Enchanted Mesa

As I took stock of the knitting projects I've finished so far this year, I was a bit shocked that there are fewer than one per month on average. I'm still likely going to finish more projects this year than I did last year (my slowest knitting year in a long time), and most of the my projects this year have been on the large side. While it's important to me that the process of knitting is enjoyable and relaxing, I do love the feeling of completing something. Unfinished projects quietly nag at me, wanting to be completed.

I've wanted to knit Stephen West's Enchanted Mesa for a while now. One of my favorite things about the design is the fact that you get half a sleeve done before you even realize you're knitting a sleeve! I'm always looking for sweaters with an unusual construction that help me avoid knitting a traditional sleeve tube. The original pattern does come with full-length sleeves, but leaving them out was perfectly OK. The sleeves are usually the part of a sweater project were I loose my knitting mojo, and are at high risk of being forever left unfinished.

I loved knitting this sweater! I held together one strand of single-ply fingering and either lace or light-fingering weight plied yarn. I like the drape and airiness I got with 4.5 mm needles. I'm realizing the majority of my projects this year have been knitted with multiple strands of yarn and needles larger than I used to find comfortable. I'm now obsessed with combining different yarns for interesting effects! As most of my stash is fingering weight or lighter, I can easily get a DK or worsted gauge by combining a few strands. I can also use up yarns I would probably never end up using on their own.