Halfway There

I cranked out two more balls this weekend. That takes me to 28, which is just over halfway to all 55! And a month ahead of schedule, even though, until recently, I've been concentrating on the Hillhead Slipover. Despite my rapid start, I'm all too aware how quickly I could get behind.

First, I completed the Rocking Horse, the last pattern in the chapter called The night before Christmas. I wanted to add beads, and thought I might be able to style a saddle and reins using them. It almost worked. It's hard to get the concept of a line using beads -- they work better as accents and broader patterns. Also, my horses appear a bit more, er, well-fed than the samples in the book. Maybe saddles add a few pounds?

I did realize while making this that the increases described in the book work better with patterns that go right up to the edge of the panels than the ones I've been doing. So I've decided to switch from now on.

Pattern 28, Peppermint Pigs, is the first in the chapter Christmas goodies. Peppermint Pigs are a type of hard candy that are available in Norway at Christmas-time. This pattern, while simple, fills up all the space in the panels with large geometrical figures. Beads would have just been distracting, so I left them out. Usually, the second color doesn't come in until the 10th or 12th round, but these started in on round 2, which was a bit fiddly.

We're on a break between semesters, with no big travel or project plans, so hopefully I'll have a bit more time to devote to knitting. I haven't touched the sweater this past week, and I need to get back to it. I am getting a little restless with just the two projects going, even though the Christmas Balls have built-in pattern variety. For the past few months I can say, literally, that if it's not one thing, it's the other.