Inspecting the weft

Only a few more to go now!

towels slowly being completed

Threading the shuttle

Ready for a spin

ready steady spin

The wheel turns..the yarn is spun ready for the shuttle

Abok pauses for a quick chat

Has it been spun well?

Protecting the ready roll from wandering raindrops

Abok wove around 45 pairs of cotton towels on this warp and these much sought after pieces would’ve been sold by now in the very busy and bustling Ima Keithel or Ima market.

Her towels are also sought after as she’s amongst the very few women who use ’twill weave’ for making towels which also makes it more absorbent as more thread surface area is available to absorb moisture in this technique. There’s been a recent increase in the number of ‘plain weave’ woven towels as its an easier technique requiring less attention to counting the patterns as you weave & hence less time. They are beautiful too but it clearly doesn’t have the look and feel of twill weave towels.

Oh what a joy to watch Abok weave!