When I was little, my mom made a quilt that had pinwheels on it. It was my favorite quilt and I still have it today (see below). We referred to that quilt pattern as Snail's Trails, but in weaving Snail's Trails is a different pattern. Funny enough, the pinwheels pattern exists in the quilt world too and it doesn't look like this either! Generations ago, they must have gotten it mixed up when they were making pattern exchanges.
Snail's Trails for quilts:
Snail's Trails for weaving:
Pinwheels for quilts:
Pinwheels for weaving:
Nevertheless, I feel like I'm obsessed with this woven pinwheel pattern. When I first got into spinning and knitting several years ago, I was at my local yarn store Studio Three and saw a great scarf wove with the pinwheel pattern. I knew someday I would figure out a way to weave this. I got excited back in January when I found this free pattern for star dishtowels. I tried it with a yellow and white warp, but I was unsatisfied about how it turned out. It was o.k. on the loom, but after washing it kind of kinked up tight in horizontal stripes because the weave was a 1/3 and 3/1 twill. Maybe it was the not-too-contrasting color choice... or maybe it just wasn't enough like the pinwheels.
But today I'm happy. I wove pinwheels!
