These kind of mittens where traditionally used by the norwegian fishermen during the winterseason, houndred years ago. They are still in use by the fishermens of today. The mttens are very warm and you will not be cold even if both the mittens and your hands get wet.

Help for knitting the thumb:
You put 10 stitches on a scrap piece of yarn.
There are many ways to save the stitches, it depends on how you did. Assuming that you knitted 10 stitches in contrast yarn, moved them back on the left needle and knitted them again in the main yarn.
Then, when you remove the yarn, you pick up the 10 stitches on both sides of the scrap yarn, i.e. 10+10=20.
It’s sometimes better to first insert the needles and THEN remove the yarn.
Meanwhile (or during the first thumb round, it depends on how you do), you pick up 1 stitch at each side of the thumb and get 22 stitches.

If you think the gap is big, you can pick up 2 stitches per side and decrease in the following round. This reduces the holes that one usually have at the base of the thumb and makes the thumb more comfortable.

** Help regarding choice of yarn:**
One can use different types of yarn when knitting these mittens. When using bulky yarn, the mittens will turn out slightly larger and thicker than when using aran yarn. I recommend using aran weight yarn for women mittens, and bulky weight yarn for men mittens. When using aran og bulky weight yarn, I recommend knitting single stranded. If you choose to use worsted weight yarn, I recommend knitting with two strands together.