This is Cole. Funnily enough, I have the exact same photo of my first child – the post bath cuddle shot – and I’m not sure which is more winsome. It’s a lovely shot, but it only shows one side of this dog. No, Cole is something of a quicksilver being, I think. He has a most expressive, I was going to say face, but really, he has a most expressive all of him. He is one of those dogs who should never play poker, not for money, anyway. I mean, look at this. I think it’s pretty clear what he’s thinking:

“I’m ready.”

Or this:

 

“Hey, did that guy just do what I think he did?”

Or this:

“Really? I’m wearing a tie now?”

I did love the tie, but thought I might be giggling too much to stitch straight. So I plumped for this more stately beauty shot, and although for the longest time I thought he was wearing a Santa hat, that was just a happy accident (it was a Christmas order, after all).

It’s not the clearest photo, a black dog, face on to the camera, in dull light – but still, there was something to this photo, that stood out. The cocked ear, perhaps, and the ever so slight tilt to the head that seemed to suggest an endlessly inquisitive soul, and a lively mind. A merry old soul, indeed.

And off I set:

The photos that present the most problems, seem often to run more smoothly. I suppose I have to concentrate like mad, and don’t have time to wonder or panic. Cole was one those, just a dream picture from start to finish. I would have happily stopped at any point and framed him for my wall. Awh.

In go the eyes, by hand this time, because it felt quite make or break with Cole:

Just a few stitches, make all the difference.

And here he is, all done: