Selkie

I am a man, upon the lan, An I am a silkie in the sea; And when I’m far and far frae lan, My dwelling is in Sule Skerrie.'

Have you ever seen a seal bobbing in the water, watching you? If you have been to the north of Scotland you may have. Seals swim in the Pentland Firth, to the north of Caithness, and out to the Orkney Islands. They catch fish and lie basking on the rocks. The stories tell us that sometimes they shed their seal skins and walk on the shore on two feet as selkies! A fisherman might fall in love with the soft brown eyes of a selkie woman, hide her seal skin and make her his wife

The pattern has be greatly inspired by the Shetland haps, from the shape to the garter section, the lace and the yarn chosen. But I also wanted to add a little technique that I learned here in Latvia while attending the workshop on Latvian mittens: the Latvian braid.

The sample is shown in Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight in shades 202B, 002B and 072B. A suggested substitute is shown below.