A Bluestocking Knits

Well — we had another generous few hours or so last night, it's not raining now, but the air has that clean feeling and the garden has got a pleasantly-surprised perked-up look.  I'm also starting the "Rae" pullover, so there's a nice little pun for you.  Julia and I settled on an adjusted color scheme, and after I had to winkle some glue down into the crack in my only pair of wood 2.5mm circs, I was knitting away on the ribbing.  The original gauge is 30 sts per 4"/10cm, and I'm getting 28 (in the round), so I'm recalculating a bit. 

After my success with the Crazy Rails quilt, I dove straight in to the new quilt for our bed, fabrics for which have been sitting in a drawer untouched for a year.  For some reason, though, although I still really like the Cross and Crown I had decided on, it seemed a bit more-advanced than I am at present — perhaps I'm wrong, but neither do I want to stretch myself too far.  I decided on something simpler, half-square triangles, and so I am cutting and pressing this week.  And at the same time, I thought about Laura, who at twenty is making plans to go away to college in September, and I wanted to make her a quilt to take with her.  She liked the idea, and after I proposed a few patterns I felt I could handle, she said, "You know, I'd like something with stars."  I nodded, and went to another room and came back with my copy of this magazine —

which I've been daydreaming over for quite a while.  The one on the cover was what had come to mind when Laura said "stars" — so she likes it and we've conferred and ordered fabrics.  I'm kind of glad that I decided on something simpler for our bed quilt — the stars one is I think a bit less-complex than it looks, but still I don't want to overwhelm myself.

A 1:12 scale sampler kit from Annelle Ferguson, on 48-count gauze.  I have had a bit of a slump this year where miniatures are concerned, but I got two of these kits for Christmas, and they are certainly very charming!

I admit also that knitting on this vintage pattern has got me thinking about knitting myself a little vintage something, perhaps in that KnitPicks Palette that didn't really work with the crocheted vest thingy last summer.  I really like the sleeveless vest/pullover style, as it's more versatile here, where real winter lasts only about three weeks, if we're lucky.  I'm very taken with the one on the left here —

or maybe (rather wildly!) this one —

for which I actually have the pattern — "Simonetta"! — unlike the first, which I guess I will have to make up as I go.

And because the title of this post has me singing the song, here is a version of it sung by Disneyland's Dapper Dans —