Shrinkage?

There is a phenomenon I’ve discovered while knitting clothes for myself that I simply do not understand.

I am a small person. I’m 5’0″ and usually wear petite clothes. Yet somehow when I measure a shirt while knitting, I realize that I have to make it longer than the pattern calls for, which is odd because you’d think they need to be shorter. And even after lengthening said shirt, it still ends up shorter than it’s supposed to.

Case in point: the Honeymoon Cami.

I’m using Lion Cotton-Ease, which knits at a much larger gauge than the recommended yarn. So my one repeat of the ribbing at the bottom is longer than what the pattern calls for. When it said to knit for 1.5″ before decreasing, I did 2″. When it said 3″ was a good ballpark figure for the strap (which just sounds wrong) I did something more like 7″. I tried it on, and noticed 2 things: 1) My boobs were out to play, and 2) the top was a good 2-3″ too short.

How does this happen?? I just don’t get it. I believe that if I knit a top to the pattern specifications, it should be longer on me than on anyone else, because I’m short. The only other explanation is that I should listen to what Victoria’s Secret has been trying to tell me and accept that my chest is in fact larger than I’ve been lead to believe all these years.

My plan of attack is to finish as planned (one more strap to go) and then attempt to pick up the ribbing at the bottom and do another pattern repeat. I don’t mind layering another tank underneath to keep the girls in check, but there’s just no good way to deal with a belly shirt. Other than…make sure it’s not a belly shirt anymore.