Diamonds and Pearls Shawl--Ravelympics FO

The thrill of victory!!! I touched the wall with the Diamonds and Pearls shawl this morning at 10:33 and 1/1000 of a second. Pattern by Shelia January from the lovely Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Yarn. Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, Colorway Flax, size 9 needles. Approximate finished size: 19" long x 45" wide. Nice, relatively simple pattern that took a lot less time than I thought it would, even when getting paid got in the way of knitting. I hate it when that happens.

Notes: Check here for some minor but crucial errata.

Marker placement on the first row made absolutely no sense to me, but the pattern was simple enough seems simple enough to follow without them; I finally figured a system on Row 47 (four markers surrounding repeat sections) so I could watch TV instead of counting like Rain Man.

I added an extra purl row for 78 total rows, and then a crochet bind-off since the one in the pattern looked kind of fiddly and I was pressed for time. Did a BO 3, ch. 6 bind-off; found a very helpful pictorial here. Awaiting medals and endorsements.

EDITED TO ADD: I got medals:

Still waiting for endorsements...

Going for the Gold

Let the games begin: all regularly scheduled knitting has been put on hiatus for the Ravelympics. I can best be described as a leisurely knitter (i.e. s--l--o--w), so I decided to set myself the rather gentle goal of the Diamond and Pearls shawl (shawlette, really) in 17 days. With a couple of days of concentrated knitting, I'm on a good pace and things are going smoothly. Too smoothly (she said, glancing over her shoulder for a glimpse of the Agony of Defeat).