still catching up wiht xmas... weaving edition

so... I did finish all of my xmas gifts on time, but posting them is a different matter all together. Hopefully I'll get thorough it all before next xmas.

I'm so excited at how well this scarf came out. It was fast too (well... compared to the lace shawl I was making with this yarn before I frogged it to make this beauty in just a few days)... The yarn is this gorgeous silk I got from ArtFibers. Here's a link. I would definitely use this yarn again for weaving. It's just a simple plain weave at 12 ends per inch, and then I lightly ironed it after washing. I had to wash it at least three times, this yarn bleed like crazy. Like, poured a bottle of food coloring in the water bleeding. But... pretty!

It really is a dark purple closest to the shot where I'm wearing it, but I was having a hard time getting good pictures right before I had to pack it up and ship it out.

Lightly ironing it seemed to line everything up and bring out this incredible sheen that was there, but only just barely, before ironing. I was very careful about overdoing it though.

more xmas knitting

Here's another scarf I made as a gift for Christmas. This time it was an alpaca scarf for my father in law. I used a simple fisherman's ribbing stitch pattern and a 100% alpaca sport weight yarn (the now discontinued "Pure Alpaca Fina" from elann.com in one of their 10 ball "full bag" sales). I've never used fisherman's rib before and I'm amazed at how thick and fluffy this scarf is considering the weight of the yarn. It's alpaca to boot, so it's incredibly warm, perfect for someone who lives in the cold of Colorado. A winning stitch pattern I will use again for sure!