The Six Month Socks

Six months old baby, that is -- these socks won't take six months to knit. For those of you who knit, I'll backtrack to the pattern in a little bit.

For those of you who Don't knit we're skipping straight to the part where, unlike the first pair that were too small, THIS PAIR FITS! Hooray!

I took a bunch of pictures of baby feet. If anyone needs some photos of motion blurred yellows socks I have plenty. In the two seconds we could manage to get the wee one's feet to hold still I managed to capture this photo.


I used the leftover wool/cotton/soy sock yarn and five size 2 (US) sock needles.
My "pattern" (which I admit is half guesswork and half borrowing from various "sock philosophies") goes something like this:

Cast on 30 stitches, knit back dividing the stitches onto three needles (10 stitches each). Then making sure you are not twisted anywhere join the rounds.
Row 1: k2 p1
Row 2: knit
Row 3: Begin k3 p2 -- continue until you have two inches (babies like to pull their socks off so a little longer is better at this stage).

Divide for Heel: knit 15 stitches onto one needle, purl back. Knit row, purl row, until you have a 1 inch heel flap.

Turn Heel:
Row 1: s1, k7, k2together, k1, Turn
Row 2: s1, p2, p2together, p1, Turn
Row 3: s1, k to one before the last turn, k2together, k1, Turn
Row 4: s1, p to one before the last turn, p2together, p1, Turn
repeat rows 3 and 4 until you are to the edges -- you should have 9 stitches on the needle. This will be needle 1. Knit a plain row across.

Begin Gusset:
Pick up stitches on the side of heel flap (should be 11 stitches if you pick up 2 at the corner), This will be needle 2.
Knit plain across the top of the foot. Putting those 15 stitches all onto needle 3.
Pick up same number (11) of stitches on the other side of the heel flap. That will be on needle 4.
Knit one round and then begin shaping the gusset.
Round 1: Knit to last 3 stitches on needle 2, k2together, k1. Knit across needle 3/top of foot. On needle 4, k1, s1, k1, psso and knit the rest of the needle.
Round 2: knit plain.
Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until there are only 3 stitches each on needles 2 and 4. Thirty stitches total.
Reposition stitches from needles 1, 2 and 4 onto just 2 needles (the top of the foot stays on one needle).

Knit plain for about an inch more -- this really depends on the length of the baby's foot, I only needed 3 inches total length. (The following toe shaping is about half an inch in length.)

Reduce for the Toe:
Round 1: From center of heel knit to last 3 stitches on the needle, k2together, k1. Begin next needle with k1, s1, k1, psso, knit across top of foot to last 3 stitches, k2together, k1. Then k1, s1, k1, psso, and knit to center of heel.
Round 2: knit
Reduce to 18 stitches and finish last round out to the side of the foot so you have 9 stitches each on 2 needles. Use a tapestry needle and a Kitchner stitch to close the toe.

Knit second sock exactly the same.

Knitting Codes Decoded:
k = knit
p = purl
s = slip
(and the number following tells you how many of those stitches to make or slip)
k2together = knit 2 stitches as though they are one stitch
p2together is the same thing but purl
psso = pass slipped stitch over. So you slip one then knit one and then slide the slipped stitch over that one you just knit.