This last category of fingerless mitts - knitting patterns - is so huge, so many designs out there, that I had to really limit my roundup to my personal favorites, trying to get a variety of simple, lacy, cabley, for different styles.  I also kept my picks to only independent designs - I left out patterns available through Vogue Knitting, Interweave, etc, so everything you see here is either available directly through the designers (free or for sale), or through knitty, which is a designer-friendly indie kind of site.  So, with that said, I'm starting with the most simple patterns... Ysolda offers a free pattern for these Garter Stitch Mitts:

A Friend to Knit With has free patterns for simple mitts with or without thumbs, called Toast and Toasty:



I designed some easy striped, bulky mitts, which you can download for free from my website - Gradient Mitts:



Life in Cleveland offers a pattern for these basic Mmmalabrigo glovies, designed for one of my most favorite yarns:



Probably the number one most popular knit fingerless mitts pattern of all time is Fetching by Cheryl Niamath, free on knitty;  personally, I kind of prefer her guy-friendly version, Dashing:



Also on knitty, you'll find Pamela Grossman's Knucks pattern - there are a bunch of examples of different words and images embroidered on, all great (hard to choose a favorite!), but I think I like this one best:



And one last knitty pattern - Erica Jackofsky designed these pretty Sourwood Mountain mitts:



I absolutely love these Veyla mitts by Ysolda Teague  - I'm not normally drawn to girly, lacy designs, but something about the buttons with the rounded edge there is just so fabulous:



Abbie Tilden designed these October Leaves Fingerless Mitts; I am admittedly biased towards anything orange, but I also love the leaves coming up out of the cables:



Green Thumb by Diana Foss are great, basic ribbed mitts with a clever and cute leaf detail on each thumb:



Craftoholic took a popular sock pattern and transformed it into these beautiful Mermaid Gloves, with short fingers:



Paula McKeever gives us a free pattern for these lacy Cafe au Lait Mitts:



I love the landscapey picture done in lace on these Snow on Cedars Mitts, by Anne Hanson:



For some serious cabely goodness, check out Through the Loops Designs' Genmaicha pattern:



And lastly, See Eunny Knit offers up a free pattern for these colorwork-tastic Endpaper Mitts:



If you're into knitting up a pair of fingerless mitts, you don't need to choose your pattern based on my picks - a ravelry search for "fingerless" brings up over 2,000 matches!  You could find your own personal favorite with a bit more browsing - happy knitting!