I designed this cardigan for the child of a friend. I have been knitting for her since before her birth, and for each occasion I try to do something different. I had already made her sweaters with Fair Isle colorwork, lace, Icelandic colorwork, and simple stockinette, so this time I decided to do something with texture. I’ve already used her name for other designs, so this time I used her mum’s maiden name, Chase (which I especially like as it’s not gender-specific, and this isn’t necessarily a girl’s sweater!).

As I had planned on publishing it from the beginning, I wanted a design that would be texturally interesting but not too difficult to memorize—it’s a great take-along project. I kept the body in one piece for less seaming, and the closures are toggles because they’re easy to add afterwards or switch from side to side, if you’re worried about the closures being on the right ‘gender’ side. Also, the dad of the original recipient noted that tiny buttons and big dad fingers are not a great combination!