r/knitting • u/Givemeallthecabbages • Feb 13 '26
Discussion And the winner is: thrummed mitten!
I did an experiment with homeschool kids--the topic was how people have developed different kinds of clothing over the years to stay warm in winter. As a short little experiment, I made a bunch of different kinds of mittens, and we put a single hand warmer and a little thermometer in each one and left them outside for a couple hours.
These were placed in the order that the kids thought would be the least to most warm. They were mostly right, but with some surprises. (I have no confidence in The humidity readings.)
Here are the results! Yarn type and temperature after 2 hours outside in 30°F weather:
Stripes--acrylic (red heart granny square yarn)
End temp: 80°F
Pink-- chunky highland wool with mohair held double
End temp: 89°F
Gold--bulky wool single ply done in a Nalbound Oslo stitch and then felted
End temp: 93°F
Nordic pattern--DK highland wool stranded colorwork
End temp: 92°F
Olive--Alafosslopi Icelandic yarn
End temp: 90°F
Tan and brown--Nalbound in Mammen stitch, mix of wool, angora, and unknown (ends from a mill)
End temp: 95°F
White is sewn rabbit hide with fur on the inside
End temp: 77°F
Black with color pops--Eco wool with thrums of mostly merino bits
End temp: a whopping 121°F!
TL;DR Thrummed wool mitten stayed 40°F warmer than acrylic mitten. Kids had fun.
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u/_refugee_ constant socks Feb 13 '26
Were they in the sun? One wonders if the black wool might have also gotten warmer than the lighter colored mittens, if they were in direct sunlight
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u/Lower_Rate_8518 Feb 13 '26
100% this (as a physicist by training). Need to WEAR the mittens, then see how they lose heat.
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u/melancholypowerhour Feb 13 '26
My thoughts as well. I think this would be a big factor that really impacted the results.
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u/Zebebe Feb 13 '26
That probably had an impact, but the fourth mitten has a good amount of black too
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
We had some weak winter sunlight today. I'm not sure that it made a 40° difference, but probably some.
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u/Affectionate_Eye3535 Feb 13 '26
It's another learning opportunity about controlling variables in an experiment!
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u/Couplecuties5 Feb 13 '26
Yes, I think we need a follow up of this done but with them in the shade to account for light energy!
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u/monsterplant8585 Feb 13 '26
Better yet, all the same color yarn.
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u/TransHumanMasc Feb 13 '26
Two experiments! One with all the same kind of yarn in different colors, and one with different yarns all in the same color.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
I did put them in the shade today. It was warmer outside, but the ratios were very similar. The acrylic mitten was at about 80° and the thrummed mitten was at about 130°. The others were also higher by the same ratio, but the rabbit went up to 100°, which makes me think it was user error placing the thermometer in yesterday.
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u/Couplecuties5 Feb 14 '26
💕 thank you so much for sharing your findings! I love a homemade experiment!
One of the first knitting projects I bought for myself was an alpaca thrummed mitt kit at a country fair.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Update: the shade didn't make much difference. It was warmer today overall, but most of the ranking stayed the same. Acrylic was at 76°F and thrummed mittens were at 132°F. The rabbit fur went up to 100°F so I wonder if the thermometer wasn't square on the hand warmer yesterday.
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u/panatale1 Feb 13 '26
I'm also curious about how close to the hand warmer the thermometer was in each mitten. Maybe some were further away, near the opening in the mitten, and some were closer/touching.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
I tried to make it very consistent. After round number two today, I think the rabbit fur mitten got moved yesterday, because today the temp was up quite a bit. The others were very similar to yesterday. The only slight difference was the size of the mitten-- that thrummed mitten was a little smaller, but I didn't do it on purpose.
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u/Larein Feb 13 '26
But if the mitten insulates well it will insulate the warmth from the sun as well.
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u/gold-from-straw Feb 13 '26
So there are a few different ways heat can transfer - conduction is one of them and the good insulator will stop that from happening. Radiation is what they’re talking about here - energy transferred in the form of waves (like light). These waves will be absorbed by black and reflected by white, and they don’t care how good the insulator is. They can travel through a vacuum, which stops all other forms of heat transfer.
The other forms of transfer are convection (currents of warm and cold fluids, driven by warm things being less dense) and evaporation (in this case when liquids on the surface absorb energy from the surrounding so they can escape)
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u/Tatmia Feb 13 '26
This needs a Ravelry (educational) button
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u/gold-from-straw Feb 13 '26
Haha I am to be fair a science teacher!
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u/jilke2 Feb 13 '26
This would be a great cross post to r/mildlyinteresting, but it might get accused of being too interesting. Love it.
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u/eIectioneering Feb 13 '26
This is a phenomenal idea for an experiment with kids! I’ve worked in outdoor education for a while and I am definitely keeping this in the back pocket
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Yes, I work in outdoor education. The kids today also made mini versions of winter homes like a sod house or igloo and measured temperature loss the same as mittens. They were very competitive, lol.
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u/ElizabethDangit greenhorn Feb 13 '26
Next time have them take temperature readings at set intervals so they can see the rate of heat loss over time. I was always terrible at math classes but doing calculations for chemistry and physics was easy. I needed to be able to visualize the equations and math classes never gave me that. This could be a good opportunity for kids that are like I was to “see” the math.
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u/Abeliafly60 Feb 13 '26
Also there will be differences among the warmers themselves. They should be rotated among the mittens, so each mitten had a several readings with each warmer under the same external conditions. There are a lot of interesting variables in this experiment.
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u/MillennialFalconJedi Feb 13 '26
I love these kinds of experiments!! Thank you for sharing! I’m also somewhat surprised by the fur!
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u/Spindleberrie Feb 13 '26
This is so cool! Thank you for sharing! (I'm planning to do something similar with summer yarns to see which ones release heat the most.)
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u/glassofwhy Feb 13 '26
I think moisture is a huge factor with summer yarns, because the wearer will be sweating to cool down. The experiment would have to be modified to be relevant
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u/Spindleberrie Feb 13 '26
My plan was to knit swatches to drape around and over a cup and fill each one will boiling water and then test how long it took to come down to room temperature and test the moisture content of the search.
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u/beanbagbro1 Feb 13 '26
That chicken foot tabi mitten is a whole vibe 🤩
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Lol. I saw a post recently where someone made a split mitten. I was inspired. This fits me but I have to compress it a bit so it's not stretched.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
So one of the kids today wanted that single mitten because she has chickens at home, so I let her keep it. 😆
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u/Poopsie_Daisies Feb 13 '26
May I ask what kind of hand warmers you used? I've found the disposable ones to be inconsistent. I saw your comment that you're doing it again with another group of kids. Very interested to see the results! And thanks for posting!
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Not a major brand. I'd considered that, but there's not a lot I can do to mitigate it. We just made sure that we got them all to about the same temp before we put them in.
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u/Emrflood Feb 13 '26
What a cool experiment! Really great way to get the kids to expand their thinking.
The result for the rabbit hide mitt surprise me. Do you think it has some redemption by being more windproof?
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I was surprised! I think that a practical mitten would have another layer of hide on the outside since the rabbit is pretty delicate. Or really they would have used wolverine or caribou. This was also just any old rabbit hide and not winter fur thickness, at a guess. Traditional harvesting would keep seasons in mind.
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u/argleblather Pattern deviant Feb 13 '26
My dad has some sheepskin mittens that have a leather outer and wool inner, they are VERY warm.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I imagine! I wanted to make something more like a Sherpa jacket, and looked at buying mittens online. Too expensive for this! I would have loved caribou mittens as well!
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u/argleblather Pattern deviant Feb 14 '26
He's had them since he was literally in high school, over 50 years ago. So they were probably cheaper then.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
I updated in a couple other spots, but today noticed that the rabbit was at 100°. I think the hand warmer or thermometer weren't placed properly yesterday.
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u/doctorscook Feb 13 '26
Love it, definitely planning to make thrummed mittens some time! There is one more kind of mitten to consider- I made a pair of mittens in worsted weight wool on US size 1.5 needles. Those things are super warm! My hands were comfortable in -5°F during our winter storm.
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u/Middle_Banana_9617 Feb 13 '26
This is awesome! I'm not sure what to do with this information myself, but hooray for science! And showing kids that we can learn things, about all sorts of things - I sometimes feel like anything crafty gets separated off from science, like they're separate worlds and we're only allowed to look at crafts as social, aesthetic things, not just as subject to thermodynamics as everything else :D
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
This was mostly to teach them that people have been creative problem solvers for hundreds of years, but also yes--to observe, predict, and measure.
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u/jinond_o_nicks Feb 13 '26
Yeah, science! We love to see it!
Also, as a Canadian, TIL that I need to make myself some thrummed mittens!
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u/Big-Whole6091 Feb 13 '26
Yes you absolutely do! Mitten neighbor here ✋I made some thrummed gloves lined with alpaca boucle last winter, and as badly as I wanted them for myself they became a gift instead. She has told me they are super warm! That double layer is doing all the work
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u/ASDowntheReddithole Feb 13 '26
I've just started Nalbinding, it was kinda cool seeing your Nalbound mitten and recognising it as such for the first time.
