The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Knobby \Knob"by\, a. [From Knob.]
   1. Full of, or covered with, knobs or hard protuberances.
      --Dr. H. More.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Irregular; stubborn in particulars. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            The informers continued in a knobby kind of
            obstinacy.                            --Howell.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Abounding in rounded hills or mountains; hilly. [U.S.]
      --Bartlett.
      [1913 Webster] knobkerrie

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

37 Moby Thesaurus words for "knobby":
   alpen, alpestrine, alpigene, alpine, burled, gnarled, gnarly,
   hilly, knobbed, knobbly, knoblike, knotted, knotty, knurled,
   knurly, lumpy, monticuline, mountained, mountainous, nodal, noded,
   nodiform, nodose, nodular, nodulated, noduled, nubbled, nubbly,
   nubby, rolling, studded, subalpine, torose, tubercular,
   tuberculous, tuberose, tuberous