As you can see, linen and lace were always meant to be together. Malynda Allen designed her Sweet Linen and Lace towels in plain weave with delicate huck lace patterning.
If you haven’t woven it yet, two blocks of huck lace require only four shafts, and you can weave lace areas as tabby—all of which makes for versatile patterning options.
She used linen because it’s absorbant, dries quickly, and gives towels a nice hand. If you’re heard stories about weaving with linen, Malynda wants to assure you that it’s not that bad. Because she lives in a dry climate, she misted her warp and bobbins as she worked to keep the linen relaxed. But if you weave in a place with more natural humidity, she says you won’t need to take those steps.
Welcome spring to your home with a set of these towels, or weave them for a precious friend. Fair warning, though—we suspect you may have trouble letting them go. You’ll find all the project details in the Spring 2025 issue of Handwoven.
More About Weaving Lace
If you’re in search of more huck lace projects, check out our eBook: Best of Handwoven: Huck Lace Technique Series includes a baker‘s dozen of projects using huck lace (and a few close cousins) on four to eight shafts. Madelyn van der Hoogt kicks things off with an overview of different types of lace. Then she moves on to the nuts and bolts of designing your own huck lace. Later, you’ll find an overview of yarns for weaving huck lace, plus tips for planning, hemstitching, and fringing your work.
If you find you learn better when watching videos, we’ve got just the course for you! Weaving Lace with Madelyn van der Hoogt gives you essential information and helpful ideas for weaving and designing both huck and Atwater-Bronson lace. This newly updated version of her classic video course has separated chapters for easier navigation, plus a set of resources.
Both of these extras are free for Handwoven All-Access Subscribers, along with so many other eBooks and on-demand video courses.