Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of Handwoven! In it, you’ll find 10 projects in brilliant hues and subtle shades. Let’s consider the mysteries of color, and then run down what you’ll find in the pages of this issue.
What are the colors that bring you joy? I’m not necessarily talking about the colors you might name as your favorites. Here are three of my great (and mystifying—keep reading) pleasures:
- Driving along a particular highway in late February, I spot a group of willow trees that are waking up and displaying a distinct haze of yellowish green among the endless grays of winter.
- Sitting in a baseball park as sunset approaches, I’m enveloped in the rich slate blue skies above and the warm sunlight reflecting all around me.
- While browsing the weaving I’ve bookmarked, I’m struck by a plain-weave sample woven in black and white, with sizable hanks of alternating black, white, and mustard weft every few picks. The hanks, cut between the tie-down warp ends, look like tassels lined up in a row. (Kristen Kaas is the weaver.)
If you asked me to list my favorite colors, I’d never include the yellowish green of those willows, the orange of the golden-hour sunlight, or the black, white, and mustard of that woven sample. Yet in each case, my heart leaps and I struggle to pull my eyes away.
What creates this reaction? Is my joy in those budding willows about the unmistakable sign that winter is finally receding, or am I appreciating an unexpected pop of color on a monochromatic background? I wonder, What would that yellowish green and gray combination look like if woven?
Left to right: Katzy Luhring’s Summer Day Bags, woven in turned taqueté, are just the right size for a phone and a wallet. Barbara Mitchell’s Summer Sorbet Towels are designed around a month of high temperatures. Tien Chiu’s Inner Glow Scarf uses the techniques for creating glow that she describes in her article in this issue.
For this issue, we asked designers to work with their favorite palettes, whatever they are—colors that pop up in their homes, their wardrobes, and their weaving, bringing joy to their lives. They came up with the projects you’ll find here, including napkins in a gradient running from soft pink to soft yellow; towels replete with nuggets of colors; a bag in muted blues and greens; a runner in vibrant jewel hues; towels in the colors of sorbets; and a striking black scarf that puts a muted contrasting color to very good use.
Left to right: Warp stripes do most of the work in Susan E. Horton’s Blue Horizon Towels, which are beautiful ways to use stash. Sedona Rigsby’s elegant Midnight Reflections Scarf is woven in cotton and silk with clasped wefts. And Rebecca Fox’s Tropical Waters Top has a pebbly texture that’s simple to weave.
I struggle to pull my eyes away from each of the designs in this issue. I hope they’ll inspire you to weave using the colors that bring you joy!
Please show off your projects on Instagram or Facebook using #handwovenmagazine. And send your weaving questions and comments to [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!
Happy weaving!
Also in this Issue
Véronique Perrot wants to help you stop struggling with color.
Tien Chiu explains how to create a glowing effect in your designs.
Linda Ligon writes about a weaving lesson that left her pondering the meaning of color.
In our new department, Humans Who Weave, Nancy Taylor shares her story: “I love the statisfaction that comes from focus and from learning to do hard things well.”
Media Picks reviews a new book about weaving with clasped weft.
Tom Knisely weaves with variegated yarn and shows the results in Notes from the Fell.
Subscribe today and get access to all 10 projects, as well as three bonus web projects.
Have you changed a Handwoven project to make it your own? Please share your photos with us on Instagram or Facebook using #handwovenmagazine. As always, please send your weaving questions and comments to [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you! —Lynn