Saffron

So here's the sweater I started yesterday in order to mitigate the boredom of Maris:

Saffron, by Kim Hargreaves

I've loved this pattern since it first came out in Rowan Magazine number 25 in 1999, and always had it in the back of my mind to do someday.  The other day I was thinking about the six balls of Rowan 4 Ply Cotton in Bloom that I have in my stash; I really wanted to make something RED but couldn't decide which pattern to do. And as that yarn is now discontinued, I felt a lot of (self-imposed) pressure to pick The Right Pattern.

And then I remembered that I also had seven skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Candy Apple, and that it would be enough for this cropped cardi.  And so, out came the needles!

I got this yarn accidentally a few years ago.  I had made an online order for three skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (a worsted weight) and instead received three skeins of Cotton Fine (fingering weight)!  I really liked the color though, so I got four more skeins and put them aside while I made my Beet Root sweater.

I think this deep, purply red is perfect for the sinuous, almost Arabesque design of this sweater.  The stitch pattern is easy to memorize and interesting enough to hold my attention, for those times when I feel like thinking a little bit.  And for the times when I feel like thinking not at all, I've got Maris.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to embellish the centers where the one purl stitch is. The original shows this done in all  one color:

Which I like a lot, but I think it may get lost in the deepness of the color I've chosen. There is also a swatch at the back of the magazine showing alternate colorways with contrasting color embroidery:

Sorry for the fuzziness.  I'm just too tired this morning
to redo it!

But I'm thinking that would look folksier than I really want.  I'm thinking beading might be nice - one seed bead at the center of each motif.  I think I have some really lovely #8 seed beads in bronze around here somewhere.

Any thoughts on the matter?