some basics/introduction - please read this first

Well, there's not going to be much to this class, but hopefully with a few posts, I'll be able to walk people through not only knitting, but practicing cables as well. A basketweave cable is both basic and intricate (oxymoron?) enough to pick up cabling techniques.

What you'll need to make these wrist warmers: (aka your shopping list)
- 2 skeins Berella Whistler 100% merino wool (50g/1.75 oz, 65 yds/58m per skein) or something with similar tension, like Bernat Softee Chunky or Patons Shetland Chunky
----> tension for Whistler is 15 sts, 20 rows with US10 (6mm) needle - 4" (10cm)
- a pair of 6.5mm (US 10.5) needles (I prefer using needles a half centimeter thicker for cabling projects, just makes things easier & spreads the cable out more) A pair of needles 14" or longer will be best to work with.
- crochet hook (5mm/US 8 or smaller) or yarn needle to stitch up seams
- 1 cable needle

You can always use a different yarn, and pick whatever colour you like. It's more important to match the yardage in a project rather than the weight, if the yardage is given on the label. 1 skein of 100 grams will be fine if you can't find two skeins of 50 grams.

Ideally 100% wool or a yarn with some wool content is ideal, to keep your hands warmer. Going with an acrylic yarn is fine, but keeping in mind that the more animal fiber that an article of clothing has, the warmer it is.

How to look for the tension on a skein (ball) of yarn:

The tension is usually listed on the white part of the paper band of the yarn, near the bar code, and is usually marked showing a square. The bottom of the square shows the number of stitches across a 4" square, and the vertical side of the square will show the number of rows. In the center, the needle size both recommended for that yarn & the needle used to make that tension.

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Sometimes, though, that square isn't there, so the tension will be written on the band where the fiber content and washing instructions are listed. Sometimes, also, simply the number of stitches across a 4" swatch will be given, and not the number of rows. The number of stitches across is more important than the # of rows, usually, so don't worry about it if you only find one and not the other.