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Every year I make a Christmas sweater for my daughter. She is my cariad, meaning my love, sweetheart or darling in Welsh.

As we live in a cold climate all these sweaters get well worn, so I use collar and cuffs that can be folded or sewn over as a double strength of fabric.

Keeping the yoke area in one yarn colour makes for a quicker and easier knit. If this is your first yoke, sweater or stranded knit then you’ll only have to concentrate on one thing at a time. You can also pick up and knit the sleeve stitches meaning zero sewing up at the end. Using a darker colour up top and patterns at the body also draws the eye down which can help to balance out broad shoulders.
When you move onto the body there is no waist or bust shaping, making this a unisex garment.

The overall fit of the sweater is roomy and relaxed. This is also great for gift knitting where you may not be entirely sure of someone’s measurements.

You can personalise this knit by swapping the colours, using a different chart or ditching the chart and ending up with broad stripes. You could also play with texture by knitting the cream coloured bands in garter stitch or purl.