Evie's Perfect Baby Sock Recipe Free Pattern!

I have been a relative latecomer to the knitting scene. Not that I couldn't kind of knit before. I did learn years and years ago, when I was a girly girl and crafty macrame things made out of string were all the rage. And truly, I was a deft hand at whipping up stripey scarves and ugly coat hanger covers ... but that is all. I have a sister who has forever been a wonderful knitter, and I marveled at how she could wrap her head around such strange things as "*K1, YO, K2, (slip 1, k2tog, psso,) K2, YO, K1* repeat until end of round". These secret little codes left me completely bewildered ... Until I was made to discover sock knitting.

 

Said sister was knitting socks, knitting socks, and naively thought that she would attempt to guide me on to sock-dom. Never was a sorrier sock knitted. I managed to cast on with these unfamiliar DPNS (Double Pointed Needles - obvious, isn't it). And then came the ordeal of slipping stitches onto additional needles, and did I have the right number of stitches on these needles, and was there any chance that I could join this strange thing together without getting it in a twist?! It has been such good fortune that I was blessed with the sister of eternal optimism. It seems I had a special knack for dropping stitches, losing stitches, adding stitches, knitting on the inside of the round as well as the outside (where I was actually supposed to be knitting). Each misdemeanor was lovingly corrected by my knitty guardian angel, and the sin expunged. But I couldn't learn from my mistakes. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't "read" my knitting. After many weeks, nay I say months, ball of yarn with the the first five inches of sorry sock attached were tumbled into a bag and flung into the drawer of abominations.

Then came the crazy winter of sublime content. A sudden and unexpected urge to knit struck me afresh, and I remembered the sadly abandoned sock-of-all-worry. And here I say "thank you" to YouTube. You taught me what a Heel Flap was, and how to construct it. You taught me how to Turn the Heel, the decrease that makes your heel narrow down and turn the corner! And then how to pick up all those magical stitches along each side of the sock, until I had a lovely circle again. You showed me all this. How those stitches form the Gusset , and how to work the decrease rounds that create the triangle bit on the side of the sock. And finally, that finishing touch, the toe; first the Decrease rounds and then, the icing on the sock, that thing I love best of all, Grafting the toe using Kitchener Stitch, creating that wonderful invisible join that simply can't be seen. And now I sound like I know what I'm talking about.

I couldn't stop at one, I had to knit more! I finished my second sock, so making a pair, even though one of them was much dodgier than the other. And then I had to knit more and knit more so that I could not be in danger of forgetting this wonderful new trick! So many pairs of socks have followed. I started to experiment with my very basic pattern, knitting up happy pairs of socks for all the beloved ones. I moved on to baby beanies. I LOVE knitting in the round! I can do it, I can do it. Little baby booties followed, and then I went on the search for the best baby-sock pattern I could find ...

And here I stumbled. Each of the little sock patterns that I tried just didn't quite work for me. They required a 4-ply sock yarn, but employed 4mm needles - Too Big! Not Right! I couldn't get the look that I so desired, a nice finely scaled baby sock. Enter Knitty's Socks 101 tutorial - a whole screed full of the workings of sock anatomy and how to deconstruct or simply construct a humble sock. 

And so, my own version of the perfect baby sock pattern was born. So many baby socks have been knitted, for the babies of nieces and nephews, for friends, for strangers, and now for my blossoming Nana glory box. 

So here are my baby sock construction photos. Would you like the pattern? [scroll down to the bottom]

The ribbed cuff, the leg, and the slip-stitched heel flap

 

Decrease for the heel completed

Heel decrease is complete - back view of sock

Picking up stitches along the heel flap

Heel stitches on side of sock, front of foot on cross needle

Back view of stitches along heel flap

Gusset decrease has been worked

Front of sock - foot and toe decrease complete

Back view of sock - heel, foot and toe decrease complete

 

Ready to graft the toe

Grafting using Kitchener stitch

And finished!

And now that you feel like jumping in and knitting Baby Socks (just because they're way too cute) you can grab the pattern for free from my little knitting spot on Ravelry. I give you Evie-May's Perfect Baby Sock Recipe . I'm about to down needles and drop into bed, but I hope that if sock-knitting has long been a mystery for you, that my warts-and-all confession of a novice sock-knitter might encourage you to go forth and Sock it! Let me know how you go?

Evie xxx