The Sloane Detroit Shawl began as an afterthought. I’m having a fling with cowls right now, but small shawls will always be my true love. I wondered if I could make a shawl based on the same construction and ideas in the Sloane Detroit Cowl. I’ll be honest with you, after knitting the cowl twice I was concerned that I would get a little bored so I shifted things just a bit. I hate to say literally. Can I say knitterally? Probably knot, but I’m a mom so bad mom jokes are my specialty. I digress. I decided to move the centerline of the shawl over just a bit and then bring it back to the original center. The Sloane Detroit Cowl flirts with reflection symmetry where as the shawl flirts with asymmetry. I’ll stop there before I get too deep into geometry nerd territory and just add that if you’ve knit the cowl, don’t be afraid to knit the shawl or vice versa. As a process knitter it’s my calling to make sure the designs I create are interesting to knit and I’m happy to say that despite the visual similarities between the cowl and shawl, the Sloane Detroit patterns are both a pleasure to knit in their own right.

“I might even be a little partial to the shawl,” she said, surprising no one.