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Sharon, our new JST dyer, wove these stunning linen tea towels in no time. This is the result of her first experience weaving with linen, and she loved it!
Linen is a beautiful piece of cloth that will get softer and softer with age. A truly delightful piece of fabric that is happy to do the “mundane” job of drying your dishes. Another classic towel to add to your kitchen.
I’m often asked “What’s the difference between the Spring ll and David lll”. It made me think that the best way to describe their similarities and differences was to make a wee video. We hope you enjoy it!
All Spring II looms are in stock and should arrive within 7 days while the David III looms will ship out mid-June. JST offers free shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
Spring II
Spring II is available in two sizes, either 8 or 12 shafts:
Are you a Sci-Fi fan? If you are – you probably already know about Towel Day and its origins. If not, and you love any excuse to weave another towel – this newsletter is for you too!
How did National Towel Day come about???
“A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” It is because of this quote that Towel Day was first celebrated on May 25, 2001, two weeks after the author of this well-loved book – Douglas Adams’ death.
So – hitchhikers and friends, get weaving 😉
All-Time Best-Selling Towel Kits
In honour of Towel Day – we thought we’d feature some of JST’s all-time best-selling towel kits. Choose one (or two) kits and have fun weaving them up and have them ready to share with your sci-fi family or friends.
Granny Pam’s Inspiration in Bouclé
Level of Difficulty: Beginner Weave structure: Plain Weave Material: Cotton Bouclé Each kit makes: 9 Tea Towels
We’ve been saving Carol Lansinger’s emails until we had a newsletter that was perfect for her story and photos. The Towel Day issue is it and we share her journey with you today. Carol lives not too far from us in Kingston, WA. She has shared her story with us by writing about the journey she has made through the School of Weaving and JST. As you can see and read – her hands and mind never rest and she has gifted a lot of towels to family and friends. We know that any hitchhikers she has among her family and friends, now own a special towel and are ready for Towel Day 😉 Thank you for taking the time to share your story, Carol.
Thanks go out to all of you that send in items for the “From Our Inbox” section of our newsletter. We love matching the emails we receive to newsletters, as we have done this week.
Hi Jane and team,
I thought I would share a bit as the classes have meant so much to me this year. I can see my progress that lays the groundwork for continuously being inspired by not only the course and where I take it, but also the show and tell. I get to now have a list of projects that I want to do as well as keep up with the class work! I work full time and look forward to spending time with the loom (weekends are way too short!).
This year, I decided to use the class projects throughout the year for towels for Christmas gifts. I am already running a bit short as I have already given away some as birthday presents throughout the year. Meaning next year, I need more towels….
The class projects are: Turned Twill (upper right corner) Crackle weave (lower left) M’s and O’s (lower right) Holly Berry linen towel kit with added pastels (upper left) – class catch up from prior season on lace
I have so appreciated the projects and the encouragement to play. I will do the towel I am most interested in. Get some practice with the project, and then start to riff and may go back and do the ones that Jane did make sure I didn’t miss something. I find out rather quickly what I like and what doesn’t work so well with the color. I find that a 6 yard warp is enough to give me 6 towels. More than that, I want to get on to the next project. I need the practice of dressing the loom and am actually liking that process very much.
The color play is so fascinating and a good stash really helps!
Thank you so much for bringing me along this year and I can’t wait for next year’s pile of Christmas towels for sending. Got to stop doing Birthdays …..
Oh and I almost forgot that I do have 4 more gifts – Whew – I was wondering why I was short on the Christmas list: Collapse weave scarf Kit (wool and Silk) – Upper left Abalone Towel/wrap Kit – (already gave towels away) – Upper right Overshot class project (cotton and Zephyr) – Bottom left Overshot class project (dyed silk warp and Zephyr) – Lower right
And – from Carol’s most recent email …….
A few more projects done so far this year to stay current and catch up on prior episodes! More gifts are lining up for Christmas 2023 and a wedding: Summer/Winter – (8/2 & 8/4 cotton) sized for towels and a little more drape 10 EPI- left C&W turned twill – 8/2 cotton- center left Rustic Elegance added color for fun – 8/2 cotton -Huck Lace – center right Block analysis- Zepher warp/Silk weft – upper right Block analysis – 8/2 cotton warp/Silk weft – lower right in purples (gift for co-worker’s wedding) So love the classes to launch off and play. Cheers,
Carol Lansinger
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
Hooray, we found more shelf space when we recently did a spring cleaning of the Studio! Now, we’ll be using that space to bring you new choices in your weaving life! This week we’ve added some new colours that are perfect to include in a summer scarf or wrap.
