Second Breakfast: a time for taking it slow; for lingering over a steaming cup of tea; marveling at the bountiful spread of jam, butter, pastries, and sausages from harvest to sizzling pan; and the cheerful thud-thud-thud of a friend come a-callin’ to rehash old adventures. Is there any meal more quintessentially Hobbit folk?

The Second Breakfast Shorties are designed with the slow-living life of a Hobbit in mind. Elegant faux-cables are no fuss but give a touch of timelessness (and call to mind braided breads that deck every Hobbit’s most elegant table), and a picot hem give a hint of celebration in these nearly mindless socks that are designed to be worked on a couple rows at a time over a second breakfast table of friendship, laughter, and good cheer.

BONUS This pattern has a lot of extra-special bonus features that will fully immerse you in the Hobbit experience…all from the comfort of your own home, of course!

Materials

Yarn
100 grams (approximately 400 yds.) fingering weight yarn, recommended with a nylon component

Yarn used in photos:
MC: Woolberry Fiber Co – Second Breakfast colorway – Berry Sock - 80% SW BFL / 20% Nylon (2 ply) 400 yds | 100 g

CC: Palmer Yarn Co – Harvest – Sock – 80% Merino / 20% Nylon (2 ply) 80 yrds | 20 g

Needles
US 1 (2.25 mm) 40” circular needles (Magic Loop), or size needed to obtain gauge.

Other options: DPNs or 9” circulars; pattern is written for Magic Loop

Notions
3 stitch markers: 1 to mark BOR, 2 to mark Gusset Increases

1 tapestry needle

Gauge and Notes
Socks are cast on using Judy’s Magic Cast-on, then worked in the round from the toe up.

They include a heel flap and gusset heel construction worked with short rows to eliminate gaps and no picking up of stitches, with a folded picot hem cuff.

Pattern features knits and purls, yarn-overs, and a mock cable stitch (no cable needle needed) and are worked using both in-the-round (toe, foot, leg, and cuff) and flat construction (heel flap) techniques. Instructions are written.

Pattern is written for 3 sizes: Small (56 sts), Medium (64 sts), and Large (72 sts).