It looks like so much fun, but alas. . .I can't thrum along. My hands get too hot in the thinnest of mittens. What I need is the opposite of fingerless gloves; something to cover my fingers and leave my palms free lest they overheat.
By the way, Stephanie, I love your gorgeous kitchen backsplash. Did you tile it yourself?

I have a couple of dye questions for you...
What type of dyes and mordants do you use? I really want to try dyeing but am concerned about what nasty stuff I will be pouring down the drain.

I will probably be knitting behind on the Thrum Along since I am planning to buy supplies at NY Sheep and Wool. But, that Fleece Artist kit is really gorgeous.

Uh, why are there 3 braids on that mitten?

Sorry, that's evil. :-)

Dyeing is easy... I'm sure you'll be ok :-) I'm just gonna "follow a-long" watching everyone else, no way am I making thrummed mittens when I live in Oklahoma... I'd melt my hands off at the wrists! But I can live vicariously, can't I?

I have a question. Can I thrum any old mitten pattern? or does it need to be sized for thrumming to allow for the extra bulk? I am planning on doing this one, but I won't be starting right away.

I will be thrumming along with you all, but like Allyson, I'll probably be a little behind because my Fleece Artist kit hasn't arrived yet. Not that I've been racing home every day to check the mail or anything...

Hi!
I'd like to thrum along but I don't have a blog, so you won't be able to see the exciting white mittens with purple and magenta and green roving dots. Unless I send you a picture. I might even put braids around the cuffs, even though that will not bring them near to the Latvian Loveliness that your mittens possess!

you are totally organized!!! for a regular pc you can just write the html for the page (through dreamweaver or whatever, i code using notepad because i like to pretend i'm hardcore) and then use your ftp to upload the file, with a ".html" extension. hehe... i think macs are pretty much the same when it comes to ftp'ing... but what do i know about macs :P

hey, allyson, you can use kool aid to dye!!! and then the wool smells good enought to drink! (besides it being super quick and fun).

when i re-do my layout this weekend i am going to add a thrum page... with links to all the thrum-alongers! fun times :)

No thrums here. I just stopped by to wish you a Very Harlot Weekend. Mwah!

*cough* I can help you create a new blog page. *cough* Click the "templates" button in Movable Type (on the left), then click "the "create new index template on the right. Name it "Thrum-along" or something equally witty, and then set the output file to "thrumalong.html" This next part is really the only complicated part: making the page. Two options: One, if you want a page that looks like the rest of Yarn Harlot, open a new browser window, log in to MT again and copy and paste the entire contents of your Individual Archive Template into the thrumalong page, and save - then go back and delete the stuff in the middle of the page between the "blogbody" tags and replace it with thrumalong goodness. then, save again, and rebuild. Or, two, create from scratch. Once you get the hang of it, option one is easy. Let me know if you have questions!

Okay, sucked me in AND made me delurk (LOVE this blog--top of my reading list even if it makes me spew liquids at my computer on a regular basis). I'm a long-time reader, first time...wait, wrong show. Anyhoo, I've never "alonged" before but now's a good time to start.

Since I only moderately play well with others, live in Texas (the mere thought of a hand-furnace makes me wilt), and I'm a new knitter still at the dork stage--instead of a mitten, I'm going to make a thrummed padded bag for my bosworth book charkha so I can haul it around with impunity. So add me to the list, if you would, please.

I think I asked to be added to the Thrum Along, but just in case - this is my official request.

For all the Harlot fans living in warm climes - remember that Jennie knows an 80-year-old crossing guard who holds his mitts together with duct tape.
Sooooo - why not Thrum Along with the rest of us and send the resulting mitts to Jennie!!

I'll be thrumming along (if/when my order ever gets here.) I think I'll try Crystal's kool aid dye advice...mmm...nummy smelling mittens...

OK. You are going to make me knit damned thrummed mittens after 21 years of avoidance.

I guess I don't need to mention that I'm hanging out with Sara Lamb next weekend for a dyeing workshop. Yeah. I won't mention that.

Hi Stephanie,

I love your blog.... and I am crazy about mittens. Have you seen this site:

http://www.balticshop.com/category.msql?cat=0234&title=Gloves_and_Mittens_Kurzeme_Collection

It has lots of Latvian mittens.

Even though I live in Kansas, I'm going to make some Thrum mitts. It does get cold here for short periods of time. The thrum mitts would have been handy when we lost power for several days due to an ice storm.

Even the thought of thrums, in mittens or otherwise, makes my hands sweat and my hair stand up (no, wait -- that's the Santa Ana wind at work).

But Kool-Ade dyeing is great fun. The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook has very clear instructions. I've also posted a bit about my own experiences with it here: http://palimpsest.typepad.com/frogsandravens/2004/01/_for_those_of_y.html

Steph, I've been wondering for two months how to add a page to the new website of my bookstore-of-employment. Instead of "Men Behaving Badly," the cosmos has apparently decided "54-Year-Old Women Writing HTML" would be funnier. I've blown away the frames on the home page twice (the result, civilians, is to essentially locate both eyes on the same side of the page's nose, with the mouth on the nape of its neck), but that was as nothing to the time I managed to blow away the editing box. Dreamweaver? (Which I believe costs money?) That would be the easy way, but it wouldn't be The Cowboy Way. Crystal, I was with you up to the ftp. What the hell's an ftp (even just spelling out the acronym will do for now.) Steph, if you already knew, just glow for a moment.

Allyson, be sure the Kool-Ade is =un=sweetened. Yes. Just imagine.

"if you see anything wrong with this mitten, don't tell me"

Yea, right. It's stunning. I attempted to teach myself intarsia the other day and... well...

Let's just say the cats have a very big, very colourful new toy. *facedesk*

I LOVE your kitchen (or what I can see of it)!! Can I move in with you? *grin*

About creating a new page in MT - Elise over at Learning Movable Type has a great tutorial for this task. I used it too. You basically create a post, but don't give it a category and close comments and then you can simply link to it from wherever you want. You can create a static html page, but it won't be searchable and you really want an FAQ to be able to be found. Good luck.

Please add me to the thrum along. I'm ashamed to say that I'm a native Newfoundlander who has never worn a pair of thrummed mitts. This appears to be the perfect time to rectify the situation. I bought a fleece artist kit and am ready to go!!! Besides, I find Ontario winters to be more bitter and more appropriate for hard core mittens anyway (I'm pretty sure it's a delusion on my part).

I have been reading your blog for about a month now and I love it!!
Please join me up for the thrum-along. I got some chartreuse Briggs and Little wool for the mitts and some gorgeous Fleece Artist roving for the thrums. Can't wait to get started.

I love crockpot dyeing. I am still knitting but dyeing is all I think about these days.

Stephanie, here's that link to Elise's tutorial: http://www.elise.com/mt/archives/000314creating_an_about_page.php

Someone tell more about crock pot dyeing! I keep seeing old crock pots at tag sales, and this would be the perfect second life for an old crock pot!

I am ready to thrum along too... I drove an hour today to find some roving. I have had a old Robin Hansen book for years. It is the "Fox, Geese, Fences" one. Low and behold there is a pattern for thrummed mittens. This should be fun.

Is there such a thing as thrumed footies/slippers? My mom would love such a thing. I may try my hand at the mittens since they sound like fun to knit :)

Tanya

Ha! Rams...it's "File Transfer Protocol".
You need a "Client" that does that. I listen to Ken. I don't understand a freaking word he's saying, but I listen.

Sure! I'll thrum along, or behind!!I've never done mittens, but I have what's needed. Maybe afterward, I can do a thrummed, fun fur trimmed muff!!I haven't had a muff since grade school, haha!So much excitement!I've never gone "along" with anything but boys!Woo-hoo!

I'm not thrumming along.
However, I am working on your Snowdrop Shawl from a while back and I just wanted to say I love it! Yours is much prettier in white than mine is in blue mohair, but the pattern is great.

THHRUUUMMMMMM. Sounds like a yoga class. I'm in! I have some Ottawa Valley yarn and some South African Top roving (not pencil!), so they'll be multinational.

Okay, now that I've recovered from having the Yarn Harlot HERSELF e-mail me (The first time it happend, I was shocked that a yarn celebrity would e-mail me. Now, I think she's just nice and since I try to make funny posts, it's only natural), I can post again.

FTP is File Transfer Protocol. Stephanie, what you said is enough to get you a job at some places. You know more than you think you know!

Basically, it lets you move a webpage from your computer, to the computer that hosts your website, so that other people can see it. Very few people host their own website at their home computers, so it's a handy thing to have. No one can see your work if you just leave it on your computer and never send it anywhere.

