This was the very first double-knitting project I designed and started knitting. It was also the first pattern I released, and it has been available for free on Ravelry ever since. I credit that fact partially for its popularity, but I’d like to think that the pattern’s simplicity and classic look is also responsible. Corvus is a very elegant and unisex scarf, perfect for the bird-lover or goth in your life.

I originally designed this scarf for my sister Margaret, who was at the time obsessed with crows, ravens and other unusually intelligent black birds. I charted the crow design itself from a photo I found online. I have knit two of these, one as a gift and one for a commission, and after the last one I decided to let a sample knitter do the one for the book. I added the marching crow’s feet up and down the body of the scarf partially for structural stability, partially for aesthetics, but mostly to relieve the boredom of working 4+ feet of plain double-stockinette with no color changes.

What’s New?

This pattern is popular and pretty much just fine the way it was, but one thing irked me about it. Due to the even number of stitches cast on, the mock-ribbing section at the beginning had two columns of the same color order next to each other at one edge. The new chart has an odd-numbered CO so that visually-jarring issue isn’t present. The corvid itself also has one column removed to compensate for the missing column, and the crows’ feet have been moved one column closer together. This is not something anyone is ever likely to notice. Full disclosure: I didn’t have the sample re-knit just for these minor improvements, so the photo and your piece will be subtly different. Rest assured, if you follow my charts, yours will be the better-looking one.