Knit Mandala - Mindful Knit

I've been on Ravelry since November and have been reading lots of posts, but not contributing at all. I found an interesting group, Into The Labyrknit, and have started to knit-along with their first Mindful Knit, a knit mandala.

I've just finished Round 25, and should have 182 sts. I am knitting with #30 Cebelia on #1 needles, and just managed to switch over to my 16" circular needle. It's a bit tight, and I hope it will ease up enough to let me slide my stitches without interruption.

This is my third start, and I think I will keep this one. I started with #2s and it was too sloppy, plus the color wasn't right. My next attempt was on 1s, and went much better, but I had trouble with the yo, ssk combination and kept losing stitches. This attempt I used yo, sl1, k1, psso, and my stitch counts are good.

I'm not sure if there is a visual difference between skpsso and ssk, I can't see it on this project. I can see a size difference in my yos, and I'm not sure that will block out. This last increase round I gave a little tug to my knit stitch before I psso, and perhaps that will even things up a bit.

Oh, and by the way, the little blue belly-button is how I start my knitting in the round. I cast on 4 stitches, knit about an inch of I-cord. After I double my stitches to 8, I change thread and start knitting the pattern. I'll cut it off and unravel it later, and use the long tail I left at the beginning to secure the first 8 stitches.