Valerie Baber Designs

Weaving a friendship together is the first weaving adventure that Lisa, great friend of mine, decided we wanted to start. Since we both live in different countries we could enjoy virtual time together weaving and enjoy picking out a pattern, yarn and colours. Since I live in Canada and Lisa lives in the USA it makes it difficult to get together and enjoy our making our crafts. Lisa is actually the one who inspired me to try weaving (thank you Lisa! it’s just what I needed for my next fibre adventure). I started with a Frame Loom and worked up to a Rigid Heddle Loom. I am totally hooked on weaving and dream of larger 4 or 8 shaft looms in my studio to create on. I have known Lisa for years, but we have never met. We share a love for crochet and now weaving. Our friendship has evolved along with our artistic adventures to new and exciting directions. You never know where life will take you or who you will meet along the way. Lisa and I will be making various projects together so follow along as we jump into a weaving adventure that virtually brings us together from different countries.

The first scarf is the Friendship Factor scarf. We both went through our weaving magazines and patterns and settled on this lovely one available on Handwoven Magazine’s Little Looms edition, Easy Weaving With Little Looms Summer 2020 – Long Thread Media We chose the Plumage Scarf to weave as our first Friendship Factor scarf. The photo below is from Handwoven Magazine (handwovenmagazine.com) and I hope they don’t mind that I used it as I promote this wonderful weaving pattern. If you are looking for inspiration for your weaving project Handwoven Magazine is a wonderful place to start. Beautiful photo’s and patterns as well as history of weaving, artist, yarns and more are in each volume. You can even buy it online so you can look at it on your phone and computer. I love looking through the older issues and seeing how weaving has evolved over the years. This pattern uses Brooks Bouquet as the main pattern. I really like weaving this pattern it is an interesting design yet easy to do. I previous made a different scarf with the Brooks Bouquet in gray that had a lacey effect, but with this scarf the pattern is spaced differently giving a more texturized look.

This weaving adventure with Lisa was a wonderful journey that I was able to enjoy with a great friend. We took time looking for patterns at each end and both ended up really liking this one. I love that we both used different yarns and colours to achieve the scarf we wanted. Here are our thoughts about the pattern:

Valerie: On my version I chose to make it shorter as I wanted a Fall scarf to wear when out for a walk that was smaller in size. I also wanted to try it with two different colours on the warp and love that it added a stripe effect to the design. I used a darker hand painted yarn with softer colour on the warp and a natural/ivory colour on the weft. Using the ivory/natural on the weft had a subtle effect when I washed the scarf leaving the two other colours to stand out even more. I can’t wait to enjoy wearing this one. I will always think of our great friendship and the enjoyment we had making it every time I wear it.

Lisa: For my version, I chose to use two variegated skeins like the pattern called for because I was curious to see how they would blend together. Plus, I thought it would be a fun addition to my winter wardrobe. To choose my yarn, I looked for colors that look good together and looked for a common color to unite the skeins. In this case it was a mint and a light blue that were close in value. I liked this because it was not the prominent color in either skein, it was what I call the “pop color,” or the color that stands out on a yarn skein. This scarf was a lot of fun to make because I had no idea how the colors would come together – it’s kind of that throw paint on the wall and see what happens effect. Lisa Gossman-Steeves (@lisagossmansteeves)

I really like how Lisa’s turned out with all the beautiful array of colours mingled together. It has inspired me to add this scarf to my make it again list but this time longer and perhaps a thicker yarn like the one Lisa did. Our scarves started with the same pattern yet turned out as unique designs. The Friendship Factor Scarf is an example of how two people can take the same idea and make it completely different. That’s what friendship is about. Two or more people with individualities coming together and creating amazing and unique moments, items and friendships. Try a weaving project or other craft project with your friends. See where that adventure takes you and the beautiful way it weaves your friendship together.

Various crochet patterns by Valerie Baber Designs are available at: 

Etsy store: www.valeriebaberdesigns.etsy.com or Ravelry www.ravelry.com/designers/valerie-baber

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Have a fibertastic day!