I fell in love with the Cherie Amour pattern as soon as I saw it, and so when the wonderful Kemps listed Patons Sorbet in their clearance section for 79p a ball, the time had come to cast on and see if this slightly unusual pattern would be too much for a beginner.
There are a couple of problems with the pattern - the neckline decrease chart doesn't do what you expect, and you actually have to add in extra decreases which aren't charted. Luckily there are plenty of hints around Ravelry. In my concentration to get the neckline correct, I slipped up on the second error in the pattern which I had already spotted - the symbols in the chart are wrong on Row 21. I made the mistake on both front panels, so at least it is a symmetrical mistake!
When I first tried the sleeveless body on, I was aghast by how wide it made my waist look. It sat around, unseamed, until I had the brainwave of trying it on over a white top instead of black. Much better! I think because this makes the ribbed waistband darker in comparison to the rest, so it appears visually nipped in and smaller. Hoorah.
I'm a dress size smaller on the top than on the bottom, so I started the bottom-up pattern in size S, then reduced the number of stitches on the final row before the ribbing (by more than the pattern says) and did the rest in size XS.
I decreased from 108 stitches to 92 like this:
(k5, k2tog) 3 times, k4, k2tog - repeat to end of row (4 times).
Hi! I found you on Ravelry. I'm attempting Cherie Amour now. I'm at row 15 of the the decrease chart. I'm having a hard time deciphering the instructions. Could you email me sometime? lesleyd on ravelry.
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