Failure or Growth?

 Posted by on April 9, 2013 at 11:59 am
Apr 092013
 

I want to share with you a failure of mine. I’ve blogged about failed projects before (like my resin bracelet and two different pairs of socks) and I do my best to figure out what went wrong and what went right. Here’s another:

face

I’m taking “How to Paint Faces” class over at Kat Can Paint! and this was my first time ever painting a face. The initial drawing is part of the info packet. Once I copied that (just a simple pencil transfer), I followed Kat’s 8 steps to painting skin. Well, I should have read the whole thing before starting.

Firstly, I used my widest brush to create the outlines. That was mistake number one. I should have used my liner brush instead. Secondly, I didn’t really mix my paints well enough. Thirdly, I didn’t read the instructions for painting lips. Lastly, I didn’t wait for the paint around her eyes to dry before outlining the lids and painting in her pupils. I did do something right! Her face was a little too red and I was able to lighten it. Next time, I don’t need to add so much red.

What this really boils down to is a lack of patience. And/or not keeping my hair dryer by my side to dry the paints. I’m used to being able to dive into a knit or crochet project and understand what’s going on. Painting is a new skill for me, doubly so for painting faces. When learning a new skill, I need to read all the directions (like at school!) and make sure I have all my materials with me.

So what went right? I was able to even out her skin tone by trying something different. I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to fix it without help. The really great part was that I did dive into this with both feet and I had a lot of fun painting at home. Even though I was keenly aware that I was making mistakes, I didn’t stop and just kept painting. And at the end, when I saw how wonky her eyes came out I laughed. I laughed at my mistake, I laughed at how silly she looks. I laughed at myself which makes me proud to show off this painting. I’m not ashamed of it and laughing at it has taken away any bad feelings that could have taken root.

The next time I mess up a project, I’m going to take the time to laugh at it and laugh at my newness. I’m not an expert and that’s okay!

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WIP Wednesday: Ribbit Ribbit

 Posted by on October 10, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Oct 102012
 

It’s been a while (2 months!) since I blogged about the Swallowtail Shawl. I ran into some trouble reading the third chart and loading it up into Knit Companion what I love about the program is that I can have the lace chart displayed in one “pane” while right underneath it I have the written instructions for the chart as well. What had me stumped was the way the charts were broken up into 3A, B, C, and D but the pattern said that after the center stitch is worked, the left half of the shawl is a mirror of the right half.

Instead of asking for help, I totally ignored it and did my own thing. Which resulting in not having the right stitch count and a very strange looking shawl. I think you know where this is going…yesterday I finally frogged back down to the end of chart 2. That means I frogged back about 30 odd rows. It was painful.

Swallowtail Shawl frogged back

You can’t really tell here (it’s so hard to photograph unblocked lace) but I still have to do some surgery to make it look nicer and get things back on track. I had to frog hubby’s Riff socks as well. Surprisingly, with all the undoing I’ve been forced to do I haven’t touched the bottle of Jack Daniels we have. Knitting: it’s one row forward, forty rows back. But I shall press on like a good little soldier!

For more WIPs, check out Tami’s blog.

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FO Friday: The Best of the Worst

 Posted by on August 31, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Aug 312012
 

Or should that be the worst of the worst? Anyhoo, taking a tip from Fresh Stitches, this Friday I’m going to feature some of my not so favorite FOs. And some things that never quite became FOs.

A long time ago, I tried knitting a sock from the toe up. It was the Waterfall pattern by Wendy Johnson. The problem wasn’t the pattern, it was the yarn. Apparently, it was from a bad batch because the nylon kept getting wound around the other plies and causing big slubs of nastiness. Well, you can read the full story here.

 This is the lone survivor. A sad rememberence to bad yarn and knitter inexperience.

Then in 2011, I tried knitting up a plain vanilla sock. What was wrong? Well I was mostly winging it with no real clue as to what I was doing. And I ended up with this:

A super baggy instep and an oddly pointed toe. This has since been frogged, and the yarn has been salvaged. I just can’t bring myself to knit with it just yet, though. I was so excited for these socks. Again, this mistake is a testament to not listening to your inner voice. If your inner self is saying, “Something’s not right,” LISTEN TO HER!

Finally, here’s a not sock related fail. Right at the end of chemo I decided to crochet myself a sweater. Firstly, the yarn was all wrong for me. It was Knit Picks Shine Sport weight yarn. Which has cotton in it. I don’t like the feel of cotton yarn. It felt so slippery and dried out my hands like crazy. Not good if you’re experiencing neuropathy (numbness in the extremities) like I had in my finger tips.

