Jaywalker Socks: You'll Poke Your Eye Out

The Jaywalker socks present the classic knitter smack down: Old Eyes vs. Size Zero DPNs. And the Old Eyes won this time.

Over the summer vacation, I did a few pairs of socks with needles that were size 2 or smaller. Was my eyesight better then, or did the constant consumption of cheap red wine mask that I could not see the stitches or the needles?

With a gauge of 7 stitches to the inch, this is a tough sock for the nearsighted. I kept getting jabbed in the eye when I brought the work right up to my nose to count the pattern.

I bet I could sell a story to Interweave if a knitting injury like that caused me to go blind. Since I can knit in the dark in the movie theater, I always imagined that if I went blind, I would still be able to knit. But if I was blind, I wouldn't knit these things, no way.

On the other hand, my golf game might only improve if I were blind. There seem to be blind golf associations all over the world. The USGA even has rules for blind golfers; if you read them, though, you get a pretty good description of what Brendan has to do to get me and Nancy through a game.

Back to the Jaywalkers. The pattern is fun, but I recommend some changes if you are over 40. First, ditch the cocktail skewers and use at least a size 2.5, preferably one of those shortened needles for socks or gloves. I found that you get the right size for an average adult woman if you use 3 needles instead of four, and cast on 21 stitches on each needle for a total of 63. Turn the heel in your favorite way, and just follow the pattern for the top part of the sock.