A spinner I am not.

So, after some involved and self-centered calculus, I have determined that the answer to one small problem of mine (namely, freeeezing hands in the morning as I'm trying to make my car legally drivable) is: Fingerless Thrummed Mittens.

Stay with me here.

My Hurry Up Spring armwarmers are the right shape - long enough over the hand to protect from snow, short enough to offer dexterity required for car scraping, key using, and putting on the second mitt - but wind cuts right through them. Also the right one tends to stretch out of shape pretty quickly. Also Noro Kureyon doesn't belong right next to skin.

Clearly, the answer is something more substantial. While I love the idea of mitts in sock yarn, I can't imagine that sock yarn is thick enough to really block out the cold. I also have a very nice pair of fleece mittens that, due to the elastic around the wrist, will never be put-on-able enough to be comfortable. And I haven't ever met a pair of straight-up gloves that were warm enough.

Enter Fleece Artist Thrummed Mitten Kit in Wildflower:



My reasoning is that ridiculously warm mittens - tops = warm enough fingerless mitts.

I'm not a spinner, and though I know the words that go along with spinning, like fleece, and top, and roving, and carding, and spinning wheel, and drop spindle, and ply, and etc, I do not really have a true understanding of what those things mean. I smile and nod politely and even admire the beautiful colors of all the objects that fall under the aforementioned words for pre-yarn, but really I'm just waiting for the conversation to turn back to knitting.

Though I've contemplated buying some of the stuff before, this is my first time dealing with roving at all, and I started off being a bit suspicious of it. It seemed so delicate at first. Then, following the Yarn Harlot's FAQ, I tried to simply pull a bit off. Hahaha. If this is the strength it will take to make thrums, screw the thrummed fingerless mitts, I'll just carry my car to work, I thought.

Then I remembered that adage (or is it more like a law of physics?) that it's easier to break single sticks ten times than it is to break ten sticks all together. So I kind of spread the roving out and completely stopped caring how much came off at a time. Much better.



So, my tentative plan for the pattern for these (by which I mean, barring a better idea) is to do about 2" of ribbing instead of an open cuff at the bottom, because I'll be able to put them on easily. Then I'll knit and place thrums up until I reach about the top of my pinky finger. I'm not sure yet how I'll finish the tops up; right now I'm considering a flap of sock yarn on the inside to prevent the thrums from spilling out over the fingers. Not sure how/if to tack that down yet.

I'm off of work tomorrow and they're predicting 20 degree highs for the next week, so I will be working hard on these.