Back in May I cast on the stitches for my Lyttelton in Blacker Designs‘ 4-ply, organic, pale blue Corriedale. This exact shade appears to be no longer in stock, but if I was knitting Lyttelton again, I’d stick with the Corriedale and maybe knit the design in blue denim, turquoise, or the beautiful olive green shade as I think this is a lovely fibre to knit with. It is light and springy in the hands and creates a warm garment with good stitch definition and a pleasing, fuzzy halo.

I hadn’t heard of Corriedale until Brenda told me it was her favourite fibre to spin; apparently it has a fantastic liveliness and bounce. The knitted fabric is warm, but it also has a robust, non-delicate quality, which means that one’s Corriedale Lyttelton can be worn for boisterous activities such as tree-climbing and foolish, simian posturing.

Why is it that the really juicy mulberries are all quite high up in the tree?

Luckily my underarm seams turned out well enough that I feel no shame at all in stretching forth to reach those tasty berries.

A very unripe mulberry.

It took me rather longer to make Lyttelton than I thought it would because I could only really knit it in small snatches between doing all the art projects I have been working on lately, and it is the kind of garment which – for my modest knitting pace – would have advanced much faster if I could have spared a couple of afternoons to work intently on it. However I really enjoyed the way those repeats steadily multiplied on my needles between non-knitting jobs, and the row-repeats are just long enough that completing each tilted ladder lozenge felt like an accomplishment and not a slog. The charts for the pattern are easy to get the hang of, and I enjoyed the clear and precise instructions that Kate provided.

The way that Lyttelton comes together at the end is satisfying in the same way that Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket is; you have this ungainly flat knitted thing on the needles, you steam and fold and sew it into place, and voila, a wearable garment emerges! I also liked how the Corriedale could be spliced as I went along so that at the end there were very few ends left to sew in, and the k1, p1 ribbing completes the whole thing in a fashion that is neat, but not too girly for my tastes.

I do like the way the design can be nipped in at the waist with the aid of a brooch pin, or tossed slouchily around the shoulders, shawl-style.

I think this is my new favourite knitted thing!

FO: Lyttelton by Kate Davies
Yarn: 4-ply Corriedale from Blacker Designs (3 balls)
Needles: 2.75mm and 3.25mm circulars (I think?)
Ravelled: here