I wanted a pair of fingerless mittens that would keep my hands, and especially my knuckles, warm while walking in the relatively cold winter weather of the Okanagan (I say “relatively” because it doesn’t get as cold as it might “out east”, but it still gets cold enough to warrant warm mittens) and still allow me to use the touch screen on my iPod. I also wanted them to be “interesting”, a little bit different.

This thumb gusset has been at the back of my mind since I first saw it in the Winter 2003 issue of Interweave Knits. I’ve been wanting to incorporate it into a pattern ever since. It’s the palm gusset and, instead of increasing for the thumb, increases are incorporated into the palm of the mitten.

An extra long cuff covers the fingers almost to the tips, allowing me to fold my fingers into a fist and keep them tucked into the warmth of the cuff but still giving me access to my iPod as needed.