Jane has a great pair of mitts knitted by her BFF’s mother that she wished could be a bit cozier. Oh, and also covered with dozens of love hearts. Afterthought thrums seemed to be the perfect solution. Thrumming would typically be done as you knit, with each thrum knitted in with a stitch. It’s a technique attributed to the folks in Newfoundland and Labrador, who I suspect would know a thing or two about keeping their hands warm.

To afterthought thrum, I embroidered the mitts with merino fleece using the duplicate stitch technique (video tutorial below). The result is very similar to conventional thrumming – with the added advantage of my hands felting the roving nicely as I embroidered… Try it out and give your mitts a cozy makeover!

Materials

one pair of knitted mittens

one ounce (28 grams) of fleece  (I used white merino top)

tapestry needle

Thrum Placement

I used a diagonal pattern for the thrums.

Tutorial: Afterthought Thrumming from Laura Michelle / Newedist on Vimeo.

These little moccasins are technically not my first project of 2010. I think I finished them on Christmas Day after my sister learned that one of her friends had given birth to a baby girl named Olivia. We both got knitting straight away: my sister on one of my favourite baby hats, Cisco; and I on these Baby Mocs by Whitney Van Nes and a pair of Yumiko Sakurai’s Kanoko Pants (Ravelry link). I didn’t get a shot of the pants before my sister packed them so I’ll have to share a photo once Olivia is big enough to model them!

[Ravelled]