The Budget Tie Top is a cropped camisole with adjustable straps. It is knitted bottom up in the round in the ribbed cable-lace structure. Once the desired length has been reached, stitches are bound off for the armholes, front and back to separate the individual triangles of the front and back. Those are worked flat one by one and finished in icord-straps, which can be made to be tied either at the top of the shoulders or at the back.
The Budget Tie Top has its name from its simple affordability - Even for the largest size, the yarn it was designed for (Drops Belle) will set you back no more than 11€!

Materials

• 3.5mm (US size 4) circular knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge with a cord length that is a bit smaller than your body circumference
• two DPNs in the same size for the icord straps
• two cable needles (one will work as well, but some stitches are a little more fiddly that way).
• A stitch marker to indicate the beginning of the round
• Waste yarn, stitch holders or separate knitting needles to let stitches rest
• a darning needle

Difficulty rating
I would classify the pattern to be of intermediate to advanced difficulty, because one of the cable stitches is quite difficult. However, video instructions for that stitch are provided. For some of my testers it was their first time doing cables, and there were almost no issues. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact me about it!

Sizing guide

The top is available in the sizes 1 / 2 / 3 (4 / 5 / 6) 7 / 8.
It is intended to be worn with approx. 6 cm (2.5 in) negative ease to 2 cm (1 in) positive ease.

Finished bust circumference: 70 / 78 / 84 (92 / 98 / 106) 112 / 120 cm
or
27.5 / 30.75 / 33 (36.25 / 38.5 / 41.75) 44 / 47.25 in

To fit a bust measurement of: 68-76 / 76-84 / 82-90 (90-98 / 96-104 / 104-112) 110-118 / 118-126 cm
or
26.75-30 / 30-33 / 32.25-35.5 (35.5-38.5 / 37.75-41 / 41-44) 43.25-46.5 / 46.5-49.5 in

You may notice that some of the sizes overlap. This is because of the way the sizes progress within the stitch pattern. If you fall into one of these overlaps, or in between sizes in general, I recommend choosing the smaller size, unless you want a bit more ease of course.

Finished length up to the armhole: 20 / 22.5 / 22.5 (25 / 25 / 27.5) 27.5 / 30 cm
or
8 / 9 / 9 (10 / 10 / 11) 11 / 12 in

Yarn requirements

Please keep in mind that if you decide to knit the top longer, you will need more yarn than what is estimated below.

For the sizes listed above you will need approximately 240 / 290 / 320 (400 / 470 / 560) 490 / 580 m
or
230 / 290 / 320 (390 / 420 / 490) 520 / 610 yds of DK weight yarn.

This corresponds to 2 / 3 / 3 (3-4 / 4 / 4) 4-5 / 5 skeins of Drops Belle, which is the yarn I used for my sample and that I had in mind when designing this pattern.

You can use any yarn you want, as long as it creates a fabric that you like and corresponds with the gauge given below. I highly recommend to use a plant-based yarn.
Here are some yarns used by testers:
Rowan Summerlite DK, Lion Brand CoBoo, and Premier Afternoon Cotton.