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Texo, derived from Latin meaning twining or plaiting together, perfectly embodies the construction of this Aran weight cabled sweater. It draws inspiration from my trip to Dublin, where I discovered many shops brimming with traditional Aran sweaters.

Crafted using the original Soft Donegal yarn, this design boasts a couple of contemporary twists. The most prominent is the unique collar that can be worn as a high neck or a wide v-neck, granting versatility to your style. Despite its seamless top-down construction, the sweater body deviates from the norm with long side slits and a deep neck opening, resulting in a captivating visual effect.

Adding to its charm, the cables themselves showcase intriguing details, with an asymmetrical cable and a honeycomb cable that’s worked at a slight offset.

Check out the pattern deep-dive video on YouTube.

Without a doubt, this engaging knit offers a fresh and modern take on the timeless Aran sweater tradition.

And if you’d like to join a group of knitters who have already made this sweater, feel free to join our Slack community, then find and join the texosweater channel.

Difficulty: Intermediate. The ability to read cable charts is required.

Sizes: 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Finished bust circumference:

• 112 (120.5, 132, 140.5, 152, 160.5, 172, 180.5, 192) cm
• 44¾ (48¼, 52¾, 56¼, 60¾, 64¼, 68¾, 72¼, 76¾)“

Designed to be worn with 30-35 cm / 12-14” positive ease around the chest.
To choose the most appropriate size, measure the wearer’s chest and add the preferred ease. Or measure the circumference of an already-owned sweater that fits well. Then find the closest finished chest circumference.

Yarn: Worsted weight, allow approximately:

• 1630 (1690, 1780, 1870, 1900, 1960, 2060, 2090, 2170) m
• 1790 (1850, 1940, 2040, 2080, 2140, 2250, 2280, 2370) yds

Yarn used in sample (size 2) is 9 skeins of Studio Donegal Soft Donegal (100% Merino wool; 190 m 208 yds / 100 g) in colourway Cream (5507).

Gauge: 14 sts & 24 rows = 10 cm / 4″ in Stockinette st in the round and flat, after blocking.

Cable A repeat: 8 cm / 3¼“ in width
Cable B repeat: 10.5 cm / 4¼” in width

Suggested needles:

• 4.5 mm (US 7) circulars 60-100 cm / 24-40″ long
• 4 mm (US 6) circulars and/or DPNs for small circumference knitting

Notions: Stitch markers, row counter, scissors, tape measure, stitch holders or waste yarn, spare DPN/circular needle in smaller size, tapestry needle, at least 2 locking stitch markers.

Techniques used: Knit increases and decreases, cables, Backwards loop cast-on, Cable cast-on, Tubular bind-off.

Notes: The sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down. It begins by casting on back stitches and working them straight down to the underarm. Along the back shoulders, stitches are picked up to form each front shoulder. These fronts are worked separately with increases shaping the front neckline, down to the underarm. Next, the fronts and back are joined and worked in one piece until both fronts are joined at the center. Moving on, the back and front are worked separately with added i-cord edges down to the hem which is finished in 2x2 rib, resulting in two large slits at the sides. Sleeves are created by picking up stitches along the armholes and working them in the round with decreases down to the cuffs. For the collar, stitches are picked up along the neckline and worked in a 2x2 rib to the desired height. To finish the collar, stitches for collar edge bands are picked up along the front neck opening and collar edges, and each band is worked separately to match the width of the front opening. Finally, each edge band is sewn onto the base of the neck opening using mattress stitch.