Desert tea towel, taupe

This tea towel arrived at my house like an unexpected houseguest - charming, slightly mysterious, and somehow more interesting than I'd anticipated. Julie Peach designed the illustration, which means someone actually sat down and drew something instead of just slapping a generic pattern on fabric. It's pure cotton, a respectable 20 inches square, and machine washable - a feature I appreciate since I tend to spill things on my kitchen textiles with alarming regularity. The whole package comes wrapped with a belly band and instructions, as if the towel itself might need coaching on how to behave. What struck me most was discovering it was silkscreened in India by a Fair Trade International certified partner, which is the kind of detail that makes you feel momentarily virtuous while doing laundry.