Watch this space as we add new yarns and colour options that you will soon be able to add to your own stash.
available in 100 g cones with 1,386 yds/cone (6,300 yds/lb)
The raw material for these yarns is derived exclusively from the pulp of bamboo trees grown under sustainable agricultural practices. Because the base is consistently lighter than that of pulp taken from typical trees harvested for common rayon, the production of our Bambu yarn is subjected to less chemical treatment than usually applied to the production of common rayon. We recommend twisting your fringes before washing.
Sett: plain weave: 24 epi for a very fine, gossamer fabric Twill (3/1: Turned Twill): 30 epi for a stunning fabric
At JST we are always looking for the best yarns for our weavers and we fell in love with these samples of 16/2 Baby Alpaca. In the very near future, we’ll be filling our shelves with a range of beautiful yummy colours. In the meantime, we have these two colours in stock. Only 10 cones are available in both Cloud and Kentucky.
16/2 Peruvian Baby Alpaca put up in 100 g cones – 984 yds/cone, 4457 yds/ lb.
Our new dye studio is up and running! Sharon has been getting our first batches ready for the dye pots. Don’t forget to sign up for the back-in-stock notifications on your favourite silk colours. That way we’ll know what colours need to jump to the front of the line 😉
Barbara Mitchell is a very talented weaver we have been working with at JST for a number of years. This month we were thrilled to see her Colour and Weave scarf – Shadow Boxing – on the cover of the newest issue of Handwoven Magazine that is on its way to subscribers’ mailboxes. If you love this scarf and want to weave it – the Shadow Boxing draft is in the magazine and the colours of Bambu 12 yarn that Barbara wove with are … Truffles, Pearl, Emperor, Aruba, Borage, Lime Grass, Cerise, and Cyclamen (or Raspberry).
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
One night last week we looked out and up at a sky was an incredible pink! It was the most amazing pink that matched and surrounded the flowers of a Camellia bush in full bloom. The magic sky slowly deepened to the richest pink/red that you can imagine. As weavers – the first thing that goes through our minds is how can we use that colour in a fabulous piece of cloth – maybe a scarf, a cozy wrap for a spring night or …… Picture a scarf made out of 40/2 linen with the subtle colour of Peachy Keen and/or Violet Ice mixed with the Linen as weft. Not in the mood for a scarf? who says you can’t have pink tea towels? Just imagine the fun you could have designing your own towels using 8/2 cotton in Salmon, Peach, Fuchsia, Cinnamon or with Bouclé in Salmon – which are the colours featured above on our May calendar page 😉
JST Pink Kits
Can you tell that pink is our “flavour” of the month? We thought you would enjoy seeing different kits that play with pink in their design. You can wrap yourself in pink or use it to brighten up your kitchen in the months ahead.
English Rose Lace Scarf Kit
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: Canvas Weave Material: 40/2 linen Each kit makes: 2 Scarves
Harrisville Shetland is such a wonderful cosy yarn. Available in lovely heathered colours, it weaves up quickly and blooms beautifully when wet finished. Ruckle Beach Wrap kit contains enough yarn to weave one blankie or two wraps based on one of the squares from our colour and weave gamp (DDL), woven in a frame. Once fulled and brushed, it makes the perfect light throw or snugly wrap for curling up with a cup of tea and a good book.
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: Plainweave Material: Harrisville Shetland Each kit makes: 1 blankie or 2 wraps
Loom requirements Shafts: 4 Width in reed: 43″ for the blanket or 32″ for the wrap Reed: 6 dent or 12 dent
Our supplier sent us Mohair Bolero Bouclé instead of the Brushed Mohair so that means you’re in luck! Grab these while we have them on our shelves! Bouclé mohair is easy to warp with and it weaves up quickly at 6 picks per inch and can add some texture to your project.
Mohair Bolero Bouclé is made of 78% Mohair, 13% Wool and 9% Nylon in Natural at 980 yds/lb and available in 100 g cones. It’s a joy to dye so imagine weaving with this mohair in colours you have created! Double the fun 😉
Are you looking for a last-minute gift that will give your “weaving” Mom some fun choosing an item she has wanted to add to her weaver’s toolbox? These E-Gifts are perfect.
