Selbu Bird Knitted Christmas Sweater: Black, White, Red and a Row of Birds

There are ten small birds on the front of this sweater and the Owl will tell you about all of them.

Our Head of Knitwear has a soft spot for the Selbu tradition, and a harder spot for anyone who calls the birds decorative. They are a chart, she says. They have been a chart since the 1850s.

Selbu Bird is black, bone, red and grey, with the big Norwegian eight-point star across the shoulders and a band of little folk birds walking across the chest. It is the sharpest looking knit we make, and it is the one people photograph.

The Owl explains the birds

Selbu is a village in Norway. In the 1850s a girl there knitted a pair of mittens with an eight-point star on them, the pattern spread through the parish, and within a generation the whole district was knitting for export. The star got called the selburose and ended up on Norwegian national dress. The village invented a motif and then quietly took over an industry with it.

The bird, the fugl, sits in the same chart books as the star: a diamond body, a fan of rays for a tail, a single ground stitch left blank for the eye. Small, blunt, and unmistakably a bird. Ours run ten across the chest, all whole, none clipped by a seam.

Seventeen bands, black ground, bone patterning, red where the eye needs somewhere to land, grey doing the quiet work between them. The star gets stated three times at full scale near the shoulders and then echoed small further down, which is how the tradition handles a hero motif.

The Owl was asked whether the birds could be bigger. She said the birds are the size the birds are.

The Ugly Rating: 4 out of 10

Low, and knowingly so.

The Chief Festivity Officer, a capybara, scored it a 4 and added that this is the one to wear if you want to be the best dressed person at a party that is trying hard to look bad. He then declined to elaborate and has not mentioned it since.

Because black and white with a hard red line is not festive tat, it is graphic. The birds keep it from getting solemn. You will be the only person in the room whose sweater has a documented village of origin, and nobody will know what to do with that.

What the rest of them made of it

Shown to the leadership team on a Tuesday. The Owl stood at the end of the table with her arms folded for the whole thing.

Sitting Duck, Head of Quality Control

Looked at the bird band. Looked at the star. Looked at the bird band again. Said nothing, which from our Head of Quality Control is the sign-off. He then sat with it for another four minutes for reasons nobody established.

Cool Cat, Head of Morale

Objected that the palette is what you would wear to a serious meeting. Wore it out that night regardless. Was complimented twice before the first drink and has since stopped objecting, though not out loud.

Bull, Head of Careful Handling

Approved it on the single ground that black hides everything, which remains the only opinion our Head of Careful Handling has ever offered about clothing, and remains correct.

Capybara, Chief Festivity Officer

Wore it over the sunglasses, obviously. Said the birds were doing more work than the star. The Owl disagreed. Neither of them moved, and the meeting ended without a resolution.

Every form Selbu Bird comes as

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

The knitted crew, $149

The full seventeen-band chart, black ground, ten birds across the chest, the selburose stated three times at the shoulders. Real jacquard through our custom knit program, two colours per row, red ribbing at collar, cuffs and hem. Unisex classic fit, 3XS to 3XL, one price at every size. About two weeks on the needles.

The knitted vest, $119

Same chart, sleeves removed, V-neck added. The bird band lands right where a shirt collar does not cover it. This is the form the Owl keeps for herself, and she has never given a reason.

The knitted pet sweater, $75

Same pattern, same yarns, resized for a dog, birds included. The smaller sizes fit a cat. Whether the cat participates is a separate question and we have never claimed to have an answer.

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

One for you, one for the dog, $199 together against $224 apart. Black and white on a person is smart. Black and white on a person and their dog at the same time stops being smart immediately, which is the point.

Wearing it at a party that is not really a party

Black trousers, plain boots, no second pattern anywhere. Selbu Bird already carries the graphic load, and the usual failure is adding another traditional thing next to it, at which point the outfit stops being an outfit and becomes an exhibit.

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

This is a real knitted garment rather than a printed sweatshirt, so it survives the season. Black fair-isle reads as clothing in February in a way that a light-up snowman never will.

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 Selbu sweater?

Knitwear in the Selbu tradition from the Norwegian village of the same name, built around the eight-point selburose star that spread from a pair of mittens knitted there in the 1850s. The bird, the fugl, comes from the same chart books.

Is Selbu Bird the same as Selbu Stars?

Same tradition, same black, bone and red palette, different chart. Selbu Stars is pure geometry, two hero stars and their echoes. Selbu Bird gives a full band over to the birds. Buy whichever one you looked at longer.

Is it knitted or printed?

Knitted. Real jacquard through our custom knit program, two colours per row, made after you order it. That is why it takes about two weeks and why the November 15 date exists.

Does the dog version match the human one exactly?

Yes. Same pattern, same yarns, resized rather than reinterpreted. 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.

When is the last day to order Selbu Bird for Christmas?

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

The Festive Folks’ Verdict

Buy Selbu Bird if you want the sharpest looking thing at the party and you are comfortable being asked about it. Ten birds, one star, a hundred and seventy years of Norwegian chart-keeping, and a red collar so the room knows it is December.

The Owl considers the matter closed. The Capybara does not, but he has stopped bringing it up.

Keep browsing

• Selbu Stars, the pure geometry version
• Setesdal, the Norwegian lusekofte
• Couples sets, two crews and one pattern

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