One down. Three to go.

The Most Urgent Bear is finished in surprisingly little time. When I counted up the TV shows I watched making him, the total came out to around six hours. He was really fun to make! I think I am going to make the other bears (I used to need two more, but now I need three more – what is up with all these babies?) on smaller needles. My gauge was right but he looks too stretched out when he’s stuffed. Mom put his face on – I will have to do the others myself. The pattern is “Baby Bobbi Bear” from Blue Sky Alpacas. They also have a a “Bobbi Bear” who is 20″ tall.

To make your toe:

Knit to within 1.5 inches of your total desired sock length, ending with round 6 or round 14 of the pattern. Then shape the toe as follows:

Round 1
Needle 1: k to the last three sts, k2tog, k1
Needle 2: k1, ssk, k to the last three sts, k2tog, k1
Needle 3: k1, ssk, k to end of needle
Round 2
Work all stitches evenly (no decreases).

Repeat these two rounds six times (48 stitches remain).
Repeat Round 1 six more times. (24 stitches remain)
Knit the 6 stitches from Needle 1 onto Needle 3. Break yarn leaving an 8 inch tail. Graft (kitchener) live toe stitches together. Weave in ends.

Now, you can taper the pattern down the toe by dropping one set of hay-stacks from each end on each successive repeat (by repeat, I mean rounds 1-8 and rounds 1-16; by haystacks, I mean the big, loopy stitches). For instance, if you have ended the foot on round 14 (with 5 haystacks across the top of the foot), work rounds 1-6 with only the 4 middle haystacks. At the same time, work the toe decreases as indicated. If you want to plan ahead and create a more noticeable taper, begin dropping haystacks on the repeat before the end of the foot. There is enough length in the toe for one more repeat. This is not as hard to do as it is to explain!

You know what you do when you finish the first sock, right?

Cast on for the second! And wear it on your head to celebrate.

You can print out the complete pattern for the HayStack Socks here. Please let me know if you find any mistakes!