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
Spring is finally arriving on our coast and every living thing around us is taking a deep breath and looking forward to being surrounded by new life, in so many forms. It’s a joyful time of year and there is nothing more heartwarming than the arrival of a brand new baby, no matter what season they are born in 😉 These 2 blankies have proven over and over again how much they are treasured by the family that receives one as a gift. You’ll see it for years as the “comfort blanket” of choice for the baby you wove it for as they grow. Is now the time to think about having a blankie woven and waiting to wrap around a new bundle of joy in your world?
Monte Cristo Baby Blanket
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Beginner Weave structure: Plain Weave Material: Monte Cristo cotton Each kit makes: 1 blanket
We can make this kit in any colour you like! Simply, put the Canvas Weave Baby Blanket kit into your cart, on the checkout screen in the “notes” section let us know what colours of 8/4 cotton you would like us to make the kit in.
New lower shipping rates now you can order more yarn!
With our new shipping rates for orders under $250 CAD, we offer a $17.00 CAD flat rate on orders to Canada & USA. (some exceptions apply such as oversized items). Now adding to your order doesn’t mean higher shipping rates, you still will pay only $17.00 CAN for shipping.
Remember, spend over $250.00 CAD and you’ll receive free shipping! Receive 10% off & free shipping when you spend over $500.00 CAD (Some Exceptions Apply. Please see our shipping policy page for full details).
Shirley, from Campbell River – just over the water and up the coast of Vancouver Island from Salt Spring Island – sent us a photo of her exploration with what she learned in Season 6 Episode 8 – Summer and Winter. She has taken that episode and created her own design for her placemats – it’s stunning, Shirley!
Here is a sample of my interpretation of the Summer and Winter study. I used 2/8 cotton for the warp and pattern weft and 2/16 cotton for the tabby weft. I used Jane’s threading but set it at 16 epi. (Next time I would try 18 epi.) After sampling all the alternative treadlings, I settled on dukagang for a few mats.
As always, I found this to be fun and challenging. Thank you Jane!
Shirley Greening
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
Have you ever wound a warp using an old shoe box with holes in its side and chopsticks or knitting needles supporting 1 or 2 cones of yarn as you wind your warp? If you have, then you will know that – when you least expect it – the chopstick has managed to move and slide out of one of its holes. Then – you spend your time getting everything back in order before you can carry on.
If this sounds like you … we have an answer! Check out the cone holder that we now carry waiting on our shelves to head to your home and make winding a warp a whole lot easier 😉 It’s designed to control your yarn – no matter what kind of cone you are using until your yarn is happily on your warping board or warping mill.
We’re happy to say that we have added this beautiful zinger to our Eco Jeans colour range.
Very Light Yellow will add a little spark of brightness should you want to create your own design to weave into scarves or maybe a wrap for a baby.
The Eco Jeans yarn is made from recycled jeans and used plastic bottles. Worn jeans, jackets and other articles of jeans fabric will get a new life. A gift you can create that is also kind to our planet – win-win!
While we’re on the subject of Eco Jeans yarn – this kit has become a hit with our JST worldwide family. This Eco Jeans yarn is lovely to work with when weaving Cramming and Denting. The yarn is well suited because it grabs onto itself and holds in place very well. You have enough yarn in the kit to weave 2 scarves that are light and airy, casual and warm. Also included are full instructions on how to weave Cramming and Denting along with the pattern for the scarves. The result …. a perfect addition to jeans and a T-shirt!
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: Plain Weave Material: Venne Eco Jeans Each kit makes: 2 Scarves
School of Weaving’s Halvdrall Episode airing May 4th!
Season 7, Episode 5 – Halvdräll will be live soon, and the kits for this exciting episode are now available so you can have your loom ready and waiting when it airs.
This episode introduces Halvdräll, which I tend to think of as Monk’s Belt on steroids. Colour and Weave works beautifully on this structure, as does texture, so we’ll start adding another layer. Simple unit designs or big block designs and again, it is hard to believe that all these looks come from the idea of a unit. Positive/Negative is a strong force in Monk’s Belt/Halvdräll and is also a strong Positive/Negative force in Colour and Weave. Have fun with Halvdräll…
Jane
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Intermediate Weave structure: Halvdrall Material: 8/2 cotton Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels
We recently had the question – “how do I know how much yarn is left on my cone?” We were able to send the weaver to our Knowledge Base and specifically – The Cone Family. It’s one of the many topics and questions in the Knowledge Base that can help you to find the answers to your questions quite quickly. The Knowledge Base has a lot of information that Jane has written over the years – questions about looms, tie-ups, and weaving with different yarns, as well as Louet loom-specific questions that she has answered.
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
These towels are based on classic, old-world patterns with a contemporary twist. Incredibly versatile, they’ll be perfect with charcuterie and wine in a modern stainless steel kitchen, or a rustic picnic in the great outdoors.
Jane wove them in 8 Shaft Turned Twill where she overlaid Colour & Weave as a design element. Weave all 8 of Jane’s designs or pick your favourites and leave room on your warp to come up with your own creations 😉
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Intermediate Weave structure: 8 shaft Turned Twill Material: 8/2 cotton Each kit makes: 8 Towels
Our Picnic Basket Tea Towel kit is a fun project to weave. There are so many possibilities for exploration with this kit. These towels are a perfect step into the world of linen – with your warp made of 16/2 linen. You can weave them with 100% linen or use the Cottolin that comes with the kit, a fabulous yarn made from 70% cotton and 30% linen. You’ll have plenty of warp to weave them the way Jane has designed them. Or, weave your favourites from the draft and … if you have stash yarn just waiting to be used, these towels invite you to play with your stash colours in the warp.
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: 2/2 Twill & Basket Weave Material: 16/2 Venne Organic Linen & 16/2 Venne Organic Cottolin Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels
We have a few Rustic Elegance Linen kits in stock. These towels are a study in ‘colour and weave’ techniques on Huck Weft Spots with a simple 2 stripe design using Venne’s GOTS certified linen. Woven on a 4 shaft loom with a 23″ weaving width, this pattern originally created years ago for a JST Deluxe Weavers Retreat will be the perfect addition to any kitchen!
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: Huck lace Material: 16/2 organic linen Each kit makes: 4 towels or 2 runners
These towels have become a favourite for anyone who sees them. A “blank” canvas that comes to life as you weave it with 8/2 cotton in Dark Grey, Periwinkle or Nile. Magic happens while you weave and the magic is in the threading 😉
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner Weave structure: Swedish Lace Material: 8/2 cotton & 16/2 cotton Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels
Lisa of Florida, USA has sent us a photo of the fun she has been having with denting and clasped weft. We love to see how our School of Weaving members can make magic happen. Beautiful job, Lisa!
Love, love, love Jane Stafford School of weaving and if you ever reinstate in-person retreats/workshops, I would relish the chance to be there, all the way from Sarasota, Florida. This is my third sample scarf, using denting and clasped weft with your yarns. I love what happened! I started with just random threads and pulling them through haphazardly and then did some shapes, always with a 1/2 stripe separation. It’s one of my favorites!
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
This wonderful scarf pattern came about when we were creating Season 7 Episode 3 of the School of Weaving, which was all about Monk’s Belt. While I was researching patterns that used a Monk’s Belt threading and treadling I came across this wonderful pattern in “The Virginia West Swatch Book” which was published in 1985. This book is a treasure…..it is one of those books from that era where handwoven samples are included. She called the pattern Basket Squares. Mavis MacMillan is a weaver on my Dream Team and she happened to be in the studio when I was poking through it…..I said “Hey Mavis, do you want to weave this?”……and the rest is history :)…..Thank you Virginia and thank you Mavis.
Interested in exploring different yarns that you haven’t had a chance to design and weave with? We have a variety of cone ends in our Cone Ends Sale – all at tempting prices. It’s a perfect chance to learn about “new to you” yarns as you play with them at your loom 😉
We’ve had another email from PK in New Zealand. This time she shares what she created after doing the Colour & Weave gamp from Season 2. She also shares photos of the gamp itself. She is really taking what she has learned with each lesson and expanding it to create her own unique cloth. Well done, PK!
Hi, me again!
After each lesson I use what I have learned so far to create something in merino (my go-to fibre).
This I call Chili con Verde, and it was inspired by looking down at my salsa plate!! I hand dyed all of the 4ply merino, using the avocado green as the zinger (in an asymmetric division of space in 5!).
