This pattern makes a little mitten about 3 inches long, suitable for a Christmas ornament. On the outside, the thrums make a pattern of little hearts.

The word thrum means short pieces of fiber, like those leftover from weaving. Thrummed knitting makes a thicker, warmer fabric by working short pieces of fiber into the knitting.

Wool has scales which will hold the thrums in place. My samples were worked in Caron’s sheep(ish) 30% wool, and I found it was a little too slippery to work well. I’d strongly recommend 100% wool.

You need around 6 yards of the main color, and about 2 yards of unspun wool roving or a softly spun single ply wool yarn for the thrums. The thrums should be about the same weight as the main yarn. 8 yards of each color gives you two contrasting ornaments.

Full sized thrummed mittens are usually made from fleece, but there isn’t much room inside these tiny mittens, and using the same yarn in a contrasting color worked fine.