Lately I’ve been reflecting on my childhood in my knitting. This is my homage to an era of rainbows and animals decorating every item we young girls owned. It was joyful and exuberant and why did we ever abandon that aesthetic?

I have designed these cuties to be worked from the toe up. I have used an Anatomical toe for the adult size and a basic toe for the small sizes. There is a standard heel flap construction, but you may substitute a different heel if preferred. The panda face can be worked via duplicate stitch or you can substitute intarsia in the round. I like adding an extra panda face at the outer edges of the ball of the foot to help me identify which sock is right and which is left.

Sizes: Infant (Baby, 2-3 years, 4-5 years) (Child, X Small, Small) (Medium, Large, X large) to fit an actual arch circumference of roughly 3.25” (3.5”, 4”, 5”) (6”, 7”, 8”) (9”, 10”, 11”)/8.5 (9, 10, 12.5) (15, 18, 20.5) (23, 25.5, 28) cm

Yarn: 125 – 450 yards/115 – 415 meters of sock weight yarn. I recommend a machine washable yarn with roughly 25% nylon content.

Sample shown in What Mustard Made 4 ply BFL colorways Little Neon Heart and Oil Slick.

Needles: Size US 2/2.75 mm and US 1.5/2.5 mm circular needles with an appropriate size cable for your preferred method of working in the round, or size needed to obtain gauge and one size smaller. You can substitute double-point needles if preferred.

Gauge: Roughly 28 stitches and 36 rows in Stockinette stitch on larger needles equals 4”/10 cm squared, worked in the round.

Notions: 2 regular stitch markers, 2 locking stitch markers (optional, if making paw on sole with duplicate stitch), tapestry needle, and sock blockers (optional).

Techniques: Knitting in the round, Judy’s Magic Cast On (can sub other toe-up cast on if preferred), short rows, basic increases and decreases, Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (can substitute another stretchy bind off if preferred), and duplicate stitch (can substitute Intarsia in the round if preferred).

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