17 balls of Knitpicks Merino Style in Storm.

I am a very thorough swatcher and thus made a BIG one.

As I was swatching, I realized I wasn't crazy for the bobble pattern as written. It has purl bumps on the bobbles, with elongated dropped stitches in between. This looks silly to me, like I accidentally knit messed-up uneven garter stitch. So instead, I decided to make stockinette bobbles.

Bobbles as written in pattern:

My "new" modified bobbles:


How to Do It

The stitch pattern originally says:

Row 1 [RS]: P2, [kfbfb, p2, k1, p2] to end.
Row 2 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, (k1, yo) 4 times, k2] to end.
Row 3 [RS]: P2, [(k1, drop yo from needle) 4 times, p2, k1, p2] to end.
Rows 4-5: Work as for Rows 2-3.
Row 6 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, p4tog, k2] to end.
Row 7 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, kfbfb, p2] to end.
Row 8 [WS]: K2, [(k1, yo) 4 times, k2, p1, k2] to end.
Row 9 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, (k1, drop yo from needle) 4 times, p2] to end.
Rows 10-11: Work as for Rows 8-9.
Row 12 [WS]: K2, [p4tog, k2, p1, k2] to end.
Repeat Rows 1-12 for Blister Pattern.

In order to make the bobbles "stockinette", you need to purl stitches on even-numbered rows. So what you will get when the pattern is re-written is:

Row 1 [RS]: P2, [kfbfb, p2, k1, p2] to end.
Row 2 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, (p1, yo) 4 times, k2] to end.
Row 3 [RS]: P2, [(drop yo from needle, k1) 4 times, p2, k1, p2] to end.
Rows 4-5: Work as for Rows 2-3.
Row 6 [WS]: K2, [p1, k2, p4tog, k2] to end.
Row 7 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, kfbfb, p2] to end.
Row 8 [WS]: K2, [(p1, yo) 4 times, k2, p1, k2] to end.
Row 9 [RS]: P2, [k1, p2, (drop yo from needle, k1) 4 times, p2] to end.
Rows 10-11: Work as for Rows 8-9.
Row 12 [WS]: K2, [p4tog, k2, p1, k2] to end.
Repeat Rows 1-12 for Blister Pattern.

I highlighted the changes stitches in purple. It's an easy modification that makes a BIG difference in the final product.

See? This is one reason why we swatch. In addition to making sure our garments come out the right size, we can identify parts of the pattern that we don't like and experiment with ways to change them.