Tantalizing Tessellation Triangles Towels–Blog Post
Michele went down a rabbit hole when she saw and loved Sheila O’Hara’s Tessellating Triangles Towels in person. She had so much fun we decided to share her journey – and put together a collection of yarn so you can weave these gorgeous towels yourself.
By Michele B.
Getting back together in person at shows has been such a joy. Meeting new friends and catching up with old friends in the company of other weavers is a dream come true. When we were at CNCH in San Mateo we had the pleasure of seeing Sheila O’Hara, weaver and artist extraordinaire. And we got to see in person, some of the incredible things she has been doing.
I immediately fell in love with Sheila's Tessellating Triangles Towels. They appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Handwoven Magazine. I thought they were lovely while looking at the magazine, but in person they are smashing!
The weave structure is highlighted by complimentary colors, and light and color scatter in unexpected ways. Sheila used stash yarns, many of which are no longer available. So, I set about finding the perfect 10/2 Tubular Spectrum™ Yarns to substitute for the colors in the towels. And make a set of these for myself. My color conversions are shown in the color charts below.
With the 45 colors of Tubular Spectrum™ yarn, it wasn’t hard to find a palette that was true to Sheila’s distinctive color sense. So, I immediately warped them up.
My enthusiasm dimmed a bit when I read in the magazine that I needed 258 heddles on harness one. I hate moving heddles, and I suspect most of us do. But I was too far down the road to go back. And, you know what? It wasn’t that hard. Lesson learned. Sometimes we dread things that are really no big deal!
Weaving these towels can be a challenge, but I’m going to share those insights in another blog post! So far, I have woven two towels, one in each colorway. They are stunning. If you would like to weave your own towels, we have the yarn collection available here.
We will have the woven samples woven to show off at Complex Weaver's Seminar and Convergence 2024 in Wichita!! Hope to see you there!