Sometimes there is a confluence of wonderful things, that just have to be acted upon. Such for me were the long stashed crystal AB beads, the wonderful madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Alizarin from last season's yarn club, and the rampant Steampunk mania that's going on in my HPKCHC Ravelry group.
Wiki says, "Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history."
From the fashion perspective, this means waistcoats, spats, capes, fascinators and other types of Victorian garb.
With much room for fabulousness in the modern interpretation.
For a knitter, the genre is wide open. I've been inspired to use my confluent materials to design a beaded, hooded capelet with matching mitts. The mitts are underway.
Relevant fact: alizarin was the first natural pigment to be duplicated synthetically, in 1869. One can see why.
