Two Pointy Sticks: Winter palette and some bits and bobs

I'm actually too tired to come up with a catchy title -- or even to post, for that matter, so if anything I say doesn't sound remotely eloquent or even make sense, I can't be held accountable for it. That said, here goes...

I've been busy in the colour studio, as some of you know, and I also managed to get a little experimentation in. I've been working with a new yarn, an aran weight cashmere, which is great for knitting projects quicker on slightly bigger needles (US 8 - US 13).

Tapping into the wintry side of the spectrum, I came up with these two new colourways, which are variations on the "night" theme.

The first, initially commissioned by my father, who wanted some masculine purples (he didn't actually say masculine, but I knew what he meant), is Orion:

Here's a close up of it here, in the aran weight cashmere:

And this other colour is one that I'm quite fond of because it reminds me of so many things, Midnight Orchid (also in aran weight 100% cashmere):

And a close up:

On the silk front, I also got up to a bit of swatching with the Tussah. The fabric is so light, soft and cool, like a spring breeze, and knits up with a texture that I think embodies what I think of as "rustic romantic". This here, I think, is destined to be a tie-back halter top along the lines of the St Tropez halter top.

But just to show you how fickle a fiber fiend I am, even with that on the needles, my eyes strayed to this new batch of silk which just arrived in the post. Look at the sheen of this fiber! It's a bit heavier in weight than the Tussah, but even softer and extremely smooth. I can't wait to test-paint these.

Lastly, just so you see that I'm not just salivating over colour/fiber possibilities, here is the beginning of a sweater in Briar Rose cashmere. There's much more to it now, but I'm too knackered to dig out the digital camera. But this should give you a fair idea of the look of it. It's not even a full piece yet, but it triggers something in my memory about some pieces I'd seen before by Missoni... or maybe Paule Ka?