So many varieties of stars!
So I've decided to make visual notes of the many motifs that are fairly common in the nordic countries beginning with the most widely seen "Selbu Star" from Norway. Richard Rutt in A History of Hand Knitting describes this motif as,
The eight pointed star (sometimes rather arbitrarily named 'the Selbu star' or miscalled a 'snowflake' in spite of the fact that a snowflake always has six points) is also called the 'Norwegian star'. Yet this motif is ancient and practically universal. It can be found in Romano-British mosaic pavements, in African textiles, in mediaeval Germany and many other times and places. It is typical of Norwegian patterns[...] ( Rutt p.183-184).
These are my observations of variations only with in Estonia mitten knitting- which is rather extensive! Just looking at the names of the places the motifs mostly appear in are those that are coastal or harbor towns. I think I would like to make a map with the motifs as a I continue to better showcase the geographical layout of the motifs.
References
Praakli, Aino, Eesti mustrid ilma laande laiali. Tallinn, Estonia: Tänapäev.
Rutt, Richard, A history of hand knitting. Loveland : Interweave Press, 2003.