Ripple by Katherine Kennedy

After spending hours creating a beautiful piece of embroidery, not everyone is comfortable with the notion of putting it to work in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Many of us are what we might call exhibition stitchers. The work we create is so delicate and so intricate that its main purpose is to decorate our homes and our workspaces with pieces of stitched art to be admired but not touched.

Some of us, however, are brave enough to embroider something and then thrust it into a working life be it clothing, napery, a bag, brooches or even shoes!

Ripple by Katherine Kennedy is a project that well and truly sits on the ‘made for working life’ end of the scale.

This is not meant to be an exhibition piece – or is it? More on that shortly, for now let’s talk huck…

Huckaback or huck as it is now commonly known, was traditionally a linen fabric with a weave incorporating long weft and warp floats that created a bird’s eye or honeycomb pattern.

This rough, pebbled surface was perfect for bath and kitchen towels and the floats provided a simple vehicle for adding decorative, woven patterns with thread.

Carried from Europe to the United States by immigrants long ago and now worked onto cotton with a simpler weave, huck embroidery has retained its charm and is the perfect way to add a special touch to everyday items.

And that is exactly what Katherine Kennedy has created with Ripple, an eye-catching design robust enough for daily use.

The finished towel measures 71cm x 51cm wide (28" x 20"), appears in Inspirations magazine issue #126 and is a sister project to Stjärnljus from The Handpicked Collection 3.

Now, back to the question about whether this is an exhibition piece…

When we were discussing both Ripple and Stjärnljus at the Inspirations office, one of our team referenced them as ‘show towels’ which piqued our curiosity. What is a ‘show towel’ exactly?

A show towel is for decorative purposes only and never for actual use. In the example shared by our team member, they have two sets of tea towels for their kitchen – one for use and one to look nice.

They went on to explain that everyone in both the immediate and extended family was well versed with the rules, if anyone was seen using a show towel to dry the dishes… well, heaven help us all!

The good news is that both Ripple and Stjärnljus are more than capable of fulfilling both requirements. They are stunning enough to be show towels and make your kitchen look spectacular and equally robust enough if you destine them for work duties.