Cabled Tunic from The Art of Seamless Knitting in Malabrigo Arroyo Fresco y Seco

I got quite a few new knitting books around Christmas time, and The Art of Seamless Knitting was one of them.  It looks like there is a ton of great information in this book, but so far, I have just been enjoying the beautiful patterns.

This is the Cabled Tunic pattern.  Obviously, I stopped mine at hip-length.  I was drawn to the beautiful cabled patterns, which are different on the front and back.

 I made a couple of small changes to my sweater, other than just the length.  For starters, I used a sport-weight yarn, which is quite a bit thinner than the recommended aran-weight yarn, so I adjusted stitch counts accordingly.  Second, I made the sleeves totally stockinette stitch and also added stockinette stitch panels at the sides.  I thought this yarn was just too pretty in stockinette stitch to not show off a little bit.  I also added some short rows to the back to raise the back neckline a bit.

The yarn is Malabrigo Arroyo in a deep, rich green semi-solid color called "fresco y seco," which my rudimentary Spanish tells me means "fresh and dry."  I used about 2.5 skeins.  I bought this yarn at A Good Yarn in Sarasota.  I actually started a couple of different projects with this yarn before settling on this sweater.  Nothing was quite special enough for the yarn, though.  I'm glad I didn't settle with another pattern I wasn't as happy about, because I LOVE this top.  It is a great weight for a short-sleeved sweater, and the yarn feels just fine next to my skin.  I would love to make a lightweight cardigan in this yarn, and the colors at Webs are so tempting.  I'll have to see what other colors they have in Sarasota.