Knitting For Baby, The Free “Perfect Newborn Socks” Pattern

After knitting the Beloved baby bonnet pattern for a friend’s new granddaughter, I found this free baby sock pattern. The Perfect Newborn Socks pattern is offered for free by Tabitha Gandee and I got the pattern on the Ravelry site. I already had the CoBaSi machine washable yarn in color Bubblegum pink. (Pattern link below.)

Read more: Knitting For Baby, The Free “Perfect Newborn Socks” Pattern

Get the Free Pattern Here

Perfect Newborn Socks pattern page at Ravelry.

Some knitters complained that the pattern did not make sense in areas and I would agree. For that reason, I would not recommend this pattern to a beginner knitter, unless you are knowledgable in the way socks are knit. It could be very frustrating if you try to follow the pattern exactly.

I have made notes below for anyone who needs a little advice along the way. I’m grateful to the people who offer us free patterns, but often those patterns can have mistakes or less clear directions than a designer who requires payment.

baby socks pink bubblegum yarn

Places in the Pattern Where I Made Changes

First of all, I went up to a size 2 needle and knit with DPN’s, not magic loop. I am a relatively tight knitter and I didn’t want the socks to be too small. After washing and drying, the foot measures about 3 1/2 inches and the ribbed cuff is about 2 inches before folding.

These are top-down socks and I cast-on with the German Twisted cast-on. Then I did the more simple 2×2 rib without cabling.

I followed the pattern fine until the end of the Heel Turn section. For the last Row 3 knit, I did not do the SSK and simply knit across the 8 stitches, because the count was correct after Row 2. But, if you stop knitting after Row 2 you will be in the wrong place to continue.

After knitting that last Row 3, I knit four more stitches onto that needle. Then, with a new needle I knit the next four stitches and began picking up the stitches for the Gusset.

With the next needle, knit across the top of the foot with 2×2 rib or the cable rib, whichever you are doing. After that, use a new needle pick up the nine stitches along the side and knit the four stitches left onto that third needle.

Now you will have three needles. Two needles are holding stitches for the Gusset and 1/2 of heel, and the other is holding the front / top of foot stitches. In the pattern, the writer has four needles being used, but all 16 top of foot stitches can easily be worked on one needle. The fewer DPN’s the better IMO.

Three needles to knit foot of sock
Getting my stitches onto three needles to begin the decreases

Doing the Kitchener Stitch at the Toe

After decreasing quickly at the toe area, the Kitchener Stitch will round out the toe. This stitch is done with a darning needle and is not terribly difficult, but it’s something I have to look up every time I do it. I also used it when I knit the Glissade colorwork mittens.

On YouTube I like the slow motion Kitchener Stitch video by Very Pink Knits which is easy to follow. She shows us what to do with the last two stitches on the needle as well. The yarn will be coming off the back needle to start, and you need a darning / embroidery needle to do it.

Kitchener stitch sock toe
baby sock kitchener stitch

These ended up being cute little socks that will complete the Hat and Sock set for my friend’s granddaughter. I would make them again, and I also like the CoBaSi yarn for baby things. It washes and dries nicely – and can go in the washing machine and dryer! There is no wool in it which works well if a baby could be allergic. I washed them by hand, but it’s good to know that a new Mom won’t have to.

Perfect Newborn socks pattern knitting
knitting divider

Keep Reading

Knitting the “Beloved” Baby Bonnet

This cute little baby bonnet knitting pattern is offered by Tin Can Knits and it’s called “Beloved“.

That link will take you to the Ravelry site where you can buy the pattern for $5.00US (at time of this writing).

Knitting the Bonnet

This unique pattern begins on one side of the bonnet where an i-cord “tie” is made. Then you knit up and over and down the other side of the hat!

