Granny Braithwaite’s Knit-Flat Worsted-Weight BedsocksPattern adapted by Jennifer Johnson

Suggested Yarn: DROPS Nepal or any natural fibre snuggly worsted weight yarn. You will need 150metres of yarn (2 full balls of DROPS Nepal) for ankle-length bedsocks as written, you will need more for larger sizes or mid-calf-length bedsocks.Suggested Needle: 5mm or whatever you require to get a gauge near 17sts x 22rows in 10cm.Notions Required: Two stitchholders or waste yarn. A tapestry needle for seaming. Scissors to cut yarn tails after seaming. Ribbon to decorate (approx 80cm of 5mm ribbon).

These bedsocks are knit flat from the top down – you make the leg section starting from the cuff, knit the ‘tongue’ which will cover the top of the foot, then pick up stitches down both sides of the tongue and knit the sole rows. The sock is then seamed along the sole and up the back of the leg and decorated with a threaded ribbon.

The given pattern is relatively forgiving and should fit adult women with foot sizes between UK 4.5 and UK 6.5 (US 7-9 or European 37.5-40) without any changes.

Leg section: Cast on 44 stitches (I use the knit cast-on, you may prefer another)Rows 1-6: (K1, P1) to endRow 7: Knit to endRow 8: Purl to endRows 9-10: Repeat rows 7 and 8 to continue in stockinette stitch. Throughout this pattern odd numbered rows are knitted and even numbered rows purled when using stockinette stitch.Row 11: (K2tog, YO) to end. Make sure that you end with a Yarn Over and knit that as the first stitch of the next row!Rows 12-30: Continue in stockinette stitch, starting and ending with a Purl row. After the first row, check you still have 44 stitches on the needle. For longer socks, add more rows here until your desired length is reached – 10 extra rows makes a good mid-calf sock without needing to worry about extra shaping for the calf.

Tongue section:Row 31: K16, (K1, P1) five times, K1. Put next 17 stitches onto a stitchholder or waste yarn and ignore them. Row 32: (P1, K1) five times, P1. Put remaining 16 stitches onto a stitchholder or waste yarn and ignore them.Row 33: Slip first stitch, (P1, K1) five times.Row 34: Slip first stitch, (K1, P1) five times.Rows 35-54: Repeat rows 33 and 34 to continue in rib pattern until there are 12 slipped stitches on each side of the tongue.

Sole set-up section:Row 55: K11. Pick up the 12 slipped stitches down the side of the tongue and knit them. Take the 17 stitches off the stitchholder and knit them. Row 56: P40. Pick up the 12 slipped stitches down the side of the tongue and purl them. Take the 16 stitches off the stitchholder and purl them. There are now 68 stitches on the needle and the tongue is temporarily distorted into a pouch in the centre.

Sole section:Rows 57-72: Knit across. This should create 8 garter stitch ridges.Rows 73-74: K to last 2 stitches, K2togRow 75: K32, K2tog, K to last 2 stitches, K2tog (This leaves 64 stitches)Row 76: K to last 2 stitches, K2togRow 77: K31, K2tog, K to last 2 stitches, K2tog (This leaves 61 stitches)Row 78: K to last 2 stitches, K2togRow 79: K30

Seaming:Cut the working yarn leaving a tail about a metre long. Thread this onto a tapestry needle for seaming. Hold the two knitting needles side by side so that the bedsock is assembled correctly, right side out – there should be 30 live stitches on each needle.

Graft the two sides of the sole together using a Kitchener stitch:Pass the tapestry needle through the first stitch on one of the knitting needles as if to knit. Pull that stitch off the knitting needle. Pass the tapestry needle through the next stitch on the same needle as if to purl, but keep that stitch on the knitting needle. Repeat the ‘as if to Knit, pull it off the needle, as if to purl, keep it on the needle’ action for the first stitches on the second knitting needle. Repeat the same action on the first needle, then the second, and alternate until all 30 sole stitches are bound off (on the final two you will need to skip the ‘as if to purl’ step).

Seam the back of the sole and the back of the leg using Mattress stitch:A good description of Mattress stitch can be found on the Knitty website at http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/mattress.html

Weave in yarn tails.

Weave approx 40cm of 5mm ribbon through the decorative eyelets around the ankle of the bedsock and tie in a bow. You may want to secure the bow with a knot for permanent decoration or leave it so that it can be used to adjust the fit of the bedsock. If you prefer, you could use knitted i-cord instead of ribbon.

Adapting the fit of the bedsocks:These bedsocks can be made longer by adding ribbing rows to the tongue section of the sock, approximately 2 extra rows to add 1cm of length. Pick up an extra 1 slipped stitch on each side for every 2 added rows. Bear in mind that some of the length of the finished sock comes from sole rows passing around the front of the foot and so if you are aiming to add more than 1cm to the length you may wish to also add extra garter stitch ridges before the foot shaping to ensure that the sock is not too tight on a larger foot. If adapting this pattern for a significantly larger foot you may also wish to add some stitches to the width of the initial cast on to accommodate a thicker leg, if doing this you will need to take your increased stitch count into consideration when centering the tongue stitches and toe shaping and you may wish to use some or all of your extra stitches to increase the width of the tongue as the top of the foot would also be broader. The bedsock can also be sized down by decreasing tongue length, cast on width and number of sole ridges but as the worsted yarn becomes quite heavy in a smaller bedsock and I would suggest sizing down by using light worsted or DK yarn instead.