It's a Cowl Christmas

Happy fourth/fifth day of Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa Eve Eve, Merry Christmas Eve!!  ... what am I missing?  Probably stuff.

My name is Cyprienne and I'm a cowl addict.

This is the third attempt at the third cowl in as many weeks.  The fact that I've gotten through the first pattern repeat bodes well for the rest of the project.

This is my fourth attempt at this particular cowl pattern, which means: mods, y'all. 
Shortened: The original pattern calls for 2.5 pattern repeats; I'm doing 2.25.
Similarity: See how some of the shields have two  center stitches and some have one?  Yeah, I'm fixing that for this new cowl.
Symmetry: The traveling edges between the shields will have mirrored decreases instead of all k2tog.

Help me.