Thrumming was born in Newfoundland, off the east coast of Canada. It is a technique for adding a layer of wool roving to create a very warm and almost totally wind and waterproof mitten. Pieces of roving are knit in to individual stitches with the extra length of the roving remaining inside. With wear, these rovings’ felt, creating the barrier needed to protect hands from the icy winds.
It is really important to note that thrumming works best when knit with non-superwash wool and non-superwash sliver. The scale on the surface of both fibers work together to bond and keep the fibres from separating.
Thrumming in action
Thrumming can be used for items other than mittens as well. Hat, slippers or a headband (which I am currently designing). And I am thinking of designing a vest. A double sided, thrummed vest would be perfect for our climate.
Here are a few of my thoughts, and reasonings as to why I choose to use these symbols in the GreenMan Shawl. I think that the need to work towards the renewal of our environment has more to do with some aspects of our past. From when we were closer to the environment and had more understanding of why it was so important to our well being.
This is a circular shawl. Why?
Circles are magic. Circles in knitting are even more magical! Where else can you take a straight line and make it do circles and spirals.
Knitting is a straight line.
Knitting is a straight line made with curves.
Every individual stitch is curved.
It is tremendously fun to take something that most people think of as a straight line and make the knitting run in circles, hence my love for circular shawls.
In history, in folklore, in magic, circles are powerful objects. They hold, they contain, they encompass. They can be everything and nothing.
I love to knit circular shawls.
A circular shawl is very important to the concept behind the GreenMan KAL. Because circles are magic. Because the Green Man is an ancient and powerful concept. Because I may be more than a little superstitious and have a tendency to be intuitive and to trust my intuition.
This shawl is full of superstition. It starts on Friday the Thirteenth of September. Usually considered unlucky, the number 13 has always had a positive influence in my life. The Green Man is a figure of legend and lore. There will be mistletoe in the Oak and Acorn band. and there is power in the spirals that form the knitting of the shawl. Our knitting spirals out from the center of the shawl.
A spiral that spins clockwise (from the inside-out) represents growth, expansion, evolution, harmony and cosmic energy. It can also represent the inner (spiritual) and outer (physical) worlds and the connection between the two.
The center of the spiral is often associated with the Source, God, or One Consciousness, out of which everything emerges. The spiral emerging from the center and expanding outwardly in all directions in an everlasting manner represents creation, cosmic energy, and infinite possibilities. It also represents the cyclic nature of the universe.
22 Powerful Spiral Symbols & Their Deeper Symbolism, by Lyza Hayn
The spiral and the Green Man are related in their basic representational meanings of growth, rebirth and future possibilities.
Together, the oak tree and acorn represent the cyclical nature of life. The oak tree, with its roots firmly planted in the earth, represents the past and the present, while the acorn symbolizes the future and the potential for growth and change.
The Oak has for centuries represented strength in thought and purpose, the Oak stands for longevity. It stands tall in growth and last long when used to create the things of man. The Acorn, the seed of the Oak, is a symbol of fertility and growth, but also of wisdom because of the slow growth of the Oak, the Acorn also represents the slow passage of time as wisdom is attained.
And Mistletoe, because it produces berry’s in Winter and is evergreen, represents rebirth, life and fertility!
I hope that I have entertained you, enticed you and made you curious.
Apologies to “Queen” here – Knitting is a “kind of magic”!
Tomorrow we are going to Surrey (across the big water). The World Men’s Fastball Championships are there. So we are going for a day of ball! I am going to be knitting as well as watching and there is nothing like Ferry travel to enhance one’s knitting time!
I will be taking a half knit sweater for myself. I started it a couple of years ago with some beautiful Italian Wool from Gathering Yarns. Just a basic top-down v-neck and since the yarn was limited I had to get creative with the colours. Just some simple striping but it is very effective with the slightly varigated colours.
It is such a rich yarn, full of texture and the two colours are blending beautifully.
