The Loveliest Gift to Warm You This Christmas: Christmas Blankets from Yorka

The Advent calendar is down to its last few doors, the windows steam up by four in the afternoon and the kitchen smells of cinnamon and cloves. In the weeks before Christmas the house slowly turns inward. A Christmas gift given now doesn't end up in a drawer. It goes straight onto the sofa and stays there, and a Christmas blanket is that kind of gift.

Christmas Eve on the sofa

Dinner is over, the table is still covered in crumbs and the wrapping paper is piled up under the tree. Someone puts on the film the family watches every year. Everyone claims a corner of the sofa and a few minutes later the blankets are being passed around. The little ones end up in the middle, one end of the blanket over grandad's knees, the other over a sister's shoulder. A red blanket scattered with snowflakes gets into half the photos from that night.

The blanket does most of its work after Christmas, though. It's there when the snow comes in January, when February turns bitter, on a Sunday morning with a coffee on the balcony. It covers a child asleep in the back seat on the long drive home from the grandparents and moves to the sofa on a sick day. Every time someone wraps up in it, they remember who gave it.

Fleece or sherpa Christmas blanket?

Think about how the person will use it.

• Fleece blanket is light and never feels heavy on the shoulders. Fold it over the arm of the sofa and it opens out in one move when needed. It's the one people reach for first when reading or watching a film with the kids.
• Sherpa blanket is thicker. One side is covered in soft, fluffy pile that feels like lambswool, and once you sink into it the cold outside is forgotten for a while. If they always feel the cold, choose sherpa.

Christmas colours that last

Christmas has its own colours: cherry red, pine green, warm gold and snow white. More often than not, they're what makes you fall for a blanket at first sight.

The colours on Yorka's Christmas blankets don't fade in the wash, and the fabric doesn't pill. Last year's blanket comes out of the cupboard this December as bright and soft as the day it was unwrapped.

So a Christmas blanket doesn't stay a one-season decoration. It comes down from the loft with the baubles every year, and after a few Christmases it's part of how the family does things. The children start asking for it before the tree goes up.

Which Christmas pattern for whom

• For children and babies, reindeer, snowmen and Santa's sleigh. A small blanket doubles as a cover and a den for games. If it's for a baby, don't worry: our blankets are safe for babies to use.
• For your mum or grandma, red and green tartan. It has never gone out of style and it looks warm before you even touch it.
• For a couple spending their first Christmas in a new home, a large blanket two people can share.
• For someone with a minimalist home, fine snowflakes on white or cream. Calm enough to stay out long after the decorations go back in their box.

How to wrap a blanket as a Christmas gift

Instead of folding the blanket, roll it up and tie it in the middle with a thick red ribbon. Add a mug, a few sachets of hot chocolate and a good winter book, and put it under the tree. It doesn't need wrapping paper, the ribbon is enough.

You can see the models that suit Christmas designs on our fleece blanket and sherpa blanket pages.