Waffle weave handtowels

I needed some new handtowels for the kitchen. I love waffle weave as it is so textured and when used for handtowels very absorbent. 

Here is the drawdown.

I used cottolin for the warp and weft. 

Warp: cottolin in three shades    weft : cottolin

There were 48 groups of 12 ends with one more repeat which was finished with 13 ends. 

Total number of warp ends = 576 plus 13 = 589

sett: 24 epi

on the loom

Unfortunately I damaged my shoulder and the towels remained on the loom for a couple of months.  At last I could go back to weaving and finished the towels. 

I love seeing the full length when it comes off the loom.

I tried to measure the handtowels on the loom so that each was 33 inches - which I calculated would be about 25 inches after washing.  I was not always as accurate. 

I designed different weft colour order to  make the three towels slightly different. 

There was quite a time gap when they were on the loom and I had not finished the warp.  I found that the tension for beating was not the same on the final towel. 

Here are the final measurements before and after washing.

                   before washing                  after washing

Towel 1      69 cm x 59 cm                    53.5 cm x 47 cm

Towel 2      64 cm x 59 cm                    58 cm x 47 cm

Towel 3      63 cm z 59 cm                     57 cm x 47 cm

I wove a hanging tab for the towels.  My husband wanted one of a single colour so that it stood out. 

cottolin band on Swedish band loom

Handtowels in the kitchen.

Three handtowels.

I had not woven  waffle weave for some time and I realised that I was beating harder for the first towel than the others.  This meant that it shrank more and the waffles are more pronounced. They are very absorbent. 

Now for a new project - some tea towels to go with them.

Susan J Foulkes

August 2026

Handtowels in Satin Weave

 Satin weave

I have just finished two handtowels in 10 shaft satin.  

Warp for both towels.

Warp: 16/2 unbleached cotton

Weft: 16/1 linen

Sett:19.5 ends per cm approx 48 ends per inch

I used a 16 reed with 3 ends per dent.

Total number of warp ends = 864

Width in reed =  approx 18 inches

Border: block 1 = 82, block 2 = 35, block 1 = 50 then block 2 = 35 ends.  

Border total = 202 at each side. 

Centre of towel has 460 ends. block 1.

Pattern one

Weft = red 16/1 linen

For this towel, I increased length of the of coloured stripes by 5 picks each time.

So the first stripe repeat of 5 picks was woven 3 times

The second repeat of 10 picks was woven 4 times

The third repeat of 15 picks was woven 5 times.

The next repeat of 20 picks was woven 7 times.

The pattern was then reversed to the end of the towel.

Red towel off the loom

Reverse face of red towel

Pattern two

Weft = blue 16/1 linen

For this blue towel I increased the number of pattern repeats for each stripe. The first pattern repeat is 5 blue picks on the surface and five picks where white predominates on the surface. 

The first stripes of 5 picks was woven 13 times. 

The second stripes of 10 picks was woven 7 times. 

The third stripes of 15 picks was woven 6 times. 

The fourth stripes of 20 picks was woven 5 times.  

The fifth stripes of 25 picks was woven 4 times. 

The sixth stripes of 30 picks was woven 3 times. 

The final stripes of 35 picks to end the towel was woven once.

For this version, I varied the length of each block as I was weaving.  

Blue towel off the loom 

Reverse face of blue towel

Here are the two woven towels before being hemmed. 

Two towels off the loom. 

I enjoyed trying to vary the pattern by the length of the horizontal stripes.  These are very sturdy handtowels.  I have to weave some matching hanging tags but I have another project on my band loom at the moment. 

June 2023

Susan J Foulkes