Thrumming?

Good Morning!


It's a chilly day, cloudy with a few patches of sun.  Quite a change from last week's near 100 degrees.

This Saturday, I will be teaching a basic mitten class at yarnandteashop.com.  This class will be geared toward beginning knitters with little experience with double point needles.  Students will learn how to size mittens and then the cast on and join. 

Joining circular knitting can be problematic for some, but my feeling is that it is more scary than anything else.  So, my strategy for teaching is to wait until there are a couple of rows ribbed before joining.  That way the join becomes more visible and twisting less likely to happen.  Just remember to leave a slightly longer cast on tail to weave those couple of rows not knit in the round.

The rest of the mitten is a pretty simple undertaking.  First is the thumb gusset and then on to the mitten top decreases.  Lastly comes finishing the thumb, closing the cast on beginning and then weaving in the ends.

The second class, the following week, we will knit mittens again but this time adding thrumms.  Thrumms you say? Yes, thrumms. A thrumm is a piece of unspun roving folded and inserted in the knitting along with the stitch.  This creates a thick, fluffy, warm lining to your mitten that over time will "full" the more you wear it. That means that it will begin to felt.

This technique can be used not only for mittens, but also for hats, slippers, socks, and anything else you would like some extra warmth added to.

I will be posting some pictures from class on YouTube as well as the preparation process of the thrums.  In the mean time, I wish you all a wonderful day.

If you would like to take a class on basic mittens or thrummed mittens and you are too far away to attend one of my classes, I can Skyp or FaceTime a class with you.  Email me at dee@youandmeknit.com to set up an appointment.  Fee schedule is on my website, youandmeknit.com.

Happy knitting and happy thrumming.