Recently in Baby Socks Category

I started this project after I purchased a set of Knit Picks Harmony double pointed needles, and finished them just in time for Ms. Z to wear for Christmas Eve.  To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the Knit Picks needle products.  I purchased a set of their metal double points and had one set corrode before I even took them out of the package.  And the other set that didn't corrode, was overly heavy and kept sliding out of the stitches in the sock I tried them on.  I purchased the Harmony needles because a) I am a sucker for multicolored anything (it's the crow in me), b) these were made out of wood and unlikely to corrode, c) they were priced well and d) they came in a nice set ranging from 2.0 mm to 3.25 mm in .25 mm increments which I thought would be very nice, since I am always looking for some odd-sized small needle when I want to knit socks. 


I'm pleased to report that I like these needles much better than I like the metal ones.  They are light weight, very smooth, beautiful to look at, and easy to keep together since they come in a nice vinyl pouch that holds the entire collection in individual pockets sorted by size.  They also have nice sharp tips, and, as a bonus, they come in sets of 6 instead of sets of 5.  Handy for those of us who have needle chewing cats or are just prone to losing a double pointed needle here and there.  I've enjoyed knitting with them very much.

This baby sock pattern takes advantage of having a range of sizes, and is a salute to my new set of double pointed needles.  You certainly don't need to have this kind of set to make this pattern, but it gives you more flexibility to adjust the fit to the baby you are knitting for.  If I've learned anything about baby socks (both from the commercial socks I've purchased and from knitting them), good fit is key to keeping them on small wiggly feet.  

I recommend working these socks out of a yarn that has some elastic in it, as it will help you achieve a more snug fit, and the stretchiness will also give you longer wear as the baby's feet grow.  I used Knit One Crochet Two, Soxx Appeal in the raspberry sundae colorway.  Which is nice yarn (it's a merino elastic blend which is perfect for providing a baby with a little extra warmth in winter -- baby feet tend to get cold easily!), but tends to be a bit splitty, so you need to watch out a bit when knitting with it.

Tools required: DP knitting needles, in 2.75 mm, 2.5 mm and 2.25 mm, two small stitch holders
Yarn: any yarn with a bit of elastic in it.  I used Soxx Appeal which is meant to knit up at about 8 stitches/inch on US 2/2.75 mm needles. Something like Koigu would probably work well if you didn't want to deal with an elasticized yarn.  Instructions assume you are working with 5 double points -- but this pattern is easily converted to 2 circs or magic loop -- use whatever makes you happy.

General instructions (to fit 3-6 month old baby -- but it's easy to scale up/down to fit whatever baby you like):

1. Cast on 16 stitches (or however wide you would like the toe to be) using magic toe up cast on (or a provisional cast on, if you prefer), onto 2.75 mm needles.  Half the stitches will be on each needle.
   
2. Knit one row  in the round.
3. (K1, Inc 1 in the next stitch, knit until two stitches remain, Inc 2 in the next stitch, K1) -- repeat instructions in parentheses one more time.
4. Repeat instructions 2 and 3 until there are 32 stitches (or however wide you would like the final diameter of the toe to be -- it is handy if this number is divisible by four) on the needles. You can divide the stitches over 4 needles whenever it feels comfortable to you.  When you do this, instruction 3 will be knit over the first 2 needles and the repeat will be knit over the second two needles.
5. Knit until 1/2" to 3/4" of the length of the baby's foot remains.
6. Perform short row heel down to 8 stitches between yarn over stitches using method described by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts.  For a visual explanation of this, Alison has a lovely tutorial.  Of course, you can insert what ever other heel you like best.
   
7. Knit 3 rounds even.
8. Switch to needles 2 sizes smaller (2.25 mm) than main needles.
9. Knit 4 stitches, Inc 1 in the next stitch, Inc 1 in the next stitch, K2 (knit to end of needle); K2, Inc 1 in the next stitch, Inc 1 in the next stitch, K4 (knit to end of the needle); K3, YO, K1, YO, K4 (knit to end of needle); K4, YO, K1, YO, K3 (knit to end of needle).
10. Knit 4 stitches.  K1, slip stitch to holder, K1, slip stitch to holder, K2; K3, slip stitch to holder, K1, slip stitch to holder, K4; K3, drop YO, slip stitch purlwise, drop YO, K4; K4, drop YO, slip stitch purlwise, drop YO, K3;
11. Knit across first needle; knit across second needle; K3, slip stitch purlwise, K4; K4, slip stitch purlwise, K3;
12. Knit 2 rounds.
13. Knit 5 rounds with 2.5 mm needles.
    
14. Switch to 2.75 needles and knit to approximately 1" above the slipped stitches. If the baby has wide calves, you might want to increase a stitch or two to accommodate the baby's shape.
    
