Purls and pearls

I was traveling last week and got quite a bit of knitting done. Not as much as I would have liked due to bad planning on my part. I slept all the way on the plane. I forgot to take the paper copy of the pattern I had printed. Therefore, when I went out for lunch and a beer after I landed, I had my knitting but no pattern. I was able to complete the first, single color area but couldn't move on to the striped area as I wanted to make sure I was following the pattern. Oh well. I squandered the whole afternoon and evening due to that miss.

But I did make a lot of progress on the way back. Here it is, at the beginning of the third section - with all 3 colors.
I love the way the purple makes the whole thing so bright! The green is actually chartreuse, which doesn't show up in the picture or in the knitted piece.

The pattern is Color Affection and the yarns are Douglas fir by Lorna's Laces (the blue), and two colors in Ella Rae Lace Merino - Mustard and Purple. Look how gorgeous it looks from the wrong side! I love the way purl stitches blend colors. In fact, I prefer reverse stockinette to stockinette and in this shawl, I prefer the wrong side of the garter to the right side.When I got back, the pearls I had ordered from Pearlstory had arrived. These were purple dyed freshwater pearls that looked like some South Sea pearls a colleague was wearing at work. I couldn't justify the expense of the real South Sea pearls so I bought something similar.

First the bags they came in. Pretty, right?There are the pearls on my bed sheet.
And then on the purple felt bag. The purple in the bag brings out the purple in the pearls. You can see ho much greener they look on the sheet. Wearing green brings out the green. I also ordered a pair of earrings to match. You can see those in the center of the pearl necklace. Much less expense and therefore, something I will wear more often than the real thing.

I am glad to be back home. Onward, with the knitting...