I’ve been lured and snared by the Spring/Summer issue of Vogue Knitting, with this little beauty as the bait:

It’s Norah Gaughan’s "Frost Flowers" hooded pullover, and I’m in love. It’s a twisted, guilty sort of love, because I really don’t need to start another project right now, and there’s already a new project that’s supposed to be in line before I knit anything else for myself (more on that in a couple of days). And it’s knit in Trendsetter Spiral acrylic novelty yarn, which I’d normally avoid in the same way I shun Twinkies, breast implants, and other frighteningly manmade articles. I like wool. I like cotton. I like silk. I’m a natural fiber kind of girl. And yet my Frost Flower pullover lust was so intense that I ordered the yarn. Gulp. I didn’t order it in this color, which looks blue here but is actually more seafoam green, which isn’t really my shade and which I suspect will be out of fashion again in another season or two. I picked a cream/rose colorway, and I’m very curious to actually see and handle an entire ball of the yarn. If I really hate it, I can always send it back and substitute something else, right? But I decided to trust Ms. Gaughan, whom I already admired for her patterns in Interweave Knits.

Vogue Knitting is usually full of things I’d never want to knit, but this issue was remarkably irresistible. I also love this:

Although I’d be tempted to make it without the sleeves, and carry the picot edging from the neckline and hem over to the armholes, making it a sort of ’20’s-inspired cap-sleeve vest. I might also knit it in a silk blend, rather than using the Karabella Empire Silk called for. It would be cheaper, for one, and silk is just soooo drapey – a girl can have too much drape, you know. But I don’t need to knit this quite as urgently as I do the Frost Flowers, so it can just wait in the queue, thank you very much.