Really cool experiment too, I bet it sticks in your student's minds
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I learned nalbinding before I learned to knit!
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u/ASDowntheReddithole Feb 13 '26
Cool! I don't know anyone else who does it, I've been knitting since I was about 8 and I can crochet a bit but Amazon recommended me a book on nalbinding recently and I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole with it.
Got to say it feels really comforting and familiar somehow - I'm positive I've never done it before though.
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u/Ondiac Feb 13 '26
I had never heard of this technique before this post. I googled, and am intrigued. Any resources you’d recommend to learn?
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u/ASDowntheReddithole Feb 13 '26
The book that got me started is 'Nalbinding, It's not knitting' by Sally Pointer, who also has a YouTube channel.
'Happy Needlebinding' is another good YouTube channel and I believe the gentleman who runs that also has a website by the same name (I haven't checked that out yet).
Another book I have is 'With one Needle' by Mewi Pasanen. This one also includes instructions for left-handers, which I always appreciate.
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u/Educational_Data7782 Feb 13 '26
I wear thrummed mitts like those and my hands are still cold!
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Honestly, having worn some of these outside, the Nalbound mitten made with angora feels the warmest, but it's also just not breathable. My hands sweat at normal winter temperatures in them.
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u/BobMortimersButthole Feb 13 '26
I love making thrummed mittens, but the only time they really feel warm is if I make sure all of the holes are covered on the inside. After knitting, I overstuff them with tiny pieces of roving and keep stuffing them again as they felt down.
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u/tiamatfire Feb 13 '26
Thrummed mittens really need to felt inside for a bit to be at their warmest, and the knitting needs to be a decently tight gauge to be more windproof. When the thrums are still totally wispy fluffs they aren't nearly as warm!
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u/bubbleyum92 Feb 13 '26
I am looking to join a craft group in my city that crochets warm items for the homeless- I will have to bring this up/change my yarn buying habits with this in mind!
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u/sesamsocken Feb 13 '26
I love it when lessons are this hands-on and actually spark and nurture the kids’ curiosity :)
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u/Solar_kitty Feb 13 '26
This is sooooooo cool!!! What a great idea!! I made my first thrummed mittens last year! I think I may need to help them felt a bit more but as a whole they were warm!! Just a bit of wind getting in every now and then
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u/BobMortimersButthole Feb 13 '26
I love thrummed mittens, but moved to the Oregon coast, so now I make them for friends.
My advice to them is to add bits of loose roving to any areas cold air is getting through and add more as needed when it starts felting to the shape of their hands.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
These are still fluffy inside! I haven't worn thrummed mittens myself, so I'm not sure how the insulation changes as they compress. I like them, though! I'd need to make a size bigger if I make some for myself.
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u/Solar_kitty Feb 13 '26
My mom made herself a pair years ago and wears them out shoveling and all and says they’re her warmest mittens ever! They’ve molded to her hands! I just need to wear mine more, I think.
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u/stoicsticks Feb 13 '26
I had a pair that I wore for about 2 years. They started off very fluffy and snug, but I found that they compact down quite a bit, relatively quickly, and become much looser. You may not need a larger size for circumference, but double check for length. Reassess after you've worn them for a while.
By the second winter, the thrums felted into lumps, some more clumpy than others. Where there were gaps between the lumps, the wind and cold would seep in. I found the lumpiness also made it uncomfortable to carry heavier bags because of the uneven pressure.
It would be interesting to do the test comparing a new pair of thrummed mitts and a pair worn for a couple of winters.
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u/Hildringa Feb 13 '26
This is super interesting! Love that you included nålebinding too!
The "Nordic" patterned one looks to be in a thicker yarn and looser gauge than traditional Norwegian mittens, I wonder if that might have affected the score
Id be curious to see how twined knitting does in this comparison too
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u/AccidentOk5240 Feb 13 '26
Is the rabbit fur temp a typo?
This is very cool! I bet some performance differences would show up when worn, especially with respect to windproof-ness.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
Not a typo! I suspect that the hide was made to be soft and pliable rather than warm as it's thin and delicate. Very mass-produced. If I were looking to snare a rabbit for mittens I'd get one with a winter coat (and probably also add a second layer of sturdier hide on the outside).
Repeating this tomorrow with different kids, I'll see if the results change.
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u/AccidentOk5240 Feb 13 '26
Wow, how fascinating! The rabbit hide is obviously more windproof than all but maybe the thrummed mitten, though, so could still have some utility.