The written directions are easy to follow. Short rows are made to shape the hat and excellent directions are given to make those rows. I’m not sure a beginner knitter would be able to handle this pattern. If you can knit, purl, knit front and back, make short rows (or follow the directions) and do the i-cord (directions are included for that as well) you can knit this cute little baby hat. Or, knit it larger to fit anyone!

baby bonnet hat beloved knitting pattern
Knitting the bonnet

The pink yarn (Bubblegum) I am using is CoBaSi (link goes to Yarn(dot)com) and I’ve never knit with it before. There is no wool in it, which makes it perfect for anyone who dislikes wool, or for babies who could be allergic to wool. It is made up of cotton, bamboo and silk – hence the name.

This yarn can be machine washed and dried!

Knitter’s reviews call this yarn “splitty” which I could see. I’m not having trouble with that but the strand is a little strange. I think the yarn would be perfect when knitting for babies and small projects. One reviewer used it to line a wool hat, which sounds like an excellent idea.

I’ll see how much yarn is leftover after knitting the bonnet and maybe I will make some booties to match.

  • baby bonnet knitting
    Would be cuter on a baby’s head!
  • baby hat bonnet ties CoBaSi knit
    Front of bonnet
  • Beloved, baby bonnet, knitting pattern, pink
    Back with short row shaping
pink baby bonnet pattern knitting

Once the cute baby hat was done, I knit a pair of little socks (a free pattern). See that post here: Perfect Newborn Socks.

More Knitting For Babies Fun

Although I have no grandchildren, I wanted to try to knit some baby things. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that because the items are small they will be easier to knit, but they do require less yarn and knit up quickly.

I knit some simple baby hats and sent them to a friend. Booties are a bit more challenging but I’ve made a few of those. The Polliwog Popover came out a little weird, but I enjoyed knitting the Playdate Cardigan (see below).

This baby set of hat and booties was something I knit just for fun. I really don’t like the colors, but the yarn is machine washable. It would work for a boy, but I don’t know anyone who has a new baby boy!

Finding the right yarn when knitting for babies and children can be a chore! It should be washable, and maybe even able to go into the dryer. Personally, I don’t like acrylic yarn so I wrote a whole page on washable yarn that would work for knitting for kids, and anyone who will not hand-wash their garments.

Baby booties and hat free knitting patterns
Baby set

The Playdate Cardigan by Tin Can Knits

Just for fun, I chose to knit this cute little sweater pattern by Tin Can Knits. I used a sock yarn, which I didn’t end up liking much for a cardigan, but the design was such fun to knit. I learned how to make pockets and kitchener stitch the shoulders. I would love to knit this one again with a pretty merino wool yarn.

Fox buttons on baby sweater
Fox buttons on the Playdate cardigan

Three Little Baby Hats

Three little hand-knit baby hats
Baby size hats

Knitting Baby Booties

two different baby booties
Knit and crochet

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Creating My Own Mitts Fair Isle Pattern

When I recently traveled to New Hampshire, one thing I wish I’d taken along was a good pair of fingerless mitts. My emerging plan was to go home (to Florida) and begin creating my own mitts Fair Isle pattern.

I’m not a pattern writer, I am a pattern follower. I have no idea how to go about setting up a knitting pattern but, why can’t I learn? I’ve already learned so many things in the past decade which I ever would have imagined would be necessary for life after 50. My brain is working well, and I’ve taught myself numerous new tasks. The best way to do something new and challenging is to jump in!

The Yarn

My favorite yarn for colorwork, or Fair Isle, is pure wool, like Jamieson and Smith, Rauma, and the likes. I’ve used it for knitting Katie’s Kep (twice), Tettegouche hat, and the Keramos Cowl.

Jamieson & Smith jumper weight yarn comes in many colors and in affordable, little skeins, so I can gather lots of colors without spending a ton of money. (Fairlight Fibers has this yarn at a great price.) I also have a few skeins of Rauma Finull, and Tuku wool.

