mittens – New England's Narrow Road

Knitting Thrummed Mittens With Bulky Yarn

Now that I have my yarn (Alafosslopi) and my roving I will be casting on to knit my first pair of thrummed mittens.

I’ve been researching how to do this. On top of needing a thrum-making tutorial, I want to knit mittens with the side gore / gusset / and NOT an afterthought thumb. This makes mittens able to be worn on either hand. This was a surprisingly difficult task.

The Roving Has Arrived

In case you have not purchased roving before, this is 4oz. of roving… plenty to do a pair of mittens! I suspect I will have lots leftover. This gold, orange, green color is just so lovely.

Information on Thrumming

In my search, on Ravelry and elsewhere, I came across these sites for thrummed mittens. None had exactly what I was looking for, but all had some degree of information I could use.

So, I asked myself if I need to buy another new mitten pattern, or can I simply add thrums to a plain mitten pattern which is offered for free (Tin Can Knits – World’s Simplest Mittens)?

Expression Fiber Arts tutorial and pattern – Bulky wool, afterthought thumb. (Notes: Cast-on 16, size 11 needles.)

Ways to Add the Roving to Knitting and Make The Thrums

Here are a couple of ways to add a bit of roving to stitches while knitting.

Very Pink Knits has a video on making thrums here. She knits into the stitch below, wraps the thrum, then knits the stitch and does a bind off of the thrum.

AllAboutAmi has a video about making thrums in mittens. She knits the thrum and yarn together on the first round, and then knits them together through the back loop on the next round.

Knitting My First Pair of Thrummed Mittens

For my first pair of thrummed mittens I am using bulky Alafosslopi yarn combined with roving for the thrums. The Alafosslopi yarn is leftover from knitting the Carbeth Cardigan and is “ecru” color so I chose a more subtle roving color.

I found a favorite color roving at Paradise Fibers called Constellation Range merino and silk combed top in “Orion” colorway. I have no idea if this will work well for my mittens, but I absolutely love the color.

First I researched many mitten patterns to find the best way for me to try mitten thrumming. I also did some searching for roving to try. You can read that planning blog post here.

Beginning my thrummed mittens

I failed miserably at trying to get gauge with Tin Can Knits “World’s Simplest Mittens” in chunky weight. This means that I will basically have to figure these mittens out as I go.

I know the basics for knitting a side thumb, so I began with a size 6 needle for the ribbing and then switched to size 8. After a couple of rows I began to increase for the thumb, but soon noticed that I had a lot more rows to knit before the thumb was in the right place!

I am doing a thrum every 4th stitch around and alternating them on every 4th row. The thumb area is getting random thrums. I think the thrums look okay, and I can try the mitten on as I go to make it fit.

Knitting mittens with Alafosslopi yarn and roving

Knitting thrummed mittens — Knitting mittens with Alafosslopi yarn and roving

I have to say that I am super pleased with this roving. It’s the only roving I’ve ever had, and it is incredibly soft. The colors are exactly as pictured on the Paradise Fibers site and shipping was very fast. It makes me wish I knew how to spin my own yarn. Maybe something new to learn down the road as handspun yarn is so beautiful.

Wording on my thrummed mittens — Inside mitten

Will add photos when I get these mittens finished!

Mitten Knitting and Reviews

Please keep reading about my knitting adventures.

Planning to Knit – Mitten Patterns With Thrums

It is not a misprint – all mittens have thumbs, but not all mittens have thrums! What is a Thrum?…

by Pam 01/28/202201/28/2022

Made-Up Mittens Pattern Knit in Two Types of Lopi Wool

This is a mitten pattern I made up by pulling from a couple of patterns I recently knit. Once you…

by Pam 12/24/2021

Knitting “Clacks” Mittens Pattern in Lettlopi Wool

When I finished knitting a recent sweater, I had some wonderful Icelandic wool leftover. About that same time I found…

by Pam 12/13/202112/13/2021

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Planning to Knit – Mitten Patterns With Thrums

It is not a misprint – all mittens have thumbs, but not all mittens have thrums!

What is a Thrum?

Before fiber becomes yarn as we know it, it needs to be spun. The puffy fiber which is used to spin the yarn is called roving, or a carded top. (To get the roving to that point requires other processes as well.) To make thrums, that fluffy roving is knit, piece by piece, into a mitten. Knit a simple pattern, and add the roving – here and there – to create fluff inside the mitten. Each bit of fluff is called a thrum. Hence, when you do this you have thrummed mittens.

Roving in yellow to do thrummed mittens — My roving

Yarn spinners buy roving to spin (and sometimes dye, if it’s natural) to create their own unique hand-spun yarn. What I call roving, is also sometimes called a top. I’m unfamiliar with it really, but just wanted some fluffy stuff to add to my mittens!

Thrummed mittens are perfect for those who live in cold weather climates. The Well Sweep Sheep shop at Etsy has handmade thrummed mittens for sale. Take a look at the photos if you are not familiar with the look of thrummed mittens.

