August 12, 2018

Enchanted Mesa

Enchanted Mesa
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.

9 comments:

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  2. At the moment I have 5 unfinished sweaters, all of them done until the sleeves. I thought I was alone with this problem... I've been thinking of solving this problem by trying to knit something downwards and up, because this was great when knitting a sweater for my son. Also this Enchanted mesa would probably get finished, since half of the sleeves are knitted untraditionally. Thanks for the tip! And you have knitted a lovely sweater!

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    1. Yeah, I've been trying to think of ways to get around the kind of sleeve-knitting I dislike, but so far I've been too lazy to modify any sweater pattern heavily, and otherwise I do like knitting top-down!

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  3. Oh, sleeve island is a terrible place but I don't really know how to wear sweaters with short sleeves. I always love the bright colors you use, the yellow-black combo is perfection.

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    1. Maybe it's one of those things that, if you do it long enough, you will learn to enjoy or at least tolerate it. Or not!

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  4. This sweater is just amazing! Love the colors! And the drape! And the short sleeves!

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  5. I've been thinking about this sweater ever after I finished my Dotted rays shawl. Yours came out wonderfully, I love this color combo.

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    1. Yeah, it does have a similar element to Dotted Rays! I love the construction!

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