Triumphs and Disasters

If you can meet with triumph and disaster,

and treat those two imposters just the same...

Rudyard Kipling

Last night I had one of those major screw-ups that have me, figuratively speaking, kicking myself and yanking out my hair. 

I was coming down to the end of a pleasing, easy knitting project--an "infinity scarf" or cowl, when I got the bright idea of adding a little flourish to it before adding the final border and casting off. 

Need I say more?

One stupid dropped stitch, made worse by a bungled attempt to rescue it, and now I've got to yank out several rows to get back on track again, a prospect made more annoying because I'm working with nubby yarn, and it's a circular project so getting it back on the needles is proving tricky. 

Rats, rats, rats!

It's cool yarn, though--more "baby pink" than my camera is picking up here, and I have a couple of skeins in light yellow as well. It's something I got on clearance a while back, Bernat's "Dippity Dots". It makes a neat effect, but it is aggravating to cast on or to rip out--the tiny pompoms get snagged up.

However, I have good things to report as well. I finished another hat that had been lying in my project basket for several months. It was completed apart from the part I hate, that of weaving in the loose ends. Oh, and I attached a pompom to the peak because I didn't like the way it looked without:

 

I will probably keep this rather than attempt to sell  it. For one thing, I'm not sure I can sell it; I'll have to dig out the pattern and see what it stipulates as to resale rights. And also, there are simply so many extraordinary knitters selling fabulous hats on Etsy that I don't know that this could actually compete with their very professional work. Still, it's a good feeling to complete a project for a change.

Okay, now for something completely different...

my latest tomfoolery. 

Years ago I had a little Christmas table-topper cloth with great kitsch little faces on it, and though I can no longer find the cloth, I remembered the designs well enough to attempt to imitate them with vintage satin ornaments, googly eyes, and glossy millinery holly leaves.

Behold!

I'm trying to get my nerve up to offer these on my MelmacParadise site. I see some very bizarre listings on Etsy; I wonder why I have to screw up my courage to launch my own offbeat proclivities? Time to buck up!! I do want to figure out a great way to photograph them, though. So far I'm finding it difficult, as there is always some glare from the shiny surfaces. 

Well, it's nearly time to wind this up. Before I do, however, I wanted to share a terrific treasury one of my items was featured in this morning.

www.etsy.com/treasury/MzQ4OTYzMjZ8MjcyNjk3MDk5Ng/the-colors-of-autumn

 

 

The curator of this beauty makes lovely, lovely delicate lingerie. Here's a link to her shop:   www.etsy.com/shop/AmericanGrace

 

Hope you have a productive and satisfying day!