As you may have noticed, I didn't get the bear finished on Friday. Or yesterday either, if I'm honest.
The setback of the wrong joints completely put me off the whole idea. I hate making mistakes. It irritates me beyond measure. I don't mind mistakes that happen while I'm learning something new - those are a natural part of the learning process. But mistakes that happen because I wasn't concentrating, was trying to rush or simply wasn't in the right frame of mind infuriate me.
I knew it would be a little while before I could face working on the bear again.
So I spent Saturday procrastinating instead.
In a creative way of course!
I made bread: a loaf and some rolls. Our bread machine is broken so I made it by hand - more labour intensive but just as tasty. I made some oat and raisin cupcakes. I made some paneer (indian cheese) and a spinach curry to put it in. I omitted to take photos of any of these creations before eating the loaf; filling and freezing the rolls; freezing the cakes; and eating the curry!
And I made a gingerbread man. I have plenty of time to photograph him, since he is inedible.
I have plans for this little fellow, but more of that in another post.
Today I determined to overcome the annoyance and frustration and forced myself back to complete the bear. Grudgingly, I restuffed the limbs and closed the turning/stuffing holes. Feeling slightly less grumpy, I attached the limbs to the body and tightened the joints. I stuffed the body with only a few muttered comments and closed the final seam.
At this point I confess to breathing a sigh of relief and started to put the whole sorry experience behind me.
Ears, eyes and nose followed quickly after that change in attitude and, after a good brush, the little chap was ready for his photo shoot.
And here he is...
... I say "he" because they usually are, but I can't quite make up my mind.
I am sooooo glad this bear is finished and none the worse for the traumatic joint experience.
I will have to make sure I take my time and concentrate properly on the next one.
What do you do when a project goes wrong? Do you find it easy to just unpick and carry on?
Your projects always look so beautiful...it's difficult to imagine you making a mistake. When I make one in sewing....I try to take out the wrong stitches, then leave it alone for a while before I go back to it. Sort of air out my frustrations first. One of your oat and raisin cupcakes would have helped me!
ReplyDeleteI might have employed one or two of the cupcakes!
DeleteThe finished bear is lovely. I don't often make mistakes (thank goodness) because they sit in a corner for a very long time for me to do something about it. I have a bear where I need to change the joints (used joints I have never used before and probably won't use again) which probably won't take too long to do, but he has been staring at me for over a year
ReplyDeleteThat's usually the fate of my projects, when they don't go to plan - I had to work really hard to turn this round in 2 days!!
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