A printed book is bound by the tyranny of its physical limits. You can’t just add as many pages as you like: there’s the ‘quarter-page’ rule, which acts like bars on a window or a fence within which you’re confined. Need one more page? You have to add four. Or squeeze the existing content tighter. Here I had the problem of the quotation: that is, I wouldn’t have had any trouble including only the quotation in the original language, but I was almost certain that the Italian embroidery community would have taken to the streets with placards and organised a spectacular revolt (which, in fact, I would have loved to witness), so I resolved to include the translation as well… Which, however, takes up four pages. Well! You might say… Just the four pages you needed! There is, however, the problem of the booklet’s thickness, if you want it stapled (which I wanted for practicality and to keep costs down for everyone). So I’d called my efficient paper consultant, asking if some kind of compression magic could be worked, perhaps by reducing the paper’s thickness. Whilst awaiting the reply, I’d tempted fate and, in a sort of superstitious propitiatory ritual, had thrown myself into drawing the Italian version…