Yep. A key element is missing. 5 stitches and 7 rows should equal...........

It doesn't say whether it should equal 1 inch or 4 inches, or whatever their gauge is.

What kind of yarn are you supposed to use? That would help both to figure out if the needle size is standard US or something else, and also whether the guage is based on one inch or four inches. A #1 needle could be very small or very large depending on what sizing system is meant. Are the mitts supposed to come out thin or very bulky?

Another clue would be how many stitches there are in total going around the mitt.

OK -- here's the entire pattern -- see link... I'm sure it'll mean more to experienced knitters than it does to me in terms of trying to figure out what the gauge should be. The mitts are fairly thin so I guess the needle is supposed to be the very small one. Thanks for any guidance -- this will be my first non-flat project! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: fingerless mittens

There is a link to contact the designer who appears to have an online yarn store. The pattern says sock yarn on size 1 needles so a gauge of 5 st per inch seems a little too loose. Gauge is usually given over 4 inches but this doesn't seem to be the case here.

The guage is obviously 5 st/in and 7 rows/in. I agree that knitting a sock yarn with a size 1 needle in ribbing should give you more stitches than 5/in. I think most people would need to use a larger needle to get that guage or use a thicker yarn, such as a sport weight.

Good luck with the project. The mitts look cute.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I may be biting off more than I can chew at this point but I'm motivated and generally a quick learning so I'm optimistic :) Thanks again for your help!