Sock it to them!

When I was away recently visiting my dad who is in his 90's I took it upon myself to change his bedding. Underneath his pillow I found various hankies, a very heavy torch, a map, some fisherman friends and a pen knife! All very useful stuff (though quite why you might need half of them beats me), for a man sleeping alone. However, nestled in amongst this 'manly' collection, was, what I later discovered was Mr Button. Mr Button was a sock creature. Pale blue with arms & legs and 2 huge button eyes. On further enquiry I discovered Mr Button had been made by my nephew Hamish, now 10, when my mum had died almost 3 years ago, to keep Granddad company. What touched me was that not only was this a lovely gesture but one that had obviously been really appreciated. Dad is not the soppy kind, he will cope admirably with whatever life throws at him, which can actually make it difficult to 'touch' him and where my sister and I may have struggled to let dad know we are concerned for him, Mr Button had indeed hit the button.

So, that got me thinking about sock creatures and wondering what there was in the way of books out there for ideas. I can tell you there are quite a few, of varying degrees of interest and enthusiasm. The one that struck a cord with me was this one

The main draw for me was the opening paragraph which reads: Forgive me if I stare at your ankles. forgive me if I hand you a business card and ask you to give me your socks'. Author and avid sock creature creator John Murphy has not only a talent for turning socks into amazing creatures, but also a very warm style of writing. With clear instructions and useful tips throughout he makes you want to go and pluck some socks off the washing line and start straight away.