“cruel birds — ravens — but wise. and creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness.” – hannah kent

The name for this design came up in a conversation with a friend about corvids (a frequent topic of discussion if you happen to be friends with me). My friend commented on how it felt perfectly acceptable to refer to a group of crows as a murder, but the fact that the collective noun for ravens was an “unkindness” felt very not okay. After giving it some thought, I realized that — for me, at least — it was because we use the word “murder” rather loosely in North American discourse: “I’m going to murder my cat,” for example, is an oddly lighthearted, sometimes even loving expression. But to call someone unkind is personal, even cruel. Ravens, like crows, have wide-ranging symbolic associations: most often, they’re associated with ill omen, death, and loss. But they’re just as often linked with prophecy and insight, acting as messengers between the realms of living and dead.

The Kindness of Ravens (TKOR) is a bottom-up, close-fitting cabled and colourwork sweater, with a square neckline and set-in sleeves that are seamlessly picked up and shaped using short rows. This is a relatively advanced knitting pattern that requires comfort balancing multiple stitch patterns and techniques at once. The colourwork, which takes inspiration from one my first-ever knitting patterns (the Corvids, 19 Cowl), is mostly knit in two colours, with a couple of three-colour rounds.

For a comprehensive overview of the pattern construction, required materials and skills, and sizing information, see the TKOR pattern page.

My sample is knit out of Emily C Gillies Corriedale Sock, in the colourways Velvet Underground, Terabithia, and Nimbus.

Note: The base price of this pattern is a higher price point to reflect the time, energy and effort that went into creating it. My Payhip pattern listing provides permanent discount codes for financial accessibility.