Inspiration

 

In 2017 we went to Sweden, in part to attend Vav conference.  Of course I hit the vendor hall!  And while I bought some linen yarns, I also bought this tea towel, 100% linen, woven on a Jacquard loom.

I loved the simplicity of the design, a kind of 'pencil sketch' of birch trees in the winter (on one side, birches at night on the other).  They had woven them on a white warp and used a number of different colours, but coming from a place where winter happens and we have birch trees in abundance, this one caught my fancy and I paid about $30 for it.  A bit of a bargain, frankly, given 100% linen!

As you can see, I have yet to use it.  For the years following I tucked it into my teaching bin as a 'sample' and shared it with my students.  However, now that I'm no longer teaching in person, I'm thinking it is about time to take the tag off and put it into the tea towel drawer.

There are many things to love about this textile.  The fine linen singles warp and weft; the satin weave; the special handling of the selvedges (because fine linen singles warp!), and the design.  

The yarn is not perfectly smooth but varies in thickness and there are little 'lumps' of fibre that add a subtle texture to the cloth.  The satin weave varies in how many interlacements there are in order to create shading, from nearly all white, to various shades of grey, to almost black.  And they credit the designer:  Lena Hellström.

So when I hear that old trope "all commercial textiles are bad" I cringe.  Because they are not.  Yes, there are poor quality textiles being made, but there are also excellent quality textiles being made.

I have so little wall space anywhere in this house I can't even pin it to a wall.  Unless I move some stuff around, which may yet happen.  So I think I'll keep this towel tucked away for a while longer.  Because every time I 'find' it when I'm searching through my bins of samples I feel a frisson of delight.

My current warp is in part inspired by this textile.  Not that my design looks anything like it, but!  The idea of bare branches against a winter sky?  Yes, I thought of this textile while I was designing my version: