If you follow me on Instagram you'll probably already be aware that I have a new obsession. Needle felting.

I booked myself onto a course at Halfpenny Home at Alder Carr Farm, in Suffolk, after seeing it advertised during a trip there on my birthday.

One week I'm sleeping under the stars in the Sahara Desert, the next I'm sat with six other women stabbing at fleece. Life is nothing if not varied.

It's super simple this needle felting lark. You grab a handful of fleece and start stabbing (trying to avoid your fingers) with a special needle that knots the fleece as you do so.

And when you learn to do this at Halfpenny Home someone brings you tea, and chocolate and cherry cake (which takes you ages to eat because you don't want to stop stabbing).

After a while the stabbing starts to make a difference and you can start to shape your object (more stabbing).

A little while later, someone asks you what you'd like for lunch and you chose butternut squash and sage soup (very seasonal) with homemade bread from the menu.

In the afternoon you have time to make another one, while someone shows you a method for wet felting (less stabbing, more shaking).

And when you get home, you can make some more (because of course you can buy fleece from Halfpenny Home at the end of the lesson).

And then you can make some more.

After that it's a good idea to set up a Pinterest board...