Speed crocheting a shawl and - no, really! I did!

Good morning!  I'm taking a creative break today - don't worry, I've earned it!  If only I had proof....here's the story.

I found out 2 or 3 days ago that we were having a birthday dinner for Mr. Tupelo's grandmother, but didn't mentally make the connection that we should have a gift ready for her until yesterday morning.   And the dinner was to be last night. Oy!  I went though all of my crochet books, some Ravelry patterns, random internet sites, and finally decided I should make a shawl.  I settled on this one, the All Shawl, by Doris Chan. You can find it here on Ravelry.  I started this version -

Doris Chan, All Shawl, Elegant Ewe Version

I've never made a shawl before, but I knew I was rushed for time (as in, I made the decision at noon yesterday to make this).  I scrambled in my stash to find enough yarn in a close enough type to make it, and ended up with some wool/acrylic blend in a dusty pink I had picked up at Goodwill in the spring.  I had three 1 3/4 ounce skeins, which was going to be tight.

The pattern is free on Ravelry, so I printed it off and started to work.  I worked solidly until 2pm, when I had to go do some impromptu babysitting for my sister (eeek, there went my extra work time!), then started again after 3pm on the work.  I worked until it was time to go to dinner, about 6.  So in a grand total of four hours of feverish hand warping crochet, I finished the body and 2 lines of lace trim of the shawl.  It was enough to look sweet and finished.  I wove in the ends, cleaned it up, and we bought a matching brooch on the way there to hold it closed. Turned out you can't find brooches at Kohl's.  Weird.  I settled on a fancy hair barrette that coordinated perfectly.

Want to see it?

Too bad!  Seriously!  It's the saddest thing ever - I worked so hard to get it done on time, sped to our destination, gave the gift - and I make a rookie mistake.  I DIDN'T TAKE A SINGLE PICTURE OF IT. NOT ONE. I'm so mad!!  Who speed crochets all day to have no proof of it?!?

You'll just have to take my word for it.

What I can say is THAT PATTERN.  Wonderful! It worked up really nicely, and was really easy to understand.  It's one of the best written Ravelry patterns that I've seen, free or not.  There's background, setup, diagrams, descriptions, ideas, everything.  I recommend it if you need to make a shawl.  The only thing I HATED was that when I was in a hurry, those last few rows took forever, since they are so long.  If I hadn't been rushed, I would've been able to think of it like a big blanket, and set it aside and come back to it later.

The two rows of lace looked pretty - like fans and shells on the edge.  So it wasn't earth shattering that I couldn't finish the lace. Just bummed I don't have pics to show you. No proof.  Can you believe me?  Who would make up a story like that?!

So as you can see, I've been busy, just not so good about documenting it here.  I hope you have been able to be equally productive lately.  I have to get to sewing back to school clothes soon - anyone have any pattern ideas/recommendations for me?

See you soon!