15. Knit 1/2"  of K2 P2 ribbing. 
16. Cast off using stretchy cast off.  This is the one I used: Knit the first two stitches, transfer them back to the left hand needle and make sure yarn is at the back of the work.  Knit them together through the back of the loops, (knit or purl  the next stitch (follow the pattern established in the ribbing), move the working yarn to the back of the work, transfer both stitches back to the left hand needle and knit through the back of the loops)*.  Repeat the instructions in the parentheses until all the stitches have been consumed.
    
17. Transfer stitches on one of the stitch holders to a 2.25 mm needle.  Attach yarn and knit 2 stitch i-cord until cords are desired length (somewhere between 5" and 6" is a good length for me).  To finish, knit both stitches together at the end, cut yarn and thread tail through remaining stitch.  Repeat these instructions for the stitches on the second holder.
18. Pull the tie underneath the appropriate slipped stitch.  I found it handy to thread a darning needle with the yarn tail, and to use this to pull the i-cord underneath the slipped stitch.
19. Sew in all tails securely  Try out on favorite baby!

Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating the day.  Happy Holidays to everyone else.  John, Z and I all wish you much warmth, health and happiness for the coming New Year!

Thanksgiving weekend was busy, but I did get some time to finish up two projects.  I'll talk more about one of the projects next week.  Today, since it's usually Z's day on Friday, I'll talk about the project related to her: her very first pair of hand knit socks that actually fit.

I used the left over Regia 5047 that I had from my Mermaid Socks -- there was just about enough for a nice pair of socks for Z.  The socks were knit toe up, starting with that lovely magic cast on and 8 stitches on a side.  I increased up to a total of 36 stitches and knit a bit before I did the short row heel.  The little bit of ribbing just above the heel was my attempt to mimic a couple of pairs of baby socks that Z has that stay on well -- there is this little bit of a tighter knit just above the ankle.  I went down two needle sizes (the socks were knit on 2.5 mm and the bit of ribbing was knit on 2.0 mm) and did 3 rows of K1P1 ribbing.  Probably I should have done a little more because they don't pull in and help hold the sock on as well as I would like them to.  After a bit more stockinette, I finished the top off with K2P2 ribbing.

Baby socks are quite rewarding.  A small sock can be completed in an afternoon, even without a lot of focus and they use up yarn that I had previously thought was too much to throw away, but was hardly enough to do anything but knit blanket squares with.  And it was a lot of fun to slip these first handknit socks on to tiny squirmy baby feet.



She's not the ideal sock model, but at least the socks fit.  They're actually just a little big for her and she can get them off in no time, but she's growing so fast right now that I suspect that it won't be too long before I'm putting them into her stash of special outgrown things.

A Maize & Blue Christmas Ornament

Well, my first baby sock experiment was pretty much an unequivocal failure when it comes to actually being a baby sock. So rather than rip and re-work (I'm just lazy that way, not to mention the fact that I have a fair amount of left over sock yarn to experiment with), I've decided to re-purpose this little sock into a Christmas tree ornament as a memory of Z's first months with us.

Where did I go wrong? Well, I had decided that, since baby socks tend to come off the babies who wear them, that I wanted the sock to have a relatively firm material that would have some give but would generally want to stay where it was put. I accomplished that goal by knitting this Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn on size 0's (which gave me a very firm fabric and about 9 stitches per inch). I also wanted it to have a relatively long leg portion that would hug her leg. The garter stitch cuff was meant to be stretchy at the top, but firm. But when I tried it on her, I discovered that while my size calculations were spot on, the stiffness of the fabric didn't work very well when combined with the length of the leg and cuff of the sock and the relative stiffness of Z's ankle.

So, next time around I'm going to work with larger needles to create a looser fabric, stretchier yarn (Shepherd Sock is a wool/nylon blend and I don't think it has very much give, a 100% merino yarn like Koigu or Socks that Rock might have bee a better choice) or both -- and perhaps a shorter stretch between the ankle and the cuff. I'm going to need to get cracking, because the cool weather has already made an appearance here in Chicago and a baby whose favorite travel method is a Baby Bjorn is going to need to have some extra insulation for her feet.

On the positive side, it was a small sock, so I didn't end up wasting that much time, and I did get to try out that magic toe up cast-on and once I got the hang of it, decided that it was a pretty good deal. It certainly beats the standard provisional cast on that I was doing before for toe-up socks.

Still Life with Small Sock

I didn't really need to start another project, but I've been jonesing to start a new pair of socks. Since I haven't finished my last pair, I couldn't justify starting a new pair for myself, but I could justify starting a small pair for a certain someone. There's a little chill in the air and baby socks mean that I can not only stash bust, but stash bust from my sock yarn remnants, of which there are many.

How sweet are baby feet when they are 3.5" long and 3.5" around at their widest point? So sweet the baby feet.