I'm teaching a mitten workshop at Black Sheep Yarns in Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada and the owner Helen chose a really easy pattern for the students: 

Tin Can Knits' The World Simplest Mittens.

They published a great blog post called Let's Knit some super simple mittens that I highly recommend.

I'm using Joma Yarn Mashmellow Rino, a 100% Superwash Merino worsted called Valley Girl. And the purple, turquoise, gold and green bits certainly fit the name! This yarn is a lightly spun hand dye that will make gorgeous mittens. It's super soft, thick and warm - the perfect thing for crisp winter days.

I used a cast-on that is stretchy enough to easily fit over the hand.

For the thumb gusset increases, I used the Lifted Increase method because it leaves a nice decorative edge which doesn't leave a hole for those cold winter winds to creep through. The one modification I did was to pick up two stitches at the thumb instead of one. I knit them together on the next round. This reduces the chance of a hole developing.

Here are some cute little stitch markers to mark the two thumb gusset increase sections. They're small so they won't get in the way of your needle.

Treasure Chest Stitch Markers

The mitten top is a set of straightforward decreases.

The pattern has 5 different sizes from toddler to adult large, and instructions for yarn weights include fingering, DK, worsted and chunky. Pretty much everything to fit anybody!

It's time to start knitting some quick projects for the season. And these would make great gifts for your whole family. I know what my wee grandson will be getting under the tree :)