Thrumming Along

When I was out walking last week I realized I was back to looking like the dog's breakfast. I was wearing my new purple headband and my bright red 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic mittens. (I guess there's nothing wrong with wearing red and purple together if you belong to The Red Hat Society, but I don't.) It was a cold day, and as I walked along thinking about mittens and cold hands and my yarn/fibre stash I suddenly knew what I needed to make - a pair of thrummed mittens.

I realize a lot of people don't know what thrummed mittens are. Here is a brief description from the wonderful book Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen.

Fleece-stuffed mittens, also called thrummed (or drummed) mittens, come from Labrador and northern Newfoundland, but they belong to the same tradition as Maine Fisherman's Wet Mittens...they appear to be made according to the same set of directions, except that twists of unpsun fleece are knit into the fabric every few stitches every few rounds in a distinct pattern. The ends of the bits of fleece, fluffing to the inside, are thick and woolly and mat into an almost continuous lining with wear...

As soon as I got home I dug in the stash and found a skein of purple wool and some roving. I searched for a free pattern and settled on this one.

The first thing you need to do is divide your roving into skinny strips.

Then pull off pieces about five or six inches long. Make the piece into a little circle. Repeat this process over a gazillion times until you have a pile big enough to keep you going for awhile. I realized the importance of the pile after my first couple of thrums. It is a pain to have to stop and make them every couple of stitches. Trust me, you need a stockpile.

To make a thrum you insert the needle as if to knit. Then pick up one of your circles and give it a little twist, pop it around your needle so the ends are to the inside of your mitten, wrap the yarn around the needle and beside the thrum, and finish the stitch by pulling the yarn and thrum through together. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. On the round after your thrum round be sure to knit into the back of the thrummed stitches.

I am really happy with how these turned out! (Details here.)

My cold hands are happy too. A peak at the inside of the mittens will show you why.

These make some of the toastiest mittens ever. If you aren't a knitter, but live in a cold climate, you need to ask one of your knitting friends to make these for you. I promise your hands will never be cold again. I'm sorry to have to say this, but I won't be that friend. I don't plan on making any more little circles for a very long time.