Friendship Factor scarf project continues with the “Peaks and Valleys” hand woven scarf by Anu Bhatia recently posted in the Little Looms Spring edition from Handwoven Magazine www.handwovenmagazine.com. The design is inspired by the Colorado foothills which was very interesting since Lisa lives in Colorado which made the choice to make this scarf next a perfect fit. Learning new weaving skills is of course one of our goals in the Friendship Factor project. In this adventure we learned how to weave clasped yarns both on the warp and the weft. See our adventures below.

Valerie:

The Peaks and Valleys scarf is a beautiful rendition of the mountains with the peaks and valleys of colour in the clasped weaving on both the warp and the weft. I love how the scarf turned out overall. I chose to use a fingerling/sock weight yarn for my scarf as I did not have lace weight available in my stash at the time. Malabrigo sock yarn in the Polar Morning and the Kris colour ways were my chosen colours. I chose these colours for the gray of the mountain stone colours and the greens of the trees and foliage on the mountains. I would suggest using the lace weight yarn if possible as you won’t have to make changes to the pattern as I did along the way. Learning how to weave clasped weaving on both the warp and the weft was really interesting. The pattern gives you freedom to place the warp clasped sections where you want as well as how many peak you want to make on the weft in between the stripes. Though I had some issues with the first yarn I tried using (cotton lace weight broke when I was pulling threads through the loops) using a merino wool fixed that issue. My scarf looks different than the original photos of the pattern mainly as I used sock weight yarn instead of lace weight. The pattern was well written and very enjoyable to make. The mountain inspiration is beautifully attained and I am looking forward to wearing this new scarf.

Lisa:

This scarf was an experiment from start to finish. With the onset of summer and much warmer weather, I wanted to try a different fiber than I am used to using so I chose bamboo.

This was an interesting fiber to work with. I liked the softness and the shine, but it was slippery and hard to get a good tension on. It was also a challenge to get the colors I wanted because it was selling quickly. Originally, I was going to go with brown and beige, but I waited too long to get the beige so I went with red. Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish colors when you buy yarn on the internet, so that is why the contrast in the colors isn’t strong

As you can see, the peaks and valleys came through on the warp but completely washed out in the weft after I took it off the loom. I am not sure why this happened unless it is because of the two colors lacking contrast.

My scarf was definitely a learning experience. It did not turn out like I wanted but it still looks alright. No one will notice anything wrong when I wear it around my neck unless I tell them.

We hope you enjoyed viewing our recent Friendship Factor project. Our next project will be a crochet summer project as we wanted something we could make while being outside enjoying the warm weather. See you soon and have an amazing summer.

Various crochet patterns, YARN, ready to wear scarves by Valerie Baber Designs are available at: 

Etsy store: www.valeriebaberdesigns.etsy.com or Ravelry www.ravelry.com/designers/valerie-baber and Lovecrafts: LoveCrafts (search Valerie Baber Designs)

Follow me on my Instagram, Twitter and here on my Blog for the newest patterns, free patterns, weaving adventure, crochet journey and other fiber related items.

Happy crocheting and have a fibertastic day