My experience with Parrot, which I did in 16/2 instead of 8/2 cotton, was that I prefer this kind of plain weave cotton cloth when I weave significantly fewer picks per inch than ends per inch.

For Stripes, I did a lot of sampling, and landed on 18ppi/24epi for 16/2 cotton. I just can't believe what a difference two fewer threads can make. In the photos, the piece not beneath the book was done in 20ppi/24epi. It seems frumpy and uninteresting compared to the one beside it, which I love. It lies so flat and has a subtle sheen to it that I would not have thought possible in cotton.

It seems like there is differential shrinkage in warp and weft with this kind of cotton such that if you weave it 50/50 you will still end up with a slightly weft-faced fabric. Also, it's like it needs to be a touch warp-dominant to appear balanced. That seems to point to why six fewer threads makes the fabric perform like this. Interested to hear other theories.