Wean - I know exactly what you mean!  The first piece of flat pack furniture DH and I ever assembled was a very iffy diagram which had no actual text and it was only after a great deal of in-depth discussion we worked out the bookcase should be assembled upside down!

It's one of the things that depresses me about Jocasta Innes.  She happily tells you to paint flowers or designs, and I haven't a chance of managing that.  I could fail finger painting.

To be honest, I've not done too bad with written instructions.  I have taught myself a lot from books - how to knit a cable, most of my cooking skills were acquired from books despite my mother's claims, all the acres of cross stitch and the hand sewn curtains (scared of sewing machine).  When I watch the Great British Sewing Bee I know about a lot of the techniques in theory.  I've read stuff, or seen stuff and it has stuck.  I used to be much better at just having a go.

Today I have made a very, very, very, very small dent in the textile mountain.  You know those huge kit bags that a small child could comfortably lie in, the comparable one on ebay is described as holding 200 litres.  I have already half filled it with DH's office shirts, and I have many more to go.  I did look for a picture of a Sports Bag on Wiki Commons but a picture of Paris Hilton came up, so I am putting up a pretty picture instead.

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Jcbutler and in the public domain

Christine - thank you for your comment.  I am really glad that the cake worked, I've been pleased with the results - it was a lucky find!

For anyone wanting a smile, here's my favourite Morecambe and Wise sketch on YouTube with Mr Andre Previn.