Thoughts on the "It's Tea Time" Socks

These have been finished for a while, but I'm only just getting around to photographing them -- the "It's Tea Time" from Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden.  This was my travel knitting, you may remember, though we were so thoroughly -- albeit delightfully -- busy that I did most of the knitting after we got back home.

They are worked in Shepherd Sock in "Whisper", a pretty sort of pale pink, on Kolláge 2mm (US 0) square dpns.  The pattern is a bit more texture than I usually go for (!), but I like them a lot -- memorizable but not difficult, so certainly a pleasant combination.

The heel-turning instructions refer the knitter to the glossary for short-row instructions, but I don't know why, as the heel requires only the most basic "turn work around" maneuver -- the "slipped yarn-over" instructions are for a wrapping method, and that abbreviation (SLYO) appears in other patterns in the book for truly-short-row heels (i.e. not flap heels like this one), so I'm guessing that the "see Glossary" reference here is simply a mistake.  It's not a serious one, by any means, except that for a while I was trying to cram the SLYO into a heel-turning that would not accommodate it.  (Here is the errata list, by the way.)

One of the things that really appealed to me was the exceptionally handsome variation on the heel -- done with stitches, not structure, so of course it fits like the flap heel but looks different.

As for the Kolláge Square dpns, I'm not sure that they made much of a difference for me.  I found the needles at Tuesday Morning for almost half the sticker price -- dithered, went back a few days later and they were still there, so I bought them -- you can always use another set of sock needles, right?!  I don't usually have a problem with ergonomics, thankfully, so that isn't an issue, and my tension -- presumably due to my being tense all of the time -- is usually fairly even, so I'm not sure I really see a benefit there either.  The third selling-point is that they don't slip out of one's work as easily as round needles, but that for me is one of the benefits of wood, that the slight texture of the wood makes them a little "grabbier" -- I did have the Kolláges slip out on me occasionally, but that was at the usual spots where I had one or two stitches left on a needle and looked away for a moment, to pick up my cup of tea or some such, and the needle fell.  But they do on the whole feel fairly secure, so there is that.  For me, I'd say that on the whole the jury is still out on this one.  I do, though, really appreciate the very clear size markings! 

And although it has no bearing on the needles themselves, I got them for a good bargain, so they are perfectly satisfactory to me in that respect!

Comments

[Sarina]

Pretty socks and pretty photos! I have some of the square needles and I like two things about them that you didn't mention. #1, the novelty factor - they are just different. And #2, they have very sharp tips and are less bendy than wooden needles so they are great for patterns with tight cables or a lot of twisted, traveling stitches. Good job, Jeanne!

[Jeanne]

You’re right, Sarina, I did notice that the tips are pretty sharp – I don’t do that much fine cabling, so maybe it didn’t strike me as much.

It’s nice that my models now fit into the socks I knit for myself, so that I don’t have to try and take photos of my own feet!

[Toffeeapple]

Pretty socks and pretty teacup. Tea, here, is taken from a large and delicate Noritake mug.

[Jeanne]

T, I confess I usually drink my tea out of a selection of oldish to old coffee mugs, though I did find some Spode "Winter's Eve" mugs at the bargain store a few years ago that pleased me very much (both the Spode part and the bargain part). I felt rather large and clumsy the other day, drinking from that delicate Rosina “June” cup, in comparison!

[Mary Lou]

I love the heel! And I do like tea from a delicate cup, but mostly I use a mug. My nice bone china one cracked, so I'm making do. Knitting needles in a Tuesday Morning! I'll have to start looking.