First secret Christmas knitting revealed...

Tonight I finally gave Anne-Marie the scarf I made her for Christmas. I say finally because I made it back in November (October?), so it's been hanging around the house for quite awhile, tempting me to keep it for myself. Here she is modeling the scarf:

Project Stats: Anne-Marie's Woven Scarf

Pattern: Woven Knit, from Knit Scarves! by Candi Jensen.

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Chunky. Colorway 05 - it's a pink/red/purple/green/tad of blue combo. The color is most accurate in the top photo. I used three skeins and the scarf is a good length. Yarn purchased at The Fiber Gallery.

Needles: Eh. I don't remember. I think I used smaller needles than I thought I would need in order to get good stitch definition. I think it might have been size 9s.

Time to knit: I honestly don't remember, but not very long. This pattern is pretty addicting so it went by fast. I think it took a few days. It's not like me to be so sketchy on the details but I couldn't even put this in Ravelry because Anne-Marie would have seen it!

Impressions: I'm really happy with this, and I think Anne-Marie liked it. I made Heidi a scarf like this last year, but I like this one better as the pattern really got lost in the yarn in Heidi's version. The woven stitch is simple yet not boring, and the scarf looks much more interesting than a plain garter stitch for not much more trouble. Plus it doesn't curl or need to be blocked. That said, I had a really tough time deciding on a pattern for this yarn. I initially wanted to do a long cast-on and knit it lengthwise, but decided against that as I didn't really now how that would work with the long color repeats. Then I tried the Yarn Harlot's One-Row Scarf, but the pattern got lost. Then I tried ribbing on three different needles sizes, and the stitch definition was awful. Finally I thought of this pattern, which was perfect. The detail of the pattern wasn't lost even though the yarn is a bit slubby. I lucked out and had three skeins that lined up perfectly with each other so the color transitions are all really smooth. I haven't seen many projects with Silk Garden Chunky, but I think it's fairly new and might be difficult to find. I'd recommend it - I think it's softer than regular Silk Garden, plus bulky yarn = fast progress. I consider this one a success!