Thrummed mittens free pattern & knitting tutorial

Years ago in England, the woolen mills would discard slubs of wool, called "thrums," which knitters would gather and use in their mittens to add extra texture and warmth. This tradition was brought to Newfoundland by the settlers and after being almost forgotten for years, has been recently revived. (source: darktickle.com)

There is no left and right mittens for this pattern: they are both worked identically. At first, you may feel a bit tight in the mitt, but the roving will eventually compress against the inside of the mitt and your mittens will become insulated and very warm!

In addition to the free knitting pattern, you will need the following material to knit your thrummed mittens:

MATERIALS

• 1 skein of Briggs & Little Tuffy [80% wool, 20% nylon; 213 yards / 113 g] or any feltable wool of the same weight.
• 1 oz of roving made of feltable wool
• DPN or circurlar needles of 3,5 mm

SIZES : 2 ● 4 ● 6 ● 8 ● Adult

GAUGE : 20 sts = 10 cm in thrummed pattern (refer to the 9 rounds under the HAND section).

NOTES : A photo tutorial showing how to prepare your piece of roving and how to thrum a stitch is available at the end of the pattern. You can also find a video version of this tutorial here: