HAPPY FEET

The weather here in the UK has been quite cold over the weekend. No snow, I'm sorry to say, but definitely a bit on the chilly side! Thank goodness for woolly socks, I say. There is nothing quite like the like the toasty feel of toes wrapped in woolly wonderousness. Nothing like looking down to see happy, colourful feet either for that matter. Thought I'd give you a sneaky look at the gorgeous yummy goodnesses that embraced my feet this last week. Here they all are hanging around, hoping to dry, after a very gentle 30 degrees wool wash, using handwash liquid and a little fabric softener. Not that they need softening, of course!

The bright orange pair at the top of the shot belong to the younger Miss Snoops. They were a gift from Josiekitten. At present they are working hard at keeping her toes toasty whilst she is at home revising for her LPC law exams in a couple of weeks time. They are an adventurous little pair of socks, having been on several United Nations missions around the world, spent time living with their keeper in Bratislava and braved the ski slopes of the Alps. They are of on their winter hols in three weeks time for another week of skiing in Courchevel. See, they get around!

I've been busy trying to get a move on with Sophie's little bolero for the wedding. I now just have the last sleeve to complete and the tricky job of sorting out the border. You have to be very careful when picking up all the stitiches, to make sure that they are very evenly spaced, otherwise you end up with a border that refuses to lie flat.

I've also cast on a stole for myself. You may remember I told you last week that I thought a stole to cover my shoulders during the evening of the wedding wouled be a good idea. It will also act as a lovely memory object.

The yarn is 'Old Maiden Aunt' hand-dyed laceweight, in a 50% alpacca 50% merino mix. It is so beautifully soft and lightweight; just perfect for the project. I think the grey is rather more blue that the phot shows. I'm making Anne Hanson's Nightingale Wing . It's a beautiful pattern that I have had my eye on for a while. The only problem will be getting it finished on time. Each row is a pattern row, so there are no purl coasters on this one! The pattern is a twenty-four row repeat that requires repeating twenty-seven times. So, as there are sixty-two days until the end of March, I really have to keep up a knitting regime of twelve rows a day. Hmm! We'll give it a go anyway. Here it is so far....

I thought I'd leave you with a couple of Oscar pics this evening. He just adores carrying his soft toys around the house, throwing them in the air and charging full pelt back and forth through the house or around the garden with them.

 Well, these two pheasants have been out of action for a couple of months due to war wounds that I had not had time to repair. Today, they got repaired! Not only did Oscar have one pheasant to play with, but a second one too. I think he thought Christmas had come again. He had an absolutely mad half an hour as he tried to carry both, run with both and throw both in the air.

By the time I had stopped laughing and grabbed my camera, he was worn out! All this after an hour and a half of running and swimming at our local water park. I think he's pretty fit! Dear Oscar!

Well that's about it for tonight. Mr Snoops has just gone for a run at the gym and then we are off to a quiz night at our local real ale pub. A lovely end to the weekend, as we catch up friends over a pint.