Knitting in stranded colorwork means using a little of each color, with more used for the main color. Mitts, mittens, socks and hats will use very little yarn compared to bigger projects like shawls and sweaters. I plan to focus on these smaller projects for a while.

wool, Jamieson and smith, 2ply jumper weight,
Jamieson & Smith 2ply jumper weight / Rauma

Ideas For Getting Started With My Mitts Pattern

The best way to figure how many stitches I will use, is to have a mitt or mitten that is already knit. If I know the count, and that mitten fits me, I can begin my own pattern (for my own personal use) with that number of stitches. This works as my gauge.

The Hedgerow Fingerless Mittens (Ravelry page) is a FREE pattern offered by Mary Ann Stephens. I considered knitting this one first. Knitting up a free pattern would be a good place to start when creating my own mitts.

Although I like the Hedgerow mitts, I chose to knit a free pattern called Fair Isle Mitts. I was happy with the outcome and loosely based my own mitts pattern after that one.

Planning the Cuff

What I like about these mitts patterns is that they have a fairly short cuff. I don’t like a long cuff going up my arm for something like this. These mitts will be used for in the house when mornings are chilly, or when the weather is not quite bad enough for mittens. No long cuff is needed.

I can begin with a Latvian Braid, as I did in the Glissade mittens. Or I could begin with a corrugated rib as with the Oulu Mitts. A simple K1, P1 rib would work too.

I chose a simple long-tail cast on, then 2×2 rib. I changed color after five rows. I cast-on only 52 stitches, because my daughter has skinny wrists, and then increased to 56 for the colorwork on the hand.

Planning the Colorwork

After knitting the Fair Isle Mitts, I can follow the thumb increases suggested. I needed to find colorwork patterns to follow for the top of the hand and the palm.

My knitting book library consists of some nice examples of Fair Isle graphs. These mitts will be for my daughter, so I’ll look for motifs that would be cute or pretty to appeal to her.

It really helped me to see the design by drawing it out and using colored pencils.

drawing of mitts pattern with flowers in colorwork
Mitt colorwork plans drawn out

I’d like the palm of the mitt to have a small, repeating pattern, and the top of hand to have a larger design. The thumbs could be stripes. It helps to have books on hand which offer lots of little patterns to choose from.

Colors will be purple and green, with possibly another overall base color which is lighter in color.

knitting books fair isle graphs colorwork stranded
Knitting books with Fair Isle graphs

The Mitts Design I Chose to Knit

After deciding on the flower pattern and finding yarn colors I liked, I jumped in and began knitting!

The first mitt I knit was for the left hand. I followed a flower pattern, for the top of hand, came from a book of hats I own. I also did a repeating pattern from another book. I changed that on the Right Hand mitt and gave the palm a pattern of rows with alternating colors.

I just carried the colors as stripes on the thumbs.

little flowers fingerless mitts pattern
Little flowers on the top of hand

For the second mitt, I also added a neutral line of white up the edge to separate the top from the palm. I did not do a line of alternating color after the braid either. In other words, I changed what I didn’t like about the first mitt.

fingerless mitts palm knitting patterns
Palm patterns are different

Final Words on Knitting My Own Mitts Pattern

The size is good on these mitts and I’m fairly happy with the colors. I learned a few things which I can carry over to the next pair of mitts I knit.

This design is for my own personal use and not a pattern you will find anywhere. The flowers are part of the Peerie Flooers hat in the Milarrochy Heids pattern book. I may have to knit the hat now to go with these mitts.

  • fingerless mitts floral pattern wool Fair Isle
  • colorwork little flowers fingerless mitts knitting project
  • stranded colorwork floats and ends to weave in
    Lots of ends to weave in
  • flower mitts fingerless knitting colorwork

Knitting the Free Fair Isle Mitts Pattern

This page contains notes on knitting figerless mitts using stranded colorwork. I will be using Jamieson & Smith wool in five colors (added one, so six).

This is a free pattern download at Ravelry for the Fair Isle Mitts. The pattern has charts and written instructions with two hand / palm motifs to choose from. I put one on the top and the other on the palm.

Continue reading “Knitting the Free Fair Isle Mitts Pattern”