[Tex/LaTex] Modifying labels on some enumerated items

Question

In an enumerate environment, I want a few (not all) of the items to have asterisks which appear before the number (I don't feel strongly about whether the number or the asterisk is horizontally aligned with the other numbers). Is there a less crufty way to do this than, say, using multiple lists (or — horrors — numbering manually)?

I'm already using enumitem for an unrelated purpose, if that helps, although I didn't find a solution after a quick skim of its manual.

Answer 1

How about this

\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\myitem}{\refstepcounter{enumi}\item[$*$\theenumi.]}

\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
 \myitem first 
 \item second
 \item third
 \myitem fourth
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}