I'm just going to pretend that January didn't exist this year and get right on to our February meeting. (January's photos are on our facebook page.)  An amazing thirteen people attended the meeting and there are still others who were not able to be there - so what a growth spurt we are having. And yet another loom has come out of the woodwork looking for a new owner. It's a very tidy 4-shaft, 6 pedal Ashford jack loom. It's a bit noisy but we have people working on that. There is a perfectly woven cushion length on it so we know it performs well.

Photos this month will come in instalments, the first covering the topic of the month which was tea towels. Members brought lots - many that have been in use for years, others just hot off the loom. No two were alike either in size, colour or pattern. There was plenty to spark off inspiration, and many questions were asked, which was pertinent because we intend to launch into a group tea towel project this year. Some things most of us agreed on: towels need to be a generous size, and a mix of cotton and linen seems to be the best for drying dishes. One thing was questioned . . . why do we always think that mercerised cotton is not so good for tea towels? Have we ever tried it? There were anecdotes about use of mercerised cotton being just fine, so let's look into that and find out if it is just a myth.

Here are the towels we saw . . . old and new.

These are not only tea towels, they are also happy memories.

Some are from previous projects, others are gifts from friends

Above and below, these good-sized towels were woven by Anne in the linen/cotton yarn from DEA, all woven on the same warp yet all different.

Above and below, these table mats in various yarns were woven by Rosemary. She also wove a massive number of napkins and tea towels for a wedding present, also using the DEA yarn

More show and tell soon provided there are no technological inconsistencies!