May 23, 2023 newsletter

Did you know that Thursday is Towel Day?

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 😉

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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

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 22″

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Tea Towel Time with Jane Towel Kit

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Weave structure: Plain weave, 2/2 Twill, Basket Weave,
Turned Twill, Broken Twill, 1/3 or 3/1 Twill
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes 12 towels. Finished dimensions: 21″x 27″ hemmed.

Loom requirements
Shafts 4 or 8
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving Width: 26″

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Rustic Elegance in Cotton

Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Huck lace
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 towels

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Width in reed: 26 ½”
Reed: 12 dent

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Ocean in Bouclé

Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: Cotton Bouclé
Each kit makes: 9 Tea Towels

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 22″

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Abalone and Ebony Towel & Scarf

Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Weave structure: 4 shaft Bronson Spot
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 3 Tea Towels & 1 Scarf (silk for scarf sold separately)

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 19.5″

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Inspiration from a Sari

Level of Difficulty: Beginner

Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: 8/2 Cotton
Each kit makes: 12 Towels and a bit of play time 🙂

Loom requirements:
    Shafts: 4
    Reed: 12 dent
    Weaving width: 24″

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Huck Lace – Mountain Views

Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave & Huck Lace
Material: 8/2 Cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent

Weaving width: 25 ½”

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Spring at the Cabin

Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Log Cabin
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Tea towels

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 23⅓ “

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From Our Inbox

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

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Here to help

Have a weaving question? Find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum and on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.