For a good result, most knitting projects take some planning. When I first saw mittens knit with thrums, I wanted to know more. I can’t believe I have never heard of this until recently. Now, I will plan and knit mittens with thrums – for the first time.

A Little About Mitten Thumbs – Two Ways to Knit

Be aware that mittens can have either “side gore” or “peasant / afterthought” thumbs. I’ve only knit mittens with the side gore directions, which makes them interchangeable – no right and left. The thumb area begins to expand shortly after the cuff is knit by making increases. Once part of the thumb is knit, those stitches are put on hold to finish after the hand.

All mitts and mittens I have knit have a side gore thumb. These are not Thrummed.

fingerless mitt colorwork Fair-isle — Stellar Parallax Mitts

fiddlehead mitten — Stellar Parallax Mitts

An afterthought thumb is added by leaving an opening in the hand where the thumb will be added later. The thumb is placed more toward the palm, which means each mitten knit will be for either the right or left hand and are NOT interchangeable. Read this article at Just Crafty Enough to see the difference.

Free Patterns for Mittens With Thrums

When searching for mitten patterns with thrums, free patterns and patterns to purchase are available. While most people love free things, we must take into consideration how well a free pattern works. Some free patterns are great, but others don’t work out.

Since I have knit quite a few mittens, I’m really only looking for cast on number, and thrumming information. I can’t see paying for that. YouTube and knitting websites all have information about how to thrum. Basically, I need a knitting pattern in worsted or chunky / bulky yarn where I can add thrums.

Here is a list of free patterns I would like to suggest. I have not knit any of these myself. The patterns are listed at Ravelry and get good reviews and ratings.

How to Make Thrummed Mittens – (Worsted) Advice and Free pattern with side gore thumb! Source: Haveayarn.ca
Chroma Thrummed Mitts – (Bulky) I printed this free pattern out and it has an “afterthought” or “peasant” thumb. This is something I am not thrilled about as I’ve never knit that type of thumb. But, the pattern has nice directions and advice on thrumming.
Worlds Simplest Mittens – not a thrumming pattern, but Tin Can Knits has offered this free pattern to knit mittens in 4 different weights of yarn, including worsted and chunky. Also a toddler size is included. I’m thinking I’ll watch a thrumming video, and add thrums to any of these mittens. Should work, right? Thumb type is side gore style.

Pay For Thrummed Mittens Patterns

Although free thrummed mitten patterns may be fine for anyone who can basically knit a mitten, some people will want more help. There is nothing wrong with supporting designers by buying their patterns.

Family Thrummed Mittens – (Aran) Children’s size to mens large.
Thrummed Mittens – by Staci Perry, from Very Pink Knits. When you buy this pattern you will have links to her videos to help with placing the thrums, or just watch her video here.
It’s a Snow Day! Mittens – (Fingering) by Bunnymuff – this pattern includes stranded colorwork with thrums. I’d love to knit these once I get the thrumming bit down on a simple pair.
Thrummed Fleece Stuffed Mittens – Worsted / aran yarn.

Roving

One question I had was about the roving. I know nothing about it really, but I assume a nice wool of some sort would make those thrums nice.

I couldn’t find much info about this. At Three Waters Farm on Etsy, I see nice roving made from all sorts of fleece, including BFL, Merino, Merino and silk, Falkland wool, Romney, Corriedale, Targhee, Polwarth, and … yikes! Now I am more confused. I do know that you want wool, which will felt after washing. So do not use Superwash! This way the thrums will mesh together to create a nice soft layer inside the mittens…. right?

I am making mittens that I want to be very warm. Wool is my first choice so I don’t think I could go wrong with any of the wools listed, as long as they are not superwash. Bits of the roving will be pulled from the braid to match up with the yarn I use.

I ended up buying my roving from Paradise Fibers. I bought a merino and silk blend mainly for the color – I love the swirls of gold and pale green. Etsy shops also sell roving, and so do many yarn shops.

Bulky Yarn Ideas for Quick Mitten Knitting

Roving is puffy, so a worsted, chunky or bulky weight yarn would be nice for a first thrummed mitten project. Apparently you simply make smaller thrums if the yarn is lighter weight.

Here are some bulky yarn suggestions for knitting thrummed mittens.

Prices listed here are current to the writing of this post (Jan. 2022) and obviously may change.

Wool of the Andes, Bulky – Knit Picks, $6.99 for 137 yds. per skein
The Petite Wool, Bulky- We Are Knitters, $14.90 – $19.90 for 142 yds. (+/-) per skein
Alafosslopi – Bulky – Istex Icelandic wool – buy direct from Iceland for about $6.29 per skein, or find it available in many US locations, usually for $10 each skein (109 yds). (I’m using this type of yarn for my thrummed mittens.)

Read about knitting my first pair of thrummed mittens on a post soon to come.

Made-Up Mittens Pattern Knit in Two Types of Lopi Wool

This is a mitten pattern I made up by pulling from a couple of patterns I recently knit. Once you know the basics of mitten knitting, it’s quite easy to wing it with your own designs and colors.

