This past week, I needed some knitting that wouldn’t bend my brain – or require me to follow charts. (It has been a pretty intense week, writing-wise.) So, I put my lace projects away for a few days, and opened a mitten kit I’d bought. My husband is always complaining that mittens aren’t warm enough, because the wind goes through the little holes. When I saw these kits for thrummed mittens, I knew they’d be just the thing.

A thrum is a bit of roving, tucked inside the mitten. It’s actually knit into the mitten, and there are bunches of them in a thrummed mitt, stitched in at intervals. You end up with an insulated mitten. The story is that these kinds of mittens were invented in Newfoundland and Labrador, where people are motivated to keep their hands warm.

Here are mine – they don’t have thumbs so far, but they have thrums!

The one on the left is right side out, just the way you’d wear it. The one on the right is turned inside out, so you can see the thrums. It looks as if it would be good for dusting, doesn’t it? The pink wool is a lifeline where the thumbs need to be knitted in. The yarn is handpainted and I like how the variegation came out in both the knitted part and the roving inside.

These were fun to knit, once I got the hang of making thrums. I’ve raided my stash for mitten yarn for myself, and I’m going to buy some more roving to make thrummed mittens out of that.

Have you ever knit thrummed mittens? Worn them? Or have you tried something new in your knitting lately?