Christmas presents for family, as is my tradition. Planning for the first time to keep a few for myself, to start building my own collection.

One thing I really love about the Julekuler pattern is how many alternative designs there are. As usual I spent some time browsing project pages to look for cool new designs to copy. I found several new gems this year. My spreadsheet where I keep the designs I copy has gotten so large that I needed to make myself a visual “table of contents” this year, to make sure I don’t spend time copying down the same designs several years in a row. I don’t always know whether my source is the original source or whether they got the design from somewhere else. I know Arne & Carlos have created tons of new designs after they published the book, but I just credit where I discovered the variation. The names of the deigns are my own, except from the designs from the book - those are “canon”.

I recently discovered that Schachenmayr has a free version of the template with 24 variations. I didn’t knit any of the variations, but just leaving it here for you guys to enjoy since I wish I had had it when I was starting out knitting Christmas baubles without the book.

Knit in single strand Finullgarn, around 7 cm ø styrofoam balls from panduro.com. Knitting on 2.5 mm needles - can’t figure out why I used 3 mm last year, they end up too big for the styrofoam balls, whereas 2.5 mm needles gives them the perfect size.

Previous projects (I haven’t made project pages for all the balls I have knit, I know I have made balls for many more years than these):
2013
2019

Progress
29 Nov - completed 6 balls
12 Dec - completed 10 balls, so I have reached my gifting goal. I’m on a groove, so planning to buy some more styrofoam balls and make a few more for myself.
13 Dec - completed 12 balls
18 Dec - completed 15 balls
21 Dec - completed 19 balls

The balls:

• #1 - Marrakech ball inspired/copied from speedknitter, for my stepmom who has a special relationship with Morrocco.

• #2 - Ivy, from Arne & Carlos 2020 Advent calendar. From what I could see on Instagram this one seemed to be the most popular of their balls this year (at least up until the middle of December). It was an instant favorite with me - so pretty! Made 3 of this one

• #3 - Zigzag, copied from cryptogram. Made 3 of this.

• #4 - Reverse polkadot, copied from Monica Aas. Made 2.

• #5 - Setesdal, from Yarnjungle. I’m calling the design Setesdal because I’m pretty sure it’s based on the classic Norwegian Setesdal sweaters. I’ve copied designs from yarnjungles project page before, but this year was the first time I noticed this design. Made 1, for myself.

• #6 - Squares from Yarnjungle. So simple and quick to knit. I’ve knit this almost every year. This time I made just one, for myself.

• #7 - Twirl from Yarnjungle. Almost everyone in my family already has one of these, so I just made one for myself.

• #8 - Three Leaf Clover, from the book. Made 1.

• #9 - Pine, from the book. Made 2.

• #10 - Crown, from the book. Made 1.

• #11 - Voss/dovre, from the book. Made 1.

• #12 - Balls up by General Hogbuffer. Remembered to make the bottom red this year! Made 2.