I don't know where the time goes to - too much of it spent on the other job and family (why are teenagers so horrible???), but I have managed to do some drawing this week. Found a wonderful book called 'Surfaces' by someone called Judy Juracek in the Oxford branch of the Embroiderers' Guild library last week. So I've been doing some drawings of the twiddly bits often found on wrought iron. Similar looking twiddly bits on some wood carvings.

Not quite sure what I'll do with them but they've filled up several pages of my sketchbook quite nicely. Keeping a sketchbook is something I've meant to do for years but didn't really start until I was doing a Machine Embroidery City and Guilds course at Urchfont Manor a couple of years ago with Val Campbell-Harding. She got me started and I've been hooked ever since. Hardly a week goes by (I'd like to say a day but have to be honest) without something being doodled in. Or a picture being torn out of a magazine, or a photo of something I like being stuck in. Very addictive, I recommend it.

I finally managed to change the needle unit on my embellisher last week. I had tried brute force but the lady in my local sewing machine shop obviously had more muscles than me and she got it out. Brilliant - I can now put in a full set instead of managing with three needles. I have also ordered the new Janome unit so that I'll be able to change needles individually in the future.