Step 1:    Design! First sketch your warmer as you’d like it on your leg (there are handy templates at Fanatical Felines), then “translate” it to a flat design so you have an idea what your flat knitting should look like (find a “flat” template in the patterns section if you’re making fitted warmers, otherwise just sketch your design as a rectangle). Decide if you want spots, stripes (video Bomba/Demeter/Jemima), or just a mish-mash of colors (most other cats). Consider if you want your warmers to fit tightly to your arm or leg or to be loose and baggy. Also decide if you want your knitting to be knit-side or purl-side out.

more on knit/purl stitches here

Step 2:   Measure your leg or arm in a few places. The graphics give you ideas – I mainly measure (for my legwarmers) at the top of my foot, my ankle, the largest part of my calf, and wherever I want the warmer to start. Measure more spots if you want your warmer to be fitted to your leg, if not, you don’t have to worry about it as much. For my arm, I measure my wrist, where I want the warmer to come to on my arm, and maybe a part in the middle.

Step 3: Make a gauge swatch. This may seem like a waste of time, materials, what have you, but it will save you time in the end. Cast on about thirty stitches with your desired yarn (or yarns) and needle size. Knit in garter stitch (knit every row) for four rows, then switch to stockinette stitch (knit a row, purl a row, and so on), but continue knitting the first and last three stitches of every row. Continue like that until you have about four inches knitting completed, then knit four more rows and bind off. Lay a tape measure over your knitting and count how many stitches are in four inches. Divide this number by four. This is your number of stitches-per-inch. For example, my gauge swatch gave me 12.5 stitches per 4 inches. 12.5/4 = 3.125, so my gauge is 3.125 stitches per inch.

Step 4: Determine how many stitches to cast on. Take the measurement from where you want your warmer to start. Using my warmer as an example, say, I want it to be tight against my leg. I measure circumfrance just below my knee as the starting point (12”), the largest part of my calf (14”), and the top of my foot (10”). To get a piece of knitting as wide as my starting point, I multiply the measurement just under my knee by my stitches per inch number. 12” times 3.125 stitches per inch gives me 37.5 stitches. But wait – I want to put a knit-2-purl-2 ribbing at the top of my knitting. That means the number has to be divisible by four. Keep in mind that ribbing/knitting stretches. So if your number came to, say, 41, you would be safe casting on 40 stitches. If your number is, say, 43, it would be best to round up to 44 stitches. My number of 37.5 stitches can go either way, but I’ll round up to 40 stitches. Ribbing stretches, but it also pulls in. It’s like elastic in your knitting, almost. It also serves to stop the warmer from rolling down if you use stockinet stitch (more on this later).

Step 5: Determine the rest of your “pattern”. If you just want a straight tube of knitting the whole way down, resulting in a baggier warmer, you’ll need to again do some calculations with the widest point of your leg. (You’ll need to do this regardless, however.) As you did with your starting-point measurement, take the measurement at the widest point and multiply it by the number of stitches-per-inch. This number does not need to be divisible by four – UNLESS you’re keeping this number of stitches straight down, in which case it would be best to round up or down so that you can put ribbing at the end of your warmer. If you want a really baggy warmer, a la Demeter or Jemima in some productions, just keep this “widest point” measurement as your starting point as well and disregard the first step.

Step 6: If you want a warmer that hugs tight to your leg/ankle/wrist, repeat the formula of measurement x stitches per inch for the top of your foot (or wrist). Remember to keep the number divisible by four! If you’re making a baggy warmer, skip this step.

Step 7: Keep a “pattern” in mind. You will cast on the number you determined in step 4, knit in knit 2 purl 2 ribbing for one inch and then slowly increase up to the number you determined in step 5 (or step 6 if your warmer is to be super-baggy). If you want a “tube” of knitting, you’ll just continue down the warmer in whatever color pattern you like with no regard to shaping. If you want the warmer to fit against your leg, once you pass the larger part of your calf, begin to slowly decrease to the number of stitches to the number determined in step 6.