Welcome to the first installment of Weaving Crush Wednesday where we talk about the weaving projects we’re currently in love with! This week we cannot get enough of these stunning 4-shaft overshot towels by Pattie Graver. Woven in festive jewel tones these towels are the tops!
The first time I saw these towels Pattie brought them by the office. She wanted to write an article and to use the towels to illustrate—as soon as we saw these towels, though, we had to have them as a project in the issue! Luckily for all of us at Handwoven, Pattie agreed and her Bertha’s Towels weren’t only in the issue, they also ended up on the cover!
I know I fell in love with these towels at first sight; I loved everything about them from the way the silvery blues and bright greens popped out of the deep purple basecloth to the simply stunning miniature overshot patterning. (I am a sucker for all things overshot but especially miniature overshot!) I knew then and there that while I was a new weaver timidly working my way through 4-shaft twill designs that when I wove my first overshot project, it would be these towels.
Fast forward three years and I have not only the yarn but also the faith in my own skills as a weaver to take on these towels. I warped the loom with enough yarn for three towels and dove right in. Watching the overshot designs appear on the cloth pick by pick was just like magic. The colors looked even better in person than I had remembered and friends who came to visit during the weaving instantly gravitated to my loom to touch the cloth and ask questions.
Being me, I fully admit to not following the instructions as written. I took Pattie’s colors and her draft and tweaked them slightly to make three different towels, two to give and one to keep. The one I kept has a place of honor in my living room where I can happily look at it every day.
If you love these towels as much as I do, you can find the pattern in the Handwoven Special Pattern Collection: 5 Towels on 4-Shafts. or find it on its own here.
I do hope you’ll weave up these towels, they are a delight on and off the loom which is why they are my #WeavingCrushWednesday.
—Christina Garton