I used the DLDDL sequence from my gamp in the entire weft and warped half in DLDDL, a quarter in DDLLL, with the rest in plain weave.
I have also enclosed pics of my tea towels made from the sampling. Also the gamp. I opened up the sett to 16ppi for a scarf. I can only wear it loosely tied at the neck as it really is too short (ran out of warp!).
Thanks for the fun! PK
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
I know most of you don’t want to hear this but…spring is definitely in the air on our coast. Snow Drops, Crocuses, Daffodils and budding trees are finally here. Hopefully, with warmer days just around the corner for us all – signs of spring are arriving where you live. And…with Easter almost here – we can look forward to pouring through gardening catalogues and dreaming of what we’d like to grow on our balconies or in our yards!
We thought you might enjoy seeing a few of the kits we have available to help you dream of better weather to come.
To all of you who celebrate Easter – we hope yours is a happy one
Spring and Easter Stripes Tea Towels
Project Specs Level of Difficulty: Beginner Weave structure: Plain Weave Material: 8/2 Organic Cotton Each kit makes: 4 Towels
Project Specs Each kit makes two scarves. Level of Difficulty: Intermediate Weave structure: 2 Block Turned Twill Material: Zephyr Wool/Silk Blend Finished Dimensions: 8.5″ X 65″ plus fringe
What a delight to receive Brenda’s photos and to learn that she had taken the inspiration for her scarves from a recent JST newsletter. Brenda is from Manitoba, Canada and she has added layers from what she has learned from Jane on the School of Weaving to create these stunning scarves. Well done, Brenda!
I took inspiration from the cramming and denting newsletter featuring ECO denim jeans yarn, and created my own pattern using the yarn. Below are pictures of the scarves I came up with using a combination of ECO jeans denim yarn and cotton (for the natural colour). I also incorporated a supplementary warp as well using the navy and black ECO yarn colours.
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your conven
Garlic isn’t the only thing that is happy in our wee baskets! They are fun to fill with Easter eggs showing off all their beautiful colours while safely nestled in the wee baskets.
These baskets are fun to weave and you still have time to make them for Easter morning. This Open Weave Garlic Basket is woven with regular twining using rattan reed. This kit includes material for 3 baskets – 3 sets of spokes and 3 sets of weavers in natural and dyed colours for you to mix and match. This is one of Jane’s favourite baskets because of the various shapes you can weave them…..and they don’t all have to hold garlic or Easter eggs….you’ll come up with all kinds of uses for them! Check below for links that will take you to videos demonstrating how to make these delightful baskets.
We have to make room on our shelves as we fill them with new colour choices in our other yarns. So … we have decided to discontinue Bambu 7 from our stock. Don’t worry – we will still carry Bambu 12 and maintain a supply of the Bambu 7 needed for the School of Weaving Season 5 Episode 3 Huck kits.
There are some exciting improvements happening at JST that we want to let you know about.
We have some very exciting news for our American customers! www.janestaffordtextiles.com is now able to accept payment in USD. This means that you will be able to see the exact amount you will be charged in USD and will not incur any exchange rate fees or be subject to the FX rate of the day from your bank/credit card company! Your cart will default to USD if you are in the USA but this can also be changed manually by clicking the USD currency button 🙂
Canadian customers this does not change anything for you 🙂
Please note that this change does not effect the School of Weaving and subscription fees are still charged in USD for everyone no matter where you live.
We are also in the process of switching over to new parcel carriers for all our outgoing parcels. We will be using Canpar for parcels going to Canada and UPS for parcels going to the USA. DHL will be used for any parcels outside of the other carrier’s delivery areas. As such, we will no longer be able to ship to PO Boxes so please make sure to enter your physical address on the checkout screen. This means cheaper shipping rates for you! We have already reduced the shipping rates a bit but will be switching to a lower flat rate fee to pass on even more savings to you and make ordering from us more economical. Please stay tuned for more updates about this soon 🙂
Weave A Garlic Basket Video
There are two ways that you can watch and learn:
-as a subscriber (and for free) on Joan’s Vimeo site (she has some very informative videos)
-or…if you are a member of the School of Weaving – by watching Season 2 – Episode 9 on the School of Weaving. You can download the PDF there.
We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments toward your balance, at your convenience.