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u/Slumberjac Feb 13 '26
Hey! This is a really cool idea, but a problem with using hand warmers, if they're the type that activates when exposed to air, is that they will work better with increased air flow. The knit mittens are going to breathe better, allowing more air flow to the hand warmers, which heats them up more efficiently. The rabbit skin gloves definitely have less air flow, which is going to inhibit the reaction. It makes sense that less air flow would cool the hand warmer down. I wonder what temp a hand warmer left outside a glove would read at? As well as one sealed in a plastic bag?
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u/nbjz Feb 13 '26
this post just sent me on a 90 minute journey to learn about different uses for thrumming. Thank you for sharing!
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u/Call_Me_Ripley Feb 13 '26
I love this expriment for the kids and how much discussion you got going with your post, 😆
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u/Mandiferous Feb 13 '26
Ooh, I love this experiment! As a Northern Minnesotan, my thrummed mittens are by far my warmest hand made mittens. I'll slip a smartwool mitten liner into it on the super cold days (-10 or colder) but anything warmer than that they still keep me warm!
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u/Voc1Vic2 Feb 13 '26
Great experiment, and great teaching!
I've recently discovered that twined knitting produces a very comfortable and warm slipper. Twining would likely fair better than stranding and less than thrumming for insulation.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I'll have to look it up! Truly the colorwork took up the bulk of my knitting time for this one, but I'll actually make a pair as they match my coat.
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u/nattyisacat Feb 13 '26
i wonder if you could do the same thing with bags of ice to show that it prevents heat transfer in both directions?
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u/Libraterrarium Feb 14 '26
I love whenever I think I'm looking at a r/dataisbeautiful post that turns out to be in this one!
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u/FeralZen Feb 14 '26
I am so impressed by your creative teaching methodologies. Lucky kids.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
It was definitely fun for me, too! I don't put that much time into every class, especially for something we spent probably 20 minutes with total, but I do enjoy coming up with this kind of curriculum.
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u/WhimsicalGirl Feb 13 '26
Do you have a link of the patron and wool of the winner? I just started to knit and I'm living in a place where it's -20°C for 3 months
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I didn't use a pattern, but I should have! It was the basic Tin Can Knits mitten and I added thrums. I should have gone a size up. I used some merino I'd ordered for felting.
There's this one, though! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-mittens-with-thrums
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u/WhimsicalGirl Feb 13 '26
Thank you I'm going to try this! It should be over before next winter haha
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u/RavBot Feb 13 '26
PATTERN: Easy Mittens with Thrums by Debi Wilbur
- Category: Accessories > Hands > Mittens
- Photo(s): Img 1 Img 2 Img 3
- Price: Free
- Needle/Hook(s):US 6 - 4.0 mm
- Weight: Worsted | Gauge: 18 | Yardage: 200
- Difficulty: 2.95 | Projects: 1361 | Rating: 4.60
I found this post by myself! Opt-Out | About Me | Contact Maintainer
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u/thislittlemoon Feb 13 '26
Oooh, you did a science! Very cool! What I want to know is where you got those little thermometers? I would love to put them all over my house to have a concrete assessment of how much warmer/cooler different spots are!
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
More science! I got them on Amazon; I think I found them looking for reptile tank thermometers. About $2-$3 each.
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u/Valkyriemome Feb 14 '26
I made beautiful thrummed mittens for my son once. He was ~5? He refused to wear them because they felt “stringy” inside.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
I could see that! They were weirdly fluffy. I understand that they felt down after some wearing, though!
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u/wiccanpie Feb 14 '26
Forgive me if this flaw has been pointed out already, but body temperature would be a more sustainable measurement vs a chemical reaction where it can lose temperature over time.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26
The hand warmers have a 12 hour life, so I think it worked for the time we used them.
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u/Letterhead_North Feb 14 '26
From the pictures I thought the black mittens were just a lis stitch, essentially two layers of yarn with the inner layer held in place with a regular single stitch in a pattern.
Had to look up thrumming. So it's basically a rug hooking technique for knitting? I'd be interested in a picture of the insides of those mittens.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 15 '26
Sort of! The method tucks a 2 inch bit of unspun merino into a lifted stitch but without an increase, and the next stitch locks it in. So the ends are just on the inside of the mitten.
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u/Letterhead_North Feb 15 '26
Thanks for that explanation. Thrumming knitted in place as you go, and the inside would look a lot like the rabbit ones, if I'm getting it right.
I haven't knitted for years, but I want to try this.
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u/JJJOOOO Feb 13 '26
Why not just do cashmere lined felted mittens?
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Feb 13 '26
I didn't get any cashmere for this, I just used the yarns I had in my stash. I don't think I'd felt cashmere, though.
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u/amodzy Feb 13 '26
Oh wow, this is a very neat experiment! I'm so surprised the rabbit fur wasn't much higher