Bobbly Baby Socks

​These cute little socks came about as a result of needing a baby gift for a new baby girl. The yarn I had chosen (Fabel by Garnstudio) was such a feminine pattern that the little trims and bobbles just seemed to happen on their own!
Once you have made a pair or 2 of these socks you may feel that you want to do your own thing and place the bobbles and picots in other places. Also you will notice that it would be easy to adapt these embellishments to other sizes of socks.
So go ahead and have fun with them!
BOBBLY BABY SOCKS
1 skein self patterning fingering weight sock yarn
2, 2.25 or 2.5 mm needles
Sizes: 0 – 6 mos, 6 mos – 1 yr
Terms & Abbreviations used:
Knitted cast on: knit one st but pass it back to the left needle and slip it back onto that needle.
Make Picot (MP) using knitted cast on, cast on 3 sts and then cast them off.
Make Bobble (MB) knit into the front, back, front, back & front of next st.
Turn work, slip 1st st, purl 4,
turn, sl1, k4
turn, sl1, p4
turn, cast off 4 sts
slip (sl) slip stitch from left to right needle without knitting or purling it.
The Sock:
Cast on 36 (40) sts.
Leave all sts on one needle and knit one row.
2nd row: k2, *MP, k3 repeat from * to end of row.
3rd row: turn and knit one row.
4th row knit and at the same time arrange sts on 4 needles: 9, 9, 9, and 9 (10, 10, 10, and 10). Join in the round and work in plain stocking st (knit every round) until you have 1 inch from the top trim. (or until you reach a band of colour that you want for your next bobbles).
Bobble Row: k2 and *MB k4. Repeat from * to end of round.
After Bobble Row knit for another ¼ to ½ inch and purl 3 or 4 rounds. (you can arrange this purled section on a stripe and it will really stand out)
Knit 5 rounds and begin heel:
Put the stitches from 2 of your needles onto one and work back & forth on these stitches for the heel flap.
1st Row: sl 1 knit one repeat to end of row
2nd row: sl 1, purl to end of row
Repeat these 2 rows till heel is 1 ¼ inches long.
Turn heel: (starting on a knit row) knit to the middle of the row, k2, ssk, k1, turn.
Next row; sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn
**sl 1 knit to within 1st st from gap, ssk, k1, turn
sl 1, p to within 1st st from gap, p2tog, p1, turn**
repeat from ** to ** until all heels sts are used up.
Again on a knit round, divide the sts left for the heel onto 2 needles. Knit across the second of these and work up the adjoining heel flap picking up the sts along the edge. These are all on one needle now along with ½ of the heel stitches. Knit across the 2 instep needles then down the other side of the heel flap picking up sts as you go and add the other half of the heel sts to this needle. Now, you have all sts on 4 needles again, needle 1 has ½ of the heel, needles 2 and 3 have the instep sts, needle 4 has the other half of the heel. Knit one complete round.
Next round: At the end of needle 1, k2tog. Knit across needles 2 & 3, on the 1st 2 sts of needle 4 ssk, knit to end of needle.
Knit one round plain.
Repeat the above 2 rounds until you are back to 9 (10) sts on ea needle again.
Knit without any changes until the foot measures 2 to 2 ½ inches from the back of the heel.
Toe decreases: Knit to the last 2 stitches on each needle and k2tog for one round. Knit 1 round plain. Continue these 2 rounds until you have 2 sts on ea needle. Break yarn leaving enough to thread through a darning needle and pass it through the stitches, draw tight and sew in end on the wrong side. Use the tail of yarn from cast on edge to close the small gap at the top of the sock.
--Heather Tunnah