Postscript to my earlier comment: I seem to remember when picking up stitches in the gusset areas, I would pick up one stitch from the round below and knit it with the presenting stitch on the working row. Somewhat like wrapping short row stitches. (Hmmh?)

Hey Polly! That Sudafed will getcha every time! Back up to the very first computation, 56 plus 18 = 74. I'm guessing (haven't done gloves in years) that the pattern is probably just fine. You probably need to do another pair of mittens for the time being. Get well soon! You DO keep us entertained, regardless.

Caroline is correct on the gusset stitch counts. The direction to increase "in" a stitch is a pointer to a KFB or similar increase, one which uses up one of your existing stitches, so you should have 4 existing stitches between the purl marker stitches; these 4 plus the 2 purls leave you 50 from your initial 56, so when you increase the 4 to 18, then remove the 18, then cast on 4 again, you're back to the 56 you started with before the gusset.

I agree, the numbers to put on waste yarn for the fingers are screwy; it should be 40 (which is the number you're later directed to re-activate, and also the number which is left when you subtract 8+8 from 56).

Getting nice joins between the fingers is tricky. I'm still getting this down myself, but my current best results have been achieved by making sure I have a really stable cast-on on the casting-on side, to give me a solid base to pick up stitches into; what I like best is to use a twisted-loop cast-on, but twist the loop a full turn, instead of a half turn, which makes it much more stable than it would otherwise be, easier to knit into, and more flexible (sort of like the difference between regular long-tail cast-on and twisted German). By doing this, it's easy to really snug it up and have it stay snug, so you don't get extra yarn developing between the cast-on stitches and the original ones. Also, on the first round after picking up stitches into the cast-on stitches for the adjacent finger, I like to grab the purl bump behind the adjacent pre-existing stitches and work these together with the first and last picked-up stitches; this is something like the "knit encroachment" method for closing short-row gaps, if you've ever done that, and I think helps to prevent a hole better than picking up extra stitches and then decreasing them away, although that is also a popular method. And, of course, if any hole remains, one can use the tails to close it up.

Nanette Blanchard's self-published booklet, Glove Knitting (see http://home.earthlink.net/~nanetteblanchard/id13.html), is really good and has a lot more tips for tricky issues like this, and glove fitting generally.

Eeep! No help here, my brain is pregnancy and stomach bug befuddled!

Ouch! I can't seem to wrap my (also meds-addled) brain around the math either. Looks like you've gotten some good input already. I will support the Knucks pattern from Knitty. I've done two pairs of those with good results AND I'd knit them again if I needed fingerless gloves.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do. My DH loves his and keeps them in his office where it is usually a bit cold. Now that I think about it, I should probably do up a pair for my mom.

When you do the increases, there are 4 stitches between the markers which are increased until there are 18. So that's an increase of 14. So you are adding 14 stitches on to the 56, which makes 70 in total.

Ok so next, you slip 18 stitches of those 70 onto waste yarn (leaving you with 52 not on waste yarn). You then cast an extra 4 on. That makes 56. So I think the pattern is right.

But I don't know about the fingers! I've never actually made gloves myself. But HTH a little wrt the stitch counts etc.

I equally confused and have decided that the gloves I thought I might knit are probably best saved for when I'm a bit more compus mentis. Sorry to hear you are still unwell - sending you more healing vibes.

"18 between marker + 2 markers+ 52 =72 sts total"

I think that's where you went off the track. When you started it should have been 56 stitches in total, two purl markers and four stitches between them (inc in next st I'm assuming is knit front and back rather than a bar increase so it uses a stitch)

"P1, inc. in next st., k2, inc. in next st., P1"

That means that you don't have 52 stitches on the other side of the markers but 50. That's the two stitch difference between the 58 you had and the 56 the pattern thought you should have had.

I think you should be slipping 40 stitches on to waste yarn, if you add up all the stitches you should be picking up on the palm and the back of the hand for the remaining fingers it comes to 40 (7+8, 6+7, 12). Rather conveniently 40 plus the 8 and 8 for the first finger comes to the 56 you should have.

You're on your own for the picking up - I left long ends and sewed up the holes afterwards.

The pattern looks like a mess to me, too. I suggest either winging it or knitting the Knucks pattern from knitty.com. That said, I see on ravelry that a number of people successfully completed the gloves. Maybe they ignored the faulty stitch counts.

You're right. I also get 58 and also add up to 48.
What I'd do is this:
1) stick with 58.
You have 18sts for the thumb.
2) use the first and last 8 sts (=16) for the first finger, leaving 58-16=42 on spare thread.
3) (I'm ignoring the gusset sts, do as you will!)
Dispose of the two 'extra' stitches in the finger st counts as follows
2nd finger - use first and last 8 sts (=16) instead of patterns 8 and 7 (=15)
3rd finger - use first and last 7 sts (=14) instead of pattern's 6 and 7 (=13)
Little finger - as set - 6 + 6 = 12

Hope this is clear! BTW The Knitter's Handy book of patters seems a bit clearer and you work the little finger first, then work another half an inch (as your little finger starts lower down) on the hand part before doing the next three fingers.