Moose Shetland Knitted Christmas Sweater: The Brown One With Moose On It

The Owl brought this one in wearing an expression.

Our Head of Knitwear runs the knitted range, and she had been quietly annoyed for some months that everything festive has to be red. She put a brown sweater on the table. Nobody said anything for a while.

Moose Shetland is chocolate brown, bone, madder red and a thin line of gold, with a full band of moose walking across the chest. It is the warmest looking thing we make, and the Owl has been insufferable about it since June.

The Owl explains the brown

Shetland knitting built its reputation on undyed wool. Sheep on those islands come in browns, greys and off-whites already, so the classic yarn sets are the animal’s own colours with one or two dyed shades thrown in for contrast. Madder red, from a plant root, was the traditional loud one. That is the palette here: bone, soil brown, madder, and a little gold.

Onto that we put moose. The elk sits inside the Norwegian chart tradition alongside the reindeer, and it is a better animal, because a reindeer at Christmas is a costume and a moose is simply an enormous animal standing there. Seven whole moose walk across the front, none of them cut off at the seam, which the Owl checked twice with a ruler.

Eighteen bands stack up the body: crosses, zigzags, a big eight-point star repeated three times, snowflakes, hearts, gold trees, and the speckled lice field between them. The red goes on the collar, cuffs and hem, so the festive part is the trim and the sweater itself gets to be a sweater.

Somebody suggested making the moose red. The Owl asked why. There was no answer. The moose stayed brown.

The Ugly Rating: 5 out of 10

A clean midpoint, which is the hardest score to get.

The Chief Festivity Officer, a capybara, gave it a 5 without lifting his sunglasses. He said it was festive enough to be allowed in and handsome enough to be a problem, then went back to his tangerine. He has scored every design in the line and has never once explained his method.

Five out of ten is the sweater that works at the office party and at the family thing on the same day without you having to go home and change. The moose do the joke. The brown does the rest.

What the rest of them made of it

We put it in front of the leadership team, because we always do, and because the Owl wanted to be told she was right.

Deer, Head of Illuminations

Counted the moose. Counted them again. Asked whether one of them could be given a red nose. Was told no. Asked whether all of them could. Was told no again. Has not raised it since, but has not stopped looking at the chest band either.

Cool Cat, Head of Morale

Called it brown. Said the word brown several times, in different tones, to see whether any of them landed. Wore it on the Friday. Was warm all evening and mentioned this to nobody.

Sitting Duck, Head of Quality Control

Sat with it on his lap for eleven minutes. Turned it over once. Put it down. Nodded. Our Head of Quality Control does not use words, and eleven minutes is on the long side, so we are reading that as enthusiasm.

Raccoon, Chief Operating Officer

Our COO pointed out that brown does not photograph as loudly as red and asked whether that was a commercial risk. The Owl said yes. The Raccoon wrote it down and approved it anyway, which is how most decisions go here.

Every form Moose Shetland comes as

Four, all knitted rather than printed, so the pattern is made of stitches and not ink.

The knitted crew, $149

The full eighteen-band chart. Real jacquard through our custom knit program, two colours per row, moose across the chest, ribbing at collar, cuffs and hem in madder red. Unisex classic fit, 3XS to 3XL, one price at every size. About two weeks on the needles, because it does not exist until you order it.

The knitted vest, $119

The same chart with the sleeves taken off and a V-neck put on. Buy this one if you run hot, if you want the pattern over a shirt, or if you have ever quietly opened a window at a party.

The knitted pet sweater, $75

Same pattern, same yarns, resized for a dog, with the moose band running across the back where people will see it. The smallest sizes fit a cat, in the narrow sense that they physically fit a cat. What happens after that is between you and the cat.

The you-and-your-dog matching set, $199

One for you, one for the dog, $199 together against $224 apart. Two creatures in matching brown Shetland knitwear is roughly four times funnier than one, and the dog has no idea, which is the entire joke.

Wearing brown without disappearing into the furniture

Dark denim, black boots, and nothing else patterned. Brown knitwear goes wrong in exactly one way, which is being worn with more brown, at which point you stop reading as a person and start reading as an armchair. One strong colour underneath, or none at all.

It runs true to size, unisex classic. Between sizes, or if you want the slouchy look, go up one. The sizing and fit guide has the detail.

One thing that matters more than styling: this is a real knitted garment, not a printed sweatshirt. It will still look correct in January, in February, and in five years. Several of ours get bought in December and worn until March, which the Owl counts as a personal victory and mentions often.

When can you get it?

Every knit is made to order and ships standard only, so the Christmas deadline lands earlier than people expect.

Order by November 15 for delivery before Christmas, worldwide. That is the hard date on every knitted form: the crew, the vest, the pet sweater and the matching sets. There is no express option on knitwear, because the two weeks on the needles happens before anything ships and no carrier can win that time back.

After November 15 the knits stay orderable, they simply arrive after Christmas Day. If you are reading this in December and something has to be under a tree, the all-over-print sweatshirts and badge tees run until December 11 in the USA. Every date sits on the shipping and cut-off page.

FAQ

What is a Shetland fair-isle sweater?

A banded knitting tradition from the Shetland Islands, built on undyed sheep colours (browns, greys, bone) with one or two dyed shades for contrast, worked two colours to a row in horizontal bands. Ours follows that grammar and adds a band of moose.

Is Moose Shetland knitted or printed?

Knitted. Real jacquard through our custom knit program, two colours per row, made after you order it. Hold it to the light and you see stitches, not pixels. That is why it takes about two weeks and why November 15 exists.

How ugly is it, really?

5 out of 10 on our Ugly Rating, scored by the Chief Festivity Officer. Festive enough to satisfy the invitation, handsome enough that somebody will ask where you got it.

Does the dog version match the human one exactly?

Yes. Same pattern, same yarns, resized rather than reinterpreted, moose band included. The $199 matching set is the cheaper way to buy both.

Does the price change by size?

Never. One flat price per form across the whole range, 3XS to 3XL. We do not charge more for a bigger sweater, on the grounds that doing so is rude.

When is the last day to order Moose Shetland for Christmas?

November 15, worldwide, on every knitted form. Printed items run later, to December 11 in the USA.

The Festive Folks’ Verdict

Buy Moose Shetland if you want the warmest looking sweater in the room and you have quietly had enough of red. The moose carry the humour, the Shetland browns carry everything else, and the Duck spent eleven minutes with it, which around here counts as a standing ovation.

The Owl would like the record to show that she was right about the brown.

Keep browsing

• Setesdal, the Norwegian lusekofte
• Icelandic Yoke, the calm one
• Matching sets for you, the family and the dog

Or head straight to the full shop: every design, every form, one place.