Bonnie Tarses was so captivated by the Aurora Earth desert colors from her Desert Dream Towels that she now presents her latest design, the Sonoran Desert shawl or towels.
This yarn pack includes 8 solid colors and 1 variegated color. You will be able to weave with different weft colors so that your fabric will be unique and one-of-a-kind. Extra yardage is included for so many possibilities!
With a touch of the technique Bonnie calls Almost Ikat, you can create unique variegated stripes. Directions for lining up the variegated yarns with the Almost Ikat technique can be found on
Bonnie's YouTube Channel in her video called
Almost Ikat Weaving Tutorial with Bonnie Tarses. Keep in mind that you can also just wind the variegated yarn as you would a solid to create an interesting random effect that is also quite pleasing. Whichever warping method you choose, you will be thrilled with this color warp!
This weaving kit includes all the yarns needed to weave a light-weight Sonoran Desert shawl or set of three oversized towels.
Weave structure: plain weave or straight twill
Yarns: 8/2 Aurora Earth and 8/2 Variegated 100% cottons. Colors included are Rust, Special Green, Charcoal, Antique Gold, Cinnamon, Light Brown, Beige, and Light Orange along with the variegated Flower Garden.
Equipment needed: 4-shaft or rigid heddle loom; 24.6” weaving width; 10 dent reed; 1 shuttle; 9 bobbins
This project can easily be adjusted to any size loom.
Finished size: one light-weight shawl 23” x 88” with 4” fringe or three towels 23” x 28” each hemmed.
Instructions: included with kit.
Designed by Bonnie Tarses. Visit bonnietarses.com to learn more about Bonnie’s amazing mastery of color blending.
Photos by Jessica Ybarra of Blushing Pine Fiber
Learn more about the Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is one of the most vibrant and unique deserts in the world. Some say deserts are nothing but sand and wind, but the Sonoran Desert disagrees. This desert’s secrets begin with water. By definition, there shouldn’t be any. The absence of water is what signifies a desert. But not in the Sonoran, where torrents can pour furiously from the sky. Even in August, monsoon rains may inundate canyons. Water quickly evaporates above ground, but below the surface, it nourishes the world’s lushest desert, where 2,000 plant species thrive. Year-round, the succulents win our attention. Towering saguaros, chubby barrel cactuses, branching chollas. But in spring, delicate wildflowers compete for the limelight, painting the desert floor in a fleeting, phantasmagoric show of golden poppies, blue-purple lupine, yellow brittlebush, and red-flowered chuparosa. Even the soil of the desert with browns, rust, red, and gold. Learn more about the Sonoran Desert by visiting the
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.
