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> The Kindness of Ravens
![](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264758/untitled-18_thumbnail.jpg)
![Harper is 5'4 / 162.5 cm tall and wearing a Size 2 with relatively zero ease. Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264758/untitled-18_small2.jpg)
![Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264762/untitled-21_small2.jpg)
![Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264765/untitled-28_small2.jpg)
![Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264761/untitled-26_small2.jpg)
![Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264760/untitled-25_small2.jpg)
![Photo by Emily C Gillies.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/885264757/untitled-30_small2.jpg)
![Steph is 5' / 152.5 cm and wearing a Size 1. She has 1" / 2.5 cm of negative ease at her full chest and 2" / 5 cm of positive ease at her high hip. She knit the recommended 16.25" / 41 cm length for the body (underarm to bottom hem). Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903636859/IMG_0477_small2.jpeg)
![Deidre is 5'5" / 165 cm and wearing a Size 5. She has 2" / 5 cm of positive ease at her full chest and 4.5" / 11 cm of positive ease at her high hip. She knit the recommended 16" / 40.5 cm length for the body (underarm to bottom hem). Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903636945/image1_small2.jpeg)
![Shelby is wearing a Size 9. She 4" / 10 cm of positive ease at her chest and 2" / 5 cm of positive ease at her hips. Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903637048/IMG_6445_small2.jpg)
![Tiffany is 5'11 / 152.5 cm and wearing a Size 12. She has approximately 3" / 7.5 cm of positive ease at her chest. She knit an extra 4.25" / 11 cm for a total underarm-to-bottom-hem length of 20" / 50.8 cm and added an extra 1" / 2.5 cm to the sleeves. Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903637171/Tiff2_medium.jpeg)
![Kae is 5'3 / 160 cm tall and wearing a spliced Size 11/14. They have 1" / 2.5 cm of positive ease at their hips, and 1.5" / 3.8 cm of positive ease at their chest. They added an extra 5" / 12.5 cm to the body for a total underarm-to-bottom-hem length of 20" / 50.5 cm. Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-f.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903637142/PXL_20230122_175704454_3_copy_small2.jpg)
![Sarah is 5'6 / 170 cm tall and wearing a Size 15. She has 6" / 15 cm of positive ease at the bust and 10" / 25.5 cm of positive ease at her hips. She knit the the recommended 15.5" / 39 cm for the body (underarm to bottom hem). Photo shared with permission.](https://images4-g.ravelrycache.com/uploads/disyarningknits/903637202/20230125_001641_small2.jpg)
The Kindness of Ravens
“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.
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- First published: November 2022
- Page created: January 30, 2023
- Last updated: January 30, 2023 …
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