Now here's another genius invention from those ever-so-clever American johnnies that's straight out of the why-didn't-we-think-of-that file.

The Slanket takes an everyday conundrum - staying warm on the sofa when you haven't got (a) a boyfriend, (b) a girlfriend, or (c) a winter fuel allowance - and responds to the challenge with typically American aplomb... namely taking a couple of existing ideas and, to coin a phrase, hybridising them.

Think of the Slanket as a genetic cross-breed between a fleece and a blanket and you're there. Alternatively, one may think of it as Big Daddy's dressing gown. A fluffy house coat. A Jedi cape, without the hood.

The Slanket is, in short, a gigantic fleece blanket with sleeves. Pop it on and disappear inside its cuddly massiveness and be enveloped by its sheer fleeciness. Then simply pop Friends on the DVD. Open a massive bag of Maltesers. And who needs mates?

Soft to the touch, lightweight and warm, it's got large, loose sleeves so you don't actually feel you're wearing it. Which might defeat the purpose, but who are we to argue? Spiffing.