A friend found a picture of some Norwegian-style mittens with a horse design, and asked if I could make something like it. (If anyone knows the source of that pattern, please let me know!) I charted out the horse (which I think was knit with fine yarn on a child-size mitten), and added background details to fill out the stitch count needed for an adult size. I thought a pony dancing in some snow flurries was fun, and incorporated a top-point design that reminded me of a barn roof from another Selbu mitten.

My examples use Frog Tree Alpaca Sport (discontinued). Rauma Finullgarn (traditional Norwegian stuff) works just as well, and any sport weight can be used.

Most women find a mitten worked on size 1 most comfortable; this gauge is 10 stitches/inch. For smaller hands you could go down to size 0; for larger women or slim men’s hands, go up to 1.5. For larger men’s hands, you may need to add stitches to the edges of the design or even use a slightly heavier yarn, changing the gauge entirely. Larger sizes could take more than 50g of background color; mittens worked on size 0 or 1 needles should not. You shouldn’t need more than 50g accent color for any size.

This pattern is free to use; please consider making a donation to Humane Society of Northeast Iowa, or another animal shelter or rescue of your choice. If you’re shopping for yarn rather than using your stash, please consider ordering from my local yarn shop (Blue Heron Knittery in Decorah IA).
Blue Heron on Ravelry
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Blue Heron online

I don’t mind if you knit items to sell using this pattern, or modify it and publish your own version. Have fun!