However, the transitions I created for the wings get more airy before they get less airy, so it's just going to get more open. One problem in creating charts is that on paper, more symbols look "heavier" and less symbols look "lighter" when, in fact, with lace the opposite is often true.
I really like how the center panel has been designed and I'm excited about the short row point. In fact, I even love my transitions between three related patterns for the wings. They might very well make a great shawl on their own, without a center panel. But I'm beginning to think the two don't fit together well. I've become rather brutal about frogging things that aren't working for me in yarn. I have a rather large bin of half finished quilting projects that will probably never see the light of day because they stopped working at some point. It's empowering somehow when working with yarn that you can reclaim your fiber!