By the way, apparently gm@il.com is questionable content, so I am not leaving my e-mail here. What's up with that?

Computer Chicky,

Bippy the Mediocre Knitter (but I'm almost done with the K2P2 scarf! Yaymonkeys!)

First of all, we both have smashed mosaic tiles back splashes, and what are the chances of that? While I was doing mine, there was a plumber working upstairs, and when he passed through the kitchen on his way to get more of whatever it was he was getting, he stood and stared at me with my hammer and saftey goggles and said, real quietly, uhmm, you know you can get aaaaa saw to cut those with. And then he backed out of the kitchen, and sent his helper to the truck for the rest of the afternoon. But I digree. Thrummy goodness. I'm up for it, even though I personally will never get to wear them. It doesn't matter. I can take a trip somewhere thrummy and snowy to show my mits the snow. Children, I mean show my children the snow. Whatever.

I am thrumming along. I probably told you that already. Even if I didn't, you probably figured I would. You haven't steered me wrong yet...

I got my Fleece Artist kit yesterday, so I'm ready to Thrum! Can't wait to start even though it was 80 degrees here yesterday.

I have had a thrum kit for almost a year now...it's time to knit up those mittens...count me in!!!

Patterns I've come across for thrummed socks, slippers.

http://knitting.about.com/library/blthrumsocks.ht
m
Free pattern for thrummed socks

http://www.yarnforward.com/slipper.html
free pattern for thrummed slippers

http://www.knitlist.com/96gift/gifttslippers.htm
another free slipper

Barb B.

I plan to be thrumming along here. Tomorrow will be spent trying to track down a Fleece Artist kit in Toronto - easy decision over tomorow's previously scheduled academic pursuits Any suggestions?

Yup, got some Briggs and Little Roving. Thrum mittens will be dedicated to winter farm work. It sure gets cold enough here. And animals still demand getting fed and watered and all that even in a blizzard, but lets not go there. Didn't have enough time to drive to Fleece Artist. Doing gardens clean up 1) because the deer decided they needed my beans more than I did and 2) the couple of night frosts totalled my cucumber and tomato plants... So I'll thrum along best I can. I am not computer literate enough to add links or buttons to anything! :P

Hopefully scanning my mitten in progress and mailing it to you will work! LOL

After debating with myself whether I needed thrummed mittens to make it through the Maryland winter, I have decided that I don't care. I want those mittens and I need them now. I have ordered my supplies so:

Count me in for the Thrum-along! yay!! thrummy goodness for all!

I can't wait to thrum along! I knit a thrummed vest a few years ago.... bought a kit at Tricoter in PEI and loved knitting it. But I haven't done mittens. My problem is I taught myself to knit in the round and didn't realize until waaaaay to late that I was knitting inside out. (6 inches of k2,p2 ribbing for a sock....it looked fine until I started to do the heel!) I have not yet, even after many pairs of socks, been able to break the habit. Hope I can thrum inside out!

I'm looking forward to joining in. Thanks for the motivation!

Barbara

OMG, you are indeed mitten crazy. Mitten-a-mania, if I may. While your mittens are undeniable beautiful, Latvian or not, how many hands do you have, exactly? I must assume more than the standard complement, or you "layer" them in an au courant deconstructionist fashionista type way. Cold climates are nutty, who knew?

LOVE your mittens. I've never tried fair aisle...but it's my goal to learn. When I do learn, it's either a pair of mittens or the ankle trim on a pair of socks. :-)

I'm ready to thrum-my fleece artist kit is here. I'll get the before pics up tonight/tommorow.

Though I'll probably never need the mittens in TX, I sure need them for Christmas with the inlaws in England!

Steph, I *DO* so want to thrum thrum thrum along, but am completely roving-less. May I be allowed to start late? I have a feeling I may be able to find some roving at Rhinebeck... its just a hunch, but my fingers are crossed. (I am also going to look for a drop spindle! eeeHeee!!)

Hi again -
Plans have changed. There will be no purple/green spotted thrummed mittens for Caroline. However, there will be white mittens with grey angora thrums. While hunting around for the dyed roving, I stumbled on a bag of angora from the Putnam County Fleece Fair (Greencastle, Indiana, second weekend in April, in case anybody reading this is nearby!) and I've decided that I must have the angora lined mittens. No matter that the grey won't show up against the white. I will have the warmest most coddled hands in Indiana for our next winter, which I see is coming up fairly quickly!

I think so.