This shawl was incubating for a good number of months before I finally decided on how to approach designing it. I knew that it drew inspiration from architecture, but I couldn’t remember specifically what until I reflected on one of my favorite types of buildings to sightsee when traveling: cathedrals.

With that in mind, it all fell into place: the flying buttresses, high ceilings, and intersecting lines of beautifully constructed monuments characteristic of high Gothic architecture. The particular inspiration for this? The rib vault. This feature is the lines that cross and join in support of the roof on the inside of the cathedral. Combining slipped stitches for relief, crisscrossing intersections and cables, this shawl resembles the textures and silhouettes of European cathedrals.