Gabi’s Engagement Towel

Designed and woven by Kristina Halvorsen

Gabi’s Engagement Towel

Designed and woven by Kristina Halvorsen

Gabi, my niece, sent an engagement announcement this spring. She’s a botanist and biologist, athletic, outdoorsy, but at the same time girly…long highlighted hair, sparkly diamond earrings, pedicure and makeup, her dog wears a pearl necklace; her fiancé treats her like a princess. I knew I needed to weave pink in my towel project!

The towels were inspired by Gabi, but also Marguerite Porter Davison’s Scandinavian Favorites crackle structure. I love the rhythm of the shuttle (pattern tabby pattern tabby), the Scandinavian design is charming, and I love the texture of the crackle structure for dish towels.

Project Specs

Finished size: 6 towels, each 19-1/2" x 30"

Weave structure: crackle, plain weave

Number of warp ends: 454 ends

Warp length: 6 yards

Width in reed: 22-7/10"

EPI: 20 (2 ends per dent in a 10 dent reed)

PPI: 20

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What You'll Need

Materials

Warp: Bockens 22/2 Cottolin in White (2800 yds)
Tabby Weft: American Maid 10/2 Cotton in Natural (1350 yds)
Pattern Weft: Maurice Brassard 8/2 Cotton in Rose Fonce 1330 (1000 yds), Noir 83 (200 yds), and Limette Pale 4269 (35 yds) Colors can be adjusted to any combination you prefer!
Inkle band warp: Maurice Brassard 8/2 Cotton in Rose Fonce (8 yds), Orange Fonce (6 yds), and White (35 yds)
Inkle band weft: Maurice Brassard 8/2 Cotton in Noir (8 yds)

Equipment

4-shaft loom with at least 23" weaving width
10 dent reed
2 boat shuttles and a bobbin for each weft color
inkle loom
belt shuttle
sewing machine with zigzag stitch and straight stitch

Directions

Warping

Using white 22/2 cottolin, wind a warp of 454 ends, 6 yards long.
Warp the loom using your preferred method, following the threading and tie-up in the weaving draft.

Weaving Towels

Wind a bobbin for each weft yarn. You will use the tabby weft, 10/2 cotton in Natural, throughout the entire weaving in plain weave and crackle sections. Use the accent color, 8/2 cotton in Limette Pale, in plain weave sections. In the crackle sections, you will use either 8/2 cotton in Noir or in Rose fonce, alternating each pattern pick with a tabby pick in 10/2 cotton in Natural.
Weave the first plain weave hem: 24 picks of 10/2 Natural, 2 picks of 8/2 Limette pale (cut and weave in the tail), 2 picks of 10/2 Natural.
Weave the crackle checkerboard pattern with 8/2 Noir, working tabby picks in 10/2 Natural. Tabby picks are not marked on the weaving draft: Always weave a tabby pick after a pattern pick. For this project, treadles 1 and 2 are the tabby treadles; 3 through 6 are the pattern treadles. For this pattern you start with treadle 3 and the pattern weft. Then wrap the yarns around each other, and work a tabby pick with treadle 1 and the tabby weft. Work another pick with treadle 3 and the pattern weft, as shown in the treadling. Wrap the yarns again, then work another tabby pick with treadle 2 and the tabby weft.
Weave a plain weave stripe: 2 picks of 10/2 Natural, 2 picks of 8/2 Limette pale (cut and weave in the tail), 2 picks of 10/2 Natural.
Weave the crackle flower pattern with 10/2 Natural and 8/2 Rose fonce.
Weave a plain weave stripe as in Step 6.
Weave the crackle checkerboard pattern with as in Step 5.
Weave the last plain weave hem: 2 picks of 10/2 Natural, 2 picks of 8/2 Limette pale (cut and weave in the tail), 24 picks of 10/2 Natural.
Work 2 picks with scrap yarn in a contrasting color to separate towels.
Weave following steps 2-9 until you have 6 towels. You can vary colors if you like.

Finishing

Remove the weaving from the loom.
Use zigzag stitch on a sewing machine at beginning and end of each towel to protect the weft—stitch at the beginning of the weaving, on each side of the scrap yarn markers, and at the end of the weaving.
Trim off loom waste at the beginning and end of the weaving. If you wish, you can cut the towels apart at the scrap yarn marker.
Machine wash with warm water and dry in the dryer. Iron each towel.

Hanger Tabs

Warp the inkle loom with 8/2 cotton colors according to the inkle draft with at least 42" of woven length planned.
Weave 6" to 7" hanger tabs for each towel.
Weave the band about 3/8" wide, using Noir for the weft (or any color you like).
Remove the weaving from the loom. Wet finish the band: soak in warm soapy water for about 20 minutes. Rinse the band, remove excess water, and allow to air dry.

Assembly

Mark cutting lines for each hanger tab, using scrap yarn or sewing markers. Zigzag stitch on each side of each cutting line. Cut hanger tabs apart.
On each end of the towels, fold under 1/4" at each hem and press.
Fold under again, 1/4" to 1/2" from the first fold to enclose the raw edge and press again.
Place each end of the hanger tab under this second fold, centering on the towel.
Secure the hanger tab with machine stitching.
Sew hems by hand or machine. Press the hems.
You may want to wash, dry, and press the towels one more time before use.