Why wasn’t it finished a while ago? Well, one time when I tidied, the project went in one place and the yarn went in another. I would find one and never the other. So this time when I found the extra yarn I put in on my desk, after I had cleaned it up and had a clear surface! Remember that big clean up? Yesterday I stumbled across the project! A match! And it is so close, arms and maybe a third of a body and it is chunky!
Looking for the next project? I seem to be in constant search lately. I have several projects on the go. My main focus is the Greenman Shawl and it is really taking over. I am already planning the next section. But I do need to look to my classes for work as well. What is your next project?
I am working on the thrummed mittens to go with the headband. I do enjoy thrumming such a relaxing way of working in colour. And I love the wool I am using, Shelter, by Brooklyn Tweed.
Look deep into my mitten. Doesn’t it look warm and cozy?
And for something new I am going to try to finish off the sleeves of an old sweater. Knit with Mountain colours hand dyed Weavers Wool it is gorgeous. It is now slightly felted and starting to wear at the end of the sleeves. So I am going use an old English (or European Technique of finishing things that wear with leather. I found an absolutely stunning piece of leather from Gala Fabrics last time I was there. It is a glorious shade of blue and is perfect!
I’ve been talking a great deal about the Green Man Shawl, something for a new KAL.
So what is a Green Man?
I guess it depends on how you want to research the motif. The Green Man as art is mainly that of a face covered by foliage. It is known as a foliate motif and is found in art across the globe dating back in Europe to at least the 1300’s, and is much older in other cultures. Many art historians think that the motif was from India and then was carried across Europe. It was often seen on churches or in the art of the Celtic monks.
The motif could also have been brought across the European Continent even earlier. Many ancient Roman sites in Great Britain have contained masks that relate to the Green Man.
So basically the Motif is old, ancient even, and has meaning throughout many cultures. In folklore the Green Man has many meanings. He symbolizes fertility and harvest, regrowth and change. Peter Pan, Robin Hood were Green Men. They symbolized the need for change. We are in need of change.
Green Man as a concept has inspired artists and authors alike over the 500 years. And he still inspires today. For many modern pagans, the Green Man is used as a symbol of seasonal renewal and ecological awareness.
I take a lot of photographs and I am constantly in awe of the beauty of this world. It is all around us and you just have to look. I have been looking.
I stay pretty close to home. Most of these images are from around Nanaimo or the West Coast. Whistler, Bute Inlet and the west coast of Vancouver Island.
While I am not a modern pagan, or perhaps I am, (obviously a conversation for another day), I have been inspired by the Green Man images I have seen, in books, on the internet and in conversations about the image.
To me, Green Man is the modern environmental warrior. A symbol for the modern generation. Of making small and large changes in our lives with the environmental future of our planet in mind. As a long time reader of science fiction and science fact, where the future of our planet has always been up for for speculation, my head is filled with a myriad of ideas. Will we destroy ourselves or will we reinvent ourselves or will we move ourselves outward into the rest of the universe. I think all three.
Change takes a monumental amount of personal energy, a destruction of current self. I am slowly making my own personal changes and watching the changes happening and also not happening around me. I want to encourage others to think about the changes they can make. They don’t need to be big, small changes, incremental change is the most sustainable and can, when added together create a major shift. Think of water on stone… We are the stone.
I am an optimist at heart. I really believe there is a future for our world, the only question is, will humanity be a part of that future. Our choice. Our actions will make the decision.
Google Green Man. The images are amazing, inspiring, beautiful, ugly and all places in between.
This is my Green Man. My third attempt at capturing the feeling in knit. I am happy with it now. The next step is to incorporate it into my shawl.
My swatch is knit with Estelle Eco Shetland Worsted
What do you think? Should I give up my day job? LOL! I am satisfied.
In the Summer I always try to finish up a project for myself. A sweater or vest, something new that I can wear to work.
