While the Selbu knitting is most known for black pattern on white base, a lot of other colors have been used throughout the years, both for the patterns and the base. Synthetic dyes became a part of the trade early on, and the registered material show that these were used as early as the second half of the 19th century. Especially common was the use of red and blue colors.
The first synthetic textile dye was purple/violet, which was invented in 1856 by Englishman William Henry Perkin. The color was later named «mauve». Around 1870 the chemical aniline dyes had their breakthrough, and the increasingly rich coloring spectra was quickly picked up by the textile industry and the by local dye works around the country.
The earliest colors were industrially manufactured from coal tar in Germany. The aniline dyes were soon sold over the counter in fitting portion bags, Thus they also became publicly available for private use. Red dye was manufactured using cochineal and dyer's madder. For blue, which was an expensive dye, among others indigo was used. This blue dye was synthetically manufactured around 1900.
Several of the early dyes however had poor durability. They were not colorfast, and faded quickly. The Mauve dye faded and became grey.
The wedding mittens in the picture, from 1886, were knitted in red and violet. The violet color on the outside has faded to a silvery grey, but the purl shows that the color was originally a clear, strong violet.
Towards the end of the 19th century there was a tradition of making red mittens for festive and formal occasions. Among the registered garments there are several mittens and gloves from late 19th century that have retained their strong, red color. The mittens were mainly colored red after they were pattern knitted in white/uncolored and black.
Whether the red festive mittens in Selbu were dyed at home, or they were submitted for dyeing at one of the two dye works in the parish, is unknown. The sources don't tell whether the dye works dyed yarn on order, or for sale.
There were two dye works in Selbu that did block dyeing on textile.
Peder Haldorsen (1848–1939) – the Baknes dyer – resided at the stead Baknesset.
Jon Jonsen Fargarn (1836–1917) hailed from Fargargarden(the dyeing farm) Stor-Evja. Originally the farm was named Nigarden, but it was called the dyeing farm due to its long tradition of dyeing. In 1867 the dyer took over the stead Hårstadråen (Råa) in Mebonden, that was called At the Dyer's. Dyer Jon Jonsen ran the dye work in collaboration with his wife Sofie Jonsdatter.
The baptism mittens in the research material, from the latter parts of the 19th century, were knitted in different colors. The majority was knitted using two colors, but in the knitting exhibition from Selbu Village Museum there's a pair of baptism mittens from 1899 that is knitted in red and violet with turquoise details. The oldest registered pair of colored mittens in Selbu is privately owned and was made in 1859. It's a pair of baptism mittens that are pattern knitted in red and blue.
Traditional Selbu mittens are, as mentioned knitted in black and white, with black pattern on a white base. The first written source that discusses other colors than black and white in the Selbu knitting, is an article from 1925 from Peder Morset. He wrote:
«In the beginning the yarn was uncolored white and black or grey. But then they got to know of a kind of brownish red color that was called persiko(peach). This color became trendy, and for a while they colored all two thread yarn with persiko. Persiko soon became passé, and it has since become an established demand that all yarn should be uncolored».
Other sources tells us that the colors made their real entry into the Selbu knitting in the 1930s. Smaller garments like mittens, gloves, and stockings, were knitted in various colors, preferably the national suits of red, white and blue.
In the price charts for Selbu garments from Selbu handicraft center for producers and wholesalers from 1959 to 1964 it can be seen that the two colored products mainly had white, grey, black, or blue base with respectively black, red or white patterns.
In the tricolored products the colors used, were generally red, white, and blue, both for base and patterns.
Mauve/common mallow/Malva Sylvestris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauve
Mauveine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauveine
William Henry Perkin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland
