This shawl is a basic bottom-up pattern. I used ten different balls of yarn. This project holds a very special significance for me. I’m a victim advocate at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. I help crime victims through the judicial process. A couple weeks after 9/11, a man killed another man for wearing a turban and a beard. What the murderer didn’t know was that the man was Sikh, beards and turbans were articles of his faith. It took two years for the case to get to trial. At the trial, I sat with the family, many of whom came from the Punjab area of India. One day at trial, I brought my knitting with me. I knitted in the hallway during breaks and the women from the family asked me why I knitted. I let them know I knitted because it relaxes me. They told me that in India they knit because they have to, they make garments to sell to help support their families. One of the women took the knitting from my hands. She briefly looked at my work and started knitting in pattern. During trial, the shawl was passed around and all the women knitted a few rows. The trial took a month to complete and garnered world wide attention. The accused was found guilty and was sentenced to death. He spent two years on death row. His sentence was later commuted to natural life.