It dawned on me this week that, apart from the Endpaper Mitts, I have never knitted a single pair mittens or gloves. Of course, there were the ill-fated Winter Garden mittens which just proved that I don’t have any colour sense, but they’re the exception.

It’s certainly not due to a lack of suitable patterns. I have Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, as well as a copy of the much sought-after Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch. But as I’ve also been gifted some very lovely mittens in the past as well, it’s never been very high on my list of priorities.

Then, earlier in the year, I chanced a peek at Diane’s copy of Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition. This book follows the story of the beautiful Norwegian mittens and gloves and contains over 30 patterns adapted from original mittens and gloves. I love the simplicity of the black and white colour scheme – no chance of me messing that up! – and snaffled my own copy of the book a few months ago.

So lots of mitten patterns, but no completed mittens. And then last week, Winter came. It took everyone by surprise, I think, as we dashed out in the week to buy winter coats for the small people who are never quite small enough to fit into the previous year’s coats. I realised that fingerless mitts just weren’t going to cut it this year, and my fingers needed to be warm as well.

After a quick stash dive for some RYC Cashsoft 4ply in black and cream, I started my own pair of Selbuvotter. These are the niftily titled NHM #7 mittens (Ravelry link). This pattern was my favourite when I first looked at the book, although now I have about a dozen more.

I am not particularly happy with the job I did of picking up the stitches for the thumb (marked with a big red ring just so you can’t miss my ineptitude). It looks messy, though I’ve neatened up the looser stitches and closed the holes. But as these gloves are for me, rather than a gift, I’m not going to stress over it, but try to make the second one neater.

I’m halfway up the chart for the second mitt, so hopefully the weather won’t get any colder before I get the chance to finish the pair!