The Ravell’d Sleeve
Originally, The Ravell’d Sleeve was a journal. Unique among knitting publications, it was devoted to the technical aspects of knitting, construction, design and fit as they relate to couture knitting, and was intended to continue and expand the educational and design components of The Couture Knitting Workshop. The first issue appeared in the spring of 2002, the fourth and last issue was mailed to subscribers in September of 2008. Each issue examined in depth a technique or element of couture knitting, explored a practice, tenet or theory fundamental to this approach to knitting, and, beginning with the second issue, offered a pattern for a small project that served as an exercise in the couture technique that was the prime focus of the issue. After the appearance of the last issue, interest in the journal was sustained and Catherine decided to make the complete journal available in book format.
The new, single volume Ravell’d Sleeve collects the contents of all four of the original issues. The articles have been organized according to their subject, rather than the issue in which they appeared; the patterns have been revised with an eye to consistency in the form and language of their text and presentation; and time-sensitive material has been eliminated. In some cases, the articles have been edited and expanded in the spirit of clarity and completeness, but the goal of the edits has been to preserve the original journal without undertaking a complete revision. Considerably revised, though, the introductory discussion of couture knitting reflects the evolution in Catherine’s thinking and the way the practice of couture knitting has sharpened in focus and broadened in reach.
The book is now available directly from lulu.com.
Articles on technique and design:
Fall, 2003: Vogue Knitting Magazine, “Using Short Rows for Creating Stripe Patterns”
Winter, 1999/2000: Vogue Knitting Magazine, “Fine Finishing: Picking up Stitches”
Fall, 1999: Vogue Knitting Magazine, “Fine Finishing: Bound Edges”
Spring – Summer, 1999: Vogue Knitting Magazine, “Fine Finishing: Selvages”