Sulaire is the Gaelic for solan goose or gannet. The Sulaire pattern was inspired by these graceful birds, which are resident in the Outer Hebrides. The stacks of St Kilda in particular are home to a vast colony of them, and when you sail around Boreray you are in the midst of a constant swirl of gannets, both overhead and all over the surrounding cliffs. Watching their sharp, dynamic shapes as they dive with spectacular speed and precision was the impetus for creating both the openwork bird motif and the arrangement of the pattern, which reveals solid bird-like shapes flying in the opposite direction.