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HAPPY Towels

During dark times of feeling unsettled, weavers have a place to turn to for solace. Their loom(s)! Your loom will be there during all the ups and downs of life, emotionally, physically, economically and politically. It is your happy place. A place to weave a Happy Towel for the ANWG towel exchange. It is three months to the ANWG conference in Yakima; enough time to weave a towel for the towel exchange.

Row of nine hand woven towels hanging in front of a black background. Letters in the words TEA TOWELS are super imposed on the towels.
Towels in the ANWG 2023 Towel Exchange. Photo credit: Carrie Gordon

How it works

  1.  Registered conference attendees may participate. (Click here for Conference Registration.)
  2. Each participant may submit one towel.
  3. The towel should be woven with absorbent fibers: cotton, hemp, linen, cotton/linen or any other appropriate fiber for a towel.
  4. The towel should be finished — hemmed, washed, dried and pressed. The approximate finished size should be 18 x27 inches. The towel may be a little wider and longer. Smaller towels will be accepted into a separate grouping.
  5. Pattern and colors of your choice, but you are encouraged to use any or all of the Conference colors.
  6. Fill out the Towel Time submission form and pin it to your towel when submitting it. This is the label for your one towel. It includes your name, email address, and phone number, along with your guild name and location. Also include info on the weaving draft name, source for the draft, yarn size, fiber, and sett used.
  7. You will receive a numbered receipt, which will be used on Saturday to pick up your new towel.
  8. When towels are distributed on Saturday, participants will need to present the receipt.
  9. The towels will be distributed, using the number on the receipt to ensure that participants do not get their own towel back.
  10. Towel assignment will be random. Participants will not choose their new towel.

Design ideas

Still need ideas on what to weave? My daughter recently found a new (2024) weaving book at the library just on towels. Weaving Hand Towels Simply by Susan Kesler-Simpson. She details 43 designs for 4 and 8 shaft looms. For additional inspiration, you may consult resources like Pinterest, Etsy, Handwoven magazine, or simply search for “handwoven towels” online.

We look forward to your creative contributions and a wonderful towel exchange at ANWG 2025!
Co-Chair, Ilze Tomsevics
ANWG 2025 CONFERENCE