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PLEASE NOTE NEW DEADLINE and POSTAGE FEE!!!
TOWEL EXCHANGE RULES -2014
Amy L. has once again agreed to coordinate the 2014 towel exchange. These are her rules and contact info.

Fiber: Cotton, linen, hemp, ramie, and/or rayon (please, not 100% rayon!).

Queries? Email me! Or, join the Yahoo group wovendishtowels. Well, do that anyway!

Click to join wovendishtowels

or visit the Yahoo Groups site:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wovendishtowels/

History of the Cyber Dish Towel Exchanges

A little history ...

The idea for this dish towel exchange came from correspondence between Cathi B. and myself in 1995. Cathi had posted a message on the weaving list (weaving@quilt.net) to a new weaver who had just purchased a loom with towel warp on it. The new weaver wanted to cut the warp off, throw it away and put on something more exciting:

"I certainly understand the feeling of wanting to cut off a warp to start something more exciting," Cathi wrote, "but let me stick up for the lonely tea towels! ... Yes, they cost a dollar at Wal-Mart. Yes, no one will ever understand why you would waste the time. Yes, there are many more artistically satisfying, I suppose, items you can weave. But if you weave your dishtowel, every time you reach for it, it will bring a little light into your day that no one else will see. Probably reaching for a dishtowel means that you are doing something that you'd rather not be doing, so an uplift at that time is nice! And for the rest of the family, it is another invisible bit of light that I see every time I use it. So - please think twice before you cut this warp off!"

Cathi and I discussed the possibility of establishing an exchange of handwoven dish towels that other weavers on the list might join if they wanted, so that we could spread this *light* around the world.

And as one weaver noted, "It is better than swatch sample exchanges because you have a useful item."

Dish towels? Why?

Here's what some members of the weaving list have said about weaving dish towels:

 I admit to having been a member of the why-would-anyone-bother club. However, I learned that dish towels are a wonderful, unthreatening way to try out new structures and techniques. You can always say to yourself, "It doesn't really matter; it's only a dishtowel." It's amazing how that attitude can set your emotions and creativity free. As to gifts? Get a wonderful loaf of fresh bread (or bake it yourself), wrap it in the dishtowel, and tie it up with some of the fiber you used to weave the towel. This is a guaranteed memorable gift! - Ruth

 I wove dishtowels ten years ago, and they are still in use. Reason for weaving them ... I could have the exact color, look and feel I wanted. I've also been in the towel exchange, haven't used those yet, I'm waiting for my ten year old ones to give out, and they are just now showing signs of wear. - Pat

 As a beginning and intermediate weaver, I wove a lot of dish towels out of 10/2 unmercerized cotton for about $.50 to $1.00 each. It's nice to have samples that were actual projects at that stage of my weaving. Once I was confident of the structure, then I could go ahead and try it in mercerized cotton, linen, or silk at much higher expense. What else do you use everyday that costs so little in time and effort, and can provide such a good learning experience? - Laurie

  If you had handwoven towels, you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off them to just use them on crystal and silver. They would be the first thing you reach for. - Vila

This page was updated July 6, 2010.
No reproduction without permission.
Copyright ©1998-2010 by Chris Gustin