I am just really in love with the bumberet multi-colored towels. I only have 1 left in the blues and greens of the first batch, and 5 of the orange and red ones. I had hoped to get more blue ones done for my show this weekend, but life has intervened so that won’t happen. They will definitely be ready for my second show, 2-1/2 weeks from now.
First I got all sorts of colors of thread out and put them on the bottom cross bars of my warping mill. I loved the way they looked here.
I liked them all, and used most of them plus a bit more, so this run of towels has even more than the 14 colors used in the first batch. Although measuring the warp is very time consuming, I like the results so much that it makes it all worth it for me. This time I warped for eight towels instead of the six I’d done in my first two runs.
Got the warp beamed and the heddles threaded.
The first towel has a medium blue weft.
Number two has a peacock weft.
The third towel has a baby blue weft.
And the fourth, and as far as I’ve gotten, has a turquoise weft.
I would love to have your design as these towels are beautiful. Is the pattern available?
Thanks, Alison. Bumberet is a simple 4-shaft point twill. If you google that phrase you will be able to get weaving drafts showing a variety of uses of color and yarn weight.
Beautiful! I love your color choices. What size cotton do you use for your towels and where do you get your yarns. I am on a limited budget and find lots of weaving yarns so expensive.
Tobie – I use 8/2 unmercerized cotton. Initially it was all odds and ends left over from my baby wrap weaving. When I wanted more variety than I had left, I put a call out to my weaving guild to see if anyone had bits of 8/2 unmercerized cotton in their stash that they wanted to get rid of. I can use anything from 1oz. to 4oz. of a color, so that works for lots of folks to clean up their stash. FYI, for my towels, it takes about 1.7oz for weft for a towel, if that gives you some idea of amount needed. The amount of each color in the warp is totally individually determined.
Gorgeous towels! I think the turquoise is my favorite so far.
I really need to give bumberet a try! I was planning to learn how to wind a warp with a paddle first but maybe I will just go for it!
Misty – You can certainly weave bumberet with many fewer colors – like 2 or even just 1 – instead of numbers in the high teens. I’m not sure a weaving paddle would help in the winding. It all depends on what you were trying to achieve. Here’s how I do it: 3 strands color A, 3 strands color B, 3 strands color A; 3 of color C, 3 of D, 3 of C; 3 of E, 3 of F, 3 of E. I change and/or repeat the colors as the mood strikes me. So if I was using a warping paddle that repeated the same (for example) 5 colors repeatedly, I could certainly thread and treadle for bumberet, but it would be a totally different look.
So pretty all of them! I think I like the medium blue the best so far. Clear, clean blue, makes the periwinkle pop or is it lavender?
BTW, just so you know, the new inkle was less expensive than the Leclerc Cendrel…just saying….
Theresa – I, too, prefer the medium blue so far. I’ll probably make at least 2 of those, but want to try out a few more wefts. There’s a pale lime green in there, and although I doubt it’ll be my fav, I want to give it a try. And the purple-y color is, indeed, periwinkle. 🙂