Après-Ski

After the lull of finishing the sweater earlier this week, and while waiting for some yarn to arrive in the mail, I’ve been able to knuckle down and get a few more Christmas Balls off the needles. 16 finished so far – right at 30% finished!

As of today, I’ve finished the four balls in the chapter called A Ski Sweater. This chapter  features designs based on motifs commonly found in traditional Norwegian sweater patterns. The first, called Christmas Stocking, is a pattern often found on Norwegian stockings, and, according to the authors, on Latvian mittens. This was an unusual pattern in that the hanging loop doesn’t match the fabric from which it emerges. Turns out the rule is that the cast o-on color at the bottom of the ball dictates the loop color, because of the way the loops are attached.

The second two designs in the chapter are variations on the traditional X’s and O’s commonly found in Stetesdal Sweaters – a term that was new to me. Do an image search on the web, and you’ll get it right away.

    

The first variation here has a lice pattern in the increase and decrease sections, while the second is solid red. The middle sections are identical, although I changed up the bead colors and placement for a little variety.

The fourth and final design in this section is called Halling Border, and is from a design found in the book Norwegian Knitting Designs, written by Annuchen Sibbern Bøhn. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to represent anything specific, or if it is just a pleasing abstract design. It kind of reminds me of an open book.

When I finished this ball, I had about 8 inches of red yarn to spare. I have a second ball handy, but it appears I’ll need to order at least one more – possibly two, just to be safe. I’m really enjoying this project. I’m getting much faster at these, and it’s always fun to figure out whether and where to insert the beads. I’m starting to worry now about getting done too quickly!

I probably just jinxed something by writing that…