Norwegian Mittens for my Granddaughter

I took part in a Knit Along course by Kristin Myrmel of Norknit.com and SKD (Scandinavian Knitting Design).  Kristin is a Norwegian knitter.  Her courses are very informative, and she includes lots of videos on various knitting techniques.  Along with the course, there's also a closed Facebook group where everyone can share their progress and pictures.

I love the design of Norwegian mittens.  Norwegian mittens have several design features that make them easy to recognize.  They have a thumb gore, and the design on the outer thumb is different from the inner thumb, which matches the inside of the hand.

The outside of the hand has a large design--often Norwegian stars, snowflakes, or animals.  The inside of the hand has a small repeating design.  Between the two is a line which separates the hand--often 3 stitches that form stripes or dots.  The cuff can be a ribbed cuff, often with stripes, or a colorwork cuff, or a lacy cuff.  The mittens have a pointed top of the hand and the thumb.

                                              Norwegian Mittens, Inside and Outside of Hand

I used Galway sport yarn and size 3.0 mm double pointed needles for the mitten, except I used a size 2.75 mm needles for the thumb.  I used 2.75 mm also for the cuff.  I knit into the back of the knit stitches for the K2, P2 cuff. 

I once took a Norwegian mitten class (2009) from Arnhild Hillesland and enjoyed her class, too.  There were a few differences between the 2 classes.  Kristen uses k2 through the back loop for the cuff, and Arnhild knits the cuff regularly.  Arnhild taught us to use k2 through the back loop as our Left Leaning Decrease, and Kristin uses S1, K1, PSSO (or SSK).  The top of the mitten was a little different, too.  Arnhild takes the last stitches through the yarn tail, using the white yarn tail for the white stitches, and the pink yarn tail for the pink stitches.  In Kristin's mitten we did a double decrease at the top first:  S1, K2tog, PSSO.  I've loved the mittens I've made from each class.

My pattern notes:

I added 3 rows to the thumb gusset, alternating 2 rows of each design. Thumb: use 2.75 mm needles. Skip last row of top of outside thumb. Added some Xs to first row of thumb to continue pattern.
I was afraid the mitten would be too long, so I took out 2 rows in the center, so only 1 row between the 2 stars. Center diamond is 1 x, x space x, x 3 spaces x, x space x, x. The length would have been fine. The mitten fits very closely.
I used k2b for left slanted decrease as Arnhild does.
Finished 7 1/4” mitten, excluding cuff. 21 rows = 3”, about 7 rows per inch. K: wrist to thumb 2 1/4”, pinky 5 1/4”,  hand about 7”.