Done Thrummin'

Thrumming is fun!  In just a couple of days, I knit this hat.

 

A warm, wooly, fun hat.

Using some left over Briggs & Little yarn at 18 stitches to four inches  and some left over B&L roving, I cast on 112 stitches.  In retrospect that was a few too many.  96 would have given me a  closer fitting band.  The 112 came from some ravelry research where knitters knit their thrummed hats using  knitting worsted yarn, at 20 stitches to four inches.  I knew my yarn was a bit thicker   BUT    to increase wind resistance and keep the thrums from getting loose  I decided to use smaller-than-normal needles and chose 3.75mm.  With that smaller needle, I thought  I needed the extra stitches to compensate.  Turns out I didn't.  The hat won't blow off but could have benefitted from a tighter band.

There are four and a half inches of 2x2 ribbing - enough to fold double over the ears.  Three rows of plain knitting follow the ribbing before beginning the thrummed rows.    Thrummed rows are
three rows apart.  For no particular reason, I chose to offset the thrums.  The first off-set row required concentration but after that it was simple to follow the pattern.

Knitting for an average adult, I knit the hat to a depth of five and a half inches from the bottom of the folded ribbing before beginning the decreases.  My hats and my socks have decrease rounds in common.  I prefer the 'rounded' look.  To accomplish this, I decrease every other round until half the stitches have disappeared, then decrease every round.  That faster rate of decrease keeps the hat a bit flatter, less pointy, on top.

The hat is fun and warm.  Not  your 'steppin'-out-in-style' kind of hat -  at least south of the Arctic Circle it's not - but practical.  Great for a walk on a cold, windy, winter's day.  With the added bonus that is it perfect for a great  Hallowe'en costume or the Teddy Bear's Picnic.

Thursdays Are For Knit Group

No snow storm today meant lots of knitters out for fun and  laughter.  Oh yes - and knitting.

We laughed when Ruth showed off her new sweater.

"I made it to wear when I bowl, because  the bowling alley is so cold," said Ruth.  
Someone asked - "Oh you bowl? "
"Geriatric bowling,"    deadpaned Ruth.  
Different colours, different stitiches.  A great geriatric bowling sweater, I'd say.

Lauren, so happy is she,  was full of laughter when showing off her knitting.  

 

"I get it now, I get it now" she said of the top-down, baby  cardigan  she is knitting.   Last week, Lauren was struggling to comprehend this, her first sweater pattern. She kept scaring herself by flipping way far forward in the pattern, epressing disbelief that it would work.  Lauren is a great vocalist so  I chastised her.  "Lauren, if you can read music, you can read that pattern."  That was all it  took.  She did it!  We knew you could, Lauren.

Wilma looks pretty happy with her latest sweater.  On the needles last Thursday, on Wilma today. 

Knit top-down, in Paton's Classic,with a great collar.

Nice addition to the winter wardrobe, Wilma, and the perfect colour for you.

We were all smiling to see 'no-longer-new'  Nan, up for  a couple of weeks of R&R at their place on the bay.

 

Great to see you in mid-winter, Nan.

There was especially lots of laughter when I tried on my almost-finished, thrummed hat - needles, hanging yarn and all.     I was forced to  try it on, because someone  Lauren asked " What is it?"

 

 Knit group and laughter - a great antidote to a grey winter's day.

Just Thrummin

The Knitting Gang, at the LYS where I work on Wednesdays, decided they wanted to learn to do some thrum knitting.   Trying to lead by example,  never one to be left behind, I decided to knit along with them.  Take a look at the beginnings of my thrummed hat.

Using some Briggs &Little yarn and roving from my stash, and  my Need A Hat book for stitch count,I just finished my second row of thrums.

There are various ways to create  thrums,  but  I chose to pull  - rather than cut  - the roving at a longer than necessary length.

Once the hat is  knit, I will  cut the thrums off evenly leaving them just long enough to fill in the naked   un-thrummed rows.

Like the many ways to create thrums, there are  also many ways to  insert them.  I chose the easy method - surprise, surprise.  Working with a multiple of four stitches, I knit three stitches with the yarn, then one stitch with the roving.   When ready for the  roving stitch, by folding the roving in half and laying it on the needle, I simply knit with it rather than the yarn.    The yarn crosses behind the roving to get to the  next stitch, thereby anchoring it.  The disadvantage of this method  - so I'm told - is  IF the thrum happens to pull out, there is nothing to hold the stitch.  It could drop.  However knowing wool's propensity to stick to itself, I find it hard to imagine that happening.

You can see, in the upper photo,  my four-inch deep ribbing.  I wanted it deep enough to fold in half over the ears.  My thinking was,  if  knititng a double-layered  hat (a layer of yarn on the right side and a  layer of thrum tails on the inside)   shouldn't the ears be covered by a double layer as well?  I think so.

It has been a long time since I have knit somethng with thrums.  It is fun.  And while the hat isn't  my style, it will be a very wam one for someone.  Any grand kids raising their hands?