that adds subtle texture and strength: #C0101 White (210 yards), #C1152 Dark Green (210 yards), and #C8265 Burnt Orange (210 yards). The cottolin yarn measures 3360 yards per pound and comes in 8-ounce tubes containing 1680 yards.

Weft Yarns: The weft uses Valley Yarns 8/2 cotton exclusively. Stone Green (#5468) is the primary weft color, requiring approximately 1779 yards total for all four towels, though the exact yardage depends on the finished length of each individual towel. Banana (#1205) is used for accent weft rows, requiring 54 yards.

Both the warp and weft cotton yarns are 100% unmercerized cotton with a yardage of 3360 yards per pound, providing a consistent, absorbent base for these functional towels.

Sett and Loom Setup

The project is set at 20 ends per inch (epi), achieved by threading 2 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed. The warp width in the reed is 22 inches. A total warp length of 5 yards is required, which includes 439 ends and accounts for 36 inches of loom waste plus sufficient length for four complete towels. Weavers with deeper looms may need slightly more warp length, while those using table looms may need slightly less.

Threading and Warping

The threading follows a precise warping order chart that must be checked carefully during warp preparation. The designer recommends winding the warp in three chains: two outer chains of 147 ends each (including one floating selvage at the beginning of the first chain and one at the end of the last chain) and one middle chain of 145 ends. Recounting warp ends during winding helps prevent errors. The heddle distribution across the 8 shafts is: Shaft 1 (32 heddles), Shaft 2 (64 heddles), Shafts 3-7 (62 heddles), and Shaft 8 (31 heddles), with additional heddles (34 and 92) noted for proper threading alignment.

Color alignment is critical to the final appearance of the striped pattern. The warp color sequence alternates between sections of Banana, White, Dark Green, and Burnt Orange according to the provided warp color order chart, ensuring that colors progress logically across the width of the loom.