Lin, I just received Knives 2014 for Christmas and enjoyed seeing your several knives in there. One of your comments earlier in this post really set me thinking.
You only had one shot at this knife - no extra material to start over if something went wrong. Every knifemaker I know has a scrap bin with unfinished knives that went wrong beyond the "fix it back up" point. Just knowing the first shot would have to be perfect would have me shaking so badly I would be guaranteed to mess it up.
I think the constraints you were working under, as much as the finished product, show that MS stamp is fully justified.
Truly a "masterful" project and another example of a knife as an art form.