Of course my made-up mittens don’t look great. In fact, they don’t match but they are for my son who lives in New England and asked for mittens. I will stress the importance of not throwing them in the washing machine or dryer, but who knows what will happen.

Mittens knit with Lettlopi and Plotulopi yarns — Lettlopi “Rough Sea” gray yarn

Lettlopi Rough Sea gray yarn — Lettlopi “Rough Sea” gray yarn

The Yarn

I used Lettlopi gray yarn called Rough Sea. It is very nice with specks of lighter gray here and there and can look a bit greenish at times. For the first time ever I also used Plotulopi yarn in wine red. It is pictured in the image above and comes as a “plate” of unspun fiber.

A warning about the Plotulopi, which is very inexpensive, is that it easy pulls apart. More than once while knitting I accidentally pulled on the red too hard and had to spit splice it back together. I knit with the yarn in my right hand to have more control over the pull.

Also the red color came out like mad when washing the mittens….! So the color runs.

Beginning the Mittens

To begin this mitten pair I began by casting on as called for in the Krokur mitten pattern (from the Lopi 40 book) as I was using the same exact type of wool. After the 1×1 ribbing I did a few rows of corrugated rib and then began a colorwork pattern. I took the pattern from one of my books and switched it up for each mitten. Because my colors of red and gray blend pretty well, I actually like that they each look different.

I knit the hand and thumb a bit longer for a man’s size hands and had my son here try them on. And the fit is good! They should definitely fit my younger son.

Red and gray mittens — Mittens being worn

Now they have been washed and are drying. I’ll wrap them up to put in the mail. It is Christmas Eve and I have not mailed a single package yet! How does it get away from us so quickly?

More Mitten Knitting

Krokur ….. Clacks ….. Fiddlehead

Knitting “Clacks” Mittens Pattern in Lettlopi Wool

When I finished knitting a recent sweater, I had some wonderful Icelandic wool leftover. About that same time I found the Clacks mittens pattern. I thought it might be perfect for using up more of the Lettlopi wool.

Clacks mittens Lettlopi wool stranded knitting — Lettlopi wool mittens

About a year or so ago I knit a stranded mitten pattern by designer Virginia Settler-Reimer. I hadn’t knit any colorwork mittens at that point and was only just beginning to get the hang of mitten knitting overall. The pattern was Glissade mittens and I used Brooklyn Tweed’s Arbor yarn. Between the beautiful yarn and the well written pattern I thoroughly enjoyed making that pair of mittens.

Now, the designer has come out with a new, similar pattern called Clacks Mittens. Just like Glissade, this pattern has the thumb on the side, which means both right and left hands will be knit the same way. In fact, I have never knit mittens, or fingerless mitts, with a different type of thumb!

Clacks mittens stranded knitting project

Why I Like the Glissade and Clacks Mittens Patterns

Both patterns are by designer Virginia Sattler-Reimer and this link goes to her Ravelry page. Anyone already familiar with mitten knitting and doing colorwork would find this pattern fun and easy to follow.

Both Glissade and Clacks mittens begin with a Latvian Braid (directions included in pattern). Then, we jump right into knitting the colorwork. There is no boring ribbed cuff to knit first.
The mittens are knit on 4 DPNs which separates the front stitches from the back with a line of similar colored stitches. The first two needles hold the first half of the pattern, and the last two hold the remainder. I use a 9-inch circular needle to cast on and do the braid before changing to DPNs. (The second needle will hold the thumb stitches as well.)
The “make one” stitch is a backwards loop (Andrea Mowry video) which is super easy.
I don’t remember this from knitting Glissade, but for Clacks, the designer has provided two charts – one for a light colored background and one for a dark. Because blue is my chosen MC – I’m following the “dark” chart and using Knit Companion.
The Kitchener Stitch (Very Pink Knits slow-motion video) is needed for the top of the mitten and because there are only a few stitches, it is perfect practice for anyone unfamiliar with this finishing stitch.

Yarn and Knit Companion

After I first saw this pattern, I began to hunt through my stash to find yarn to use. The pattern calls for two colors only, and I just happened to have some Lettlopi yarn leftover from a recent sweater. I decided that this wool would be perfect for mittens.

Once the pattern was purchased it was added to Knit Companion and opened on my iPad. From there, it is easy to follow the colorwork pattern line by line.

I had considered changing to a larger size needle at the thumb, to knit the hand a bit wider, but ended up not doing so and the fit is fine. Maybe do this if you have wide hands. Also these mittens are plenty long (for me) already. Measurements are 3.5 – 3.75 inches wide and 11 inches long.

Fair Isle Mittens and Fingerless Mitts I Have Knit.

After knitting for a while, I’ve discovered that I like to knit hats, mittens (and mitts) and sweaters best. I prefer Fair Isle colorwork and think it is especially nice for mittens to add extra bulk and warmth.

Left to right clockwise from top: Fiddlehead, Glissade, My own pattern, Fair Isle Mitts, Oulu, and Stellar Parallax. All links go to my blog pages where you will find links to each the patterns.