This year I have at least two things on the go. A light and airy mohair sweater knit with Amitola Brushed by Louise Harding. This is a heavier mohair and silk blend and I am knitting it quite loosely. I love mohair’s loft when the you let the fuzz fill in the stitches. It makes the garment light but still cozy! This sweater is underway and will be knit from sleeve to sleeve. The Amitola has a long, slow stripe and it is showing beautifully. I am barely through 60 grs of the first ball. I think that I will have plenty of yarn. I am knitting on a 6.0mm US #10 – this sweater is knitting up fast!
The Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed yarn is going to take much longer to knit. Right now it is going to be a vest. But I am loving it so much and I think I have enough yarn, so it might turn into a full sweater. I am loving the stitch pattern. Time, as always, will make the final decision. And yardage, where is the rest of the yarn? Somewhere in my stash!
Summer is also when I make tea cozies. They are small and fun and I think I might design a class around a new idea I have.
Last week I bought a new toy. It is designed to hold my phone as I video myself knitting a new technique. You have already seen it at work as I ripped back my last hat!
The weather here is back up to being hot again. So I am looking at small projects as well. Beading something, anything, is always good for hot weather knitting.
I also love to knit shawls in the Summer. Tomorrow I hope to have the Green Man motif ready to show.
Do you have a “colour” ? Something you know you love to knit with. Something that you “lean” towards. Something you sometimes are unaware of. I do. Apparently I wanted a co-ordinating set. LOL!
Don’t they look great together? I guess I will have to finish the gloves sooner rather than later!
Below are some random images of this Summer and Summers past! They are part of my inspiration as I dream up new ideas.
I have finished two of the class samples. Still at least three more to go! I am happy with the results so far! They include a thrummed headband and a cabled pillbox style hat. I took the pictures in different lighting conditions, just to see how the colours would change.
I have no name for the headband pattern, but the pillbox is going to be called Candy Cables – just something about the colour. The white base with the glowing peach mohair looks like candy to me. Check out the mohair halo – so pretty!
I am singing the blues right now. My first attempt at the crown for my new project was a bust. I have gone back to the computer and designed a new crown. I hope it works better than the first!
sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes the blues get a hold of you…. Carol King, Sweet Seasons
Turn up the sound for the full story!
I hope you have a wonderful evening! I know I will! I will be knitting! LOL!
Have you ever made thrummed mittens? Or slippers? Well I am working on a Thrummed Headband. It has an easy shape and will be easy to learn the technique so that you could make mittens or slippers if you wished!
2) Cables
A simple cable hat?
Or maybe a not so simple cable hat?
How about a reversible cable scarf? As you can see this idea is still in the very early stages!
3) Maybe something more long term, with once a month meeting/classes.
I am planning a Knit-a-Long. KAL for short. The Green Man KAL. This will be a lace shawl for the more advanced knitter. It could be knit in a fingering or lace weight yarn, knitters choice and there will be how to video’s attached for those who don’t live in the area and in person classes for those who do. Techniques we will cover include circular cast-ons, adding beads (if desired), three dimensional embellishing, some interesting lace techniques and finishing with knitted on edging. Sample below is knit with Schoppell Zauber Lace 100. Right now I am working on the chart for the the Green Man and will share updates as that comes together.
4) Of course I will run the Fear of Finishing Workshop – an in depth look at some basic and not so basic finishing techniques. Including the best start to create the best finishes and things the pattern always forget to tell you.
5) I am thinking of a designing a new tea cozy this fall. Something with birds I think!
6) A class on mending is in the works as well! Darning socks, fixing holes with some creative mends and swiss darning the old fashioned way!
I am also looking for new ideas. What do you want to learn? Can I teach it in a class or does it need a workshop? I could teach something in Mosaic Stitch, or maybe Twinned Knitting? Some simple fair-isle mittens or cowl for gifts?
What style of project would you like to see? A simple shape to show up the new technique, a pillow perhaps, maybe bolster style with knitted on fringe for finishing. Or a new hat, a pillbox or cloche style, something a little different from your basic beanie.
I am off to dream up and then knit up some new samples. I hope that you have a dreamy week as well!
