Failing Gracefully

A graceful fail is what you want your software to do. For example, instead of giving me the blue screen of death, when an application on my iPad fails, it just closes and the device remains in a working condition. I've been failing recently, and I'm trying to muster the grace to do it right.

I knit a Daybreak, but amended the pattern to use someone else's handspun. It sat around waiting for a cast off for a while because I ran out of yarn. Of course. Because it's handspun and not even my own. What did I expect.

Still, I like the finished project and it hugs the shoulders very nicely. It's just not in my colors so I'll hang on to it until it tells me who it belongs too.

This week, I also finished a pair of stranded color work socks. The pattern, Bird Foot by Robyn Gallimore, is a lot of fun to work, and not so terribly difficult, but... I managed to fail.

I finished the first sock, but it was a bit small. I worked the second sock to the same number of pattern repeats as the first, then added extra rows of plain grey before starting the toe shaping. I tried them on when done and discovered that they were the same size as the first pair. My mind boggled and at this point, I had no grace. I chucked them across the room. 

The next night, I tried them both on and sure enough, the were both just a wee bit too small for about the same amount. I still can't quite figure how I did that, but then I noticed a big goof on the top of the foot. See it?

At that point, I decided it was time for some grace. I meekly darned in the ends and called them done. Now I won't look at them until next winter, because my god! the weather suddenly flipped into spring. We've been enjoying weather like we usually don't see until May. I've cast aside my Kauni wool sweater project along with my winter boots and cast on a silky, summery stole that I knit on the patio today wearing my flip flops. 

Gorgeous! And the name of the pattern is Echo Beach. How appropriate!