So I saw this link on Facebook from Lion brand yarn about making sweaters that flatter your shape. Makes sense, all the work you put into it you darn sure want it to look good on you in the end! One of the suggestions for my body type was the Short and Chic Cardi. I had to have it! It knits up quickly and is real easy to do. I was putting all this info on my project page on Ravelry when I realized it was a lot of directions so I'd better put it in a bigger place! I will be editing this post as I go along to add in directions for any other modifications I make so that my fellow ravelers can find everything in one place.
I'm using Caron Simply Soft in the soft pink colorway double stranded to achieve gauge the US 10 1/2 needles. I cast on 4 extra sts (a mulitple of 4 to maintain the ribbing) to ensure my sweater could button over my 46" bust. I know this is a close fitting sweater with negative ease, but 7 1/2 inches of negative ease seemed to me to be stretching it (pun intended). By adding four more sts I hope to gain a couple of inches.The right front went relatively easily except for the issue of the buttonholes. First of all I added a fourth buttonhole to address the concern of the gap between the first and second buttons bulging as noted by another raveler.
Here's what I did:
After row 3 (labeled "next (inc) row") where you are instructed to "work even as established for 3 rows", is where I made this modification. I BO 3 sts on the last even row and then CO 3 sts on the following row. In hind sight I probably would have made the buttonhole a row or two sooner (started BO sts on first or second even worked row then CO sts on the second or third even row) as it's not as evenly spaced as I would like. 
Then there's the matter of the size of the buttonholes. When the instructions are followed in the ribbing the buttonholes are neat and properly sized. However when you follow the directions in St st you end up with a gapping hole . If you think it looks huge laying flat just imagine the size if it when the weight on the garment pulls on it... so I attempted to correct this by only BO 2 sts for the next buttonhole while this is better it is still too large under the weight of the sweater when held against the body.
BO only 1 st for the buttonholes worked in St st. So instead of working the row to the last 7 sts work it to the last 5 sts BO 1 st for the buttonhole then work as est to the end of the row. Doing it this way will ensure your buttons all line up when worn. You may or may not want to reduce the size of the buttonholes in the ribbing by one st. I did not.
I finished up the back and had an extra stitch. Do I care? No. It's in the back and will be under the collar :P On to the dreaded left front where I'm supposed to be "reversing shaping". I think I'm actually doing it right! Ha! Mind you I have only worked the left front to the 7 (in my case) repeats of the raglan dec row/work one row even pattern. But I'm pretty sure the last 5 rows are correct.
Here's what I'm doing:
**Row 1 (RS):** Rejoin yarn, BO 2 sts, K to last 5 sts, sk2p, p2
**Row 2 (WS):** K2, be sure to bring your yarn forward then slip 1 pw, p1, PSSO (pass slipped stitch over). P to last 5 sts, Slip 1 pw, p2tog, psso, p2
**Work one row even**
Rep last 2 rows once more - 11(12, 13, 14) sts remain
**Next (raglan dec) Row (WS):** K2, p to last 4 sts, slip one pw, p1, psso, p2
**Work one row even**
Rep last 2 rows 4 (5, 6, 7) times more - 6 sts remain
**Work 2 rows even**
**Next Row:** K2, bring the yarn forward and slip 1 pw, p1, psso, p2
**Work one row even**
**Last Row:** K2tog, bring the yarn forward and slip 1pw, p2tog, psso - 2 sts remain. Bind off.
Doing this drops two rows, but it's the only way I got the thing to turn out looking like the opposite side. You could add them back in by knitting 2 rows even before "Row 2" but I didn't I figured I'll deal with it later if it's a problem, since I had ripped and knitted it 8 times trying everything I could conjure without success. The fronts are the same size etc that's what matters right?
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