Not only did I not swatch, I also didn’t measure myself. Nor did I really measure what I was doing. At the very least, I should have measured a sweater to figure out what size to make the different pieces. When I finally did finish the front and back, I washed it and it grew. And grew. And grew. I remember it was a Friday night, 10pm when I finally admitted defeat. The SGT looked and said, “So, who is that for? I think it’s too big for you.”

Moral of my stories? Listen to your inner knitter when she says something’s off. Always measure and make a gauge swatch.

For more FOs, check out Tami’s blog.

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A Case of the Mondays

 Posted by on April 16, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Apr 162012
 
  • It’s fixing to rain (ooh! I’m turning Southern!) and I wish it would already.
  • My kitchen is awkwardly built so I make a mess with out meaning to.
  • I tried to bake some cookies but the batter came out all wrong.
  • The sink is now full of dirty dishes.
  • The house is a mess.
  • Upside: clothes are washing.
  • Upside: Leftover take out for dinner.
  • Upside: Seeing friends on our road trip to Stitches South this weekend.

I am putting myself in time out for two hours before tackling any more chores. Two hours of video games (Assassin’s Creed 2 for any who are interested!) will soothe me. It’s been too much of a fail filled morning to attempt any knitting. ;)

Hope everyone’s Monday is going better. And please leave a comment if you will be at Stitches South!

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FO Friday: Honey Beer Bread

 Posted by on January 6, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Jan 062012
 

It’s Friday and I get to show off my latest finished thing. This one is finished alright, but it’s more “failure” than finished. Wednesday, I found a simple recipe for Honey Beer Bread. And considering I had a ton of honey and leftover beer, I figured I’d give it a try. 40 minutes later, this came out of the oven:

You’re probably asking yourself what’s wrong. It looks delicious enough. I didn’t think anything was wrong until I cut off a piece to eat. It was still slightly raw. Not raw enough to show up when I slid the knife in it, but just raw enough to make it taste funny. I put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes but it was still a little underdone. Back in for another 5 and it’s still raw. I finally gave up and tossed it. I hate to waste food but raw is raw. Reviewing the recipe now, I see that I made another mistake. I poured the melted butter INTO the batter, not on top of the batter.

I have the most terrible luck with breads and my mom does too. Her father was her town’s baker but she never learned the trade since it was considered man’s work. And to be fair, she said she was often too busy playing to really pay attention if he did attempt to show her. So I blame her and I blame the fact that trades are learned and not genetically inherited. The baking bread did make the house smell really good so I’m going to try making this again and just letting it sit for a full hour. And following the directions correctly.

For more FOs, check out Tami’s blog.

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FO Friday: What the? I don’t even…

 Posted by on November 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Nov 042011
 

I finished my socks! That should be good news, right? Wrong! The second half of the pair is wrong, wrong, WRONG. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Failure, thy name is socks

The anatomy of a failure

I shall start from the top arrow on down. Problem area 1: I started the heel flap too soon so when I manage to squeeze my foot into the sock, it’s too short and falls much shorter on my foot than what I wanted. I need to do more rounds of ribbing to remedy this problem.

Problem area 2: The ribbing around the arch of the foot is far too narrow as compared to the first sock. I don’t think I picked up enough stitches after turning the heel because the second sock is much narrower than the first. Also, I rewrote the ribbing and now I see that there is a difference between the two.

Problem area 3: I started the toe decreases too soon. It also looks like I was knitting at a much tighter gauge than before. That strikes me as odd because I was using the same size needles and I felt like I was more relaxed knitting this time around.

Problem area 4: This toe is far too narrow and pointy compared to the other. It also doesn’t feel as comfortable on my foot.

In whole, it’s amazing that I could squeeze my large foot into this very small sock. In general, it simply doesn’t fit. Back to the drawing board, I suppose.

For better FOs, check out Tami’s blog.

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A Delicious Fail

 Posted by on July 14, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Jul 142011
 

Yesterday, I thought I’d be super nice to my husband and surprise him with a cake of sorts. We had peanut butter and squares of baking chocolate so I trolled the internet for no bake peanut butter bars or home made Reeses Cups which are his favorite.

That’s when I learned that yes, there is a difference between confectioner’s sugar and regular white sugar. The pie is delicious, but uh it’s rather gritty. *sigh* Next time, I’ll make sure to have ALL ingredients on hand. Oh well, at least it’s tasty!

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