I'm finally starting to make some headway on my long-delayed Perugia towel project. This is a Very Good Thing Indeed, as I think it will be a fun challenge and produce something useful and (hopefully) beautiful in the process.
I'm starting to compile my visual sources on a pintrest board, a new (to me anyway) tool that I find wonderfully useful for this sort of research and also totally addictive. What a great way for visual people like me to keep links organized! Hurray!
Anyway, I did the indigo dying for the cotton contrast bands yesterday with very good results. The blue came out nice and bright and even, so that's ready to go. I have 3 tubes of 40/2 linen ready to go, which should be more than enough for one napkin sized towel. I'm just starting to wonder if the 40/2 is too small. 20/2 is definitely too big, but I can't seem to find anything in between. Last year I was given a tube of what I think is 30/2, but I'm not sure and can't find more anywhere anyway. Gah. Hopefully the 40/2 will work, that's the best I'm going to get. Having to work at 48 EPI or small is a little terrifying, especially when I get to thinking about the pickup part (the blue bands are all done with a pickup stick, by hand), but this is supposed to be a challenge after all.
If you are at all interested in these towels, here are some on-line sources that might be of use to you:
http://larsdatter.com/perugia-towels.htm - tons of links to extant towels and art work with towels in it
Perugia Towels - a blog about Perugia towels and the weaving techniques used to make them. Lots of useful information
Bibliography of Sources - Thora Shaprtooth's bibliography of sources on Perugia-wares. Very helpful.
Affordable reproductions from Historic Enterprises. Sort of makes me wonder why I want to make my own sometimes...
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