So, I was working on a pair of socks for a friend, and I finished the first one. I had Zoomboy turn them on and…
AUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Internet response was terrific and sympathetic– I’ve been given virtual chocolate, virtual kleenex, and lots of virtual hugs.
And someone on FB told me to “put it in the timeout basket until it behaves!”
Which made me think…
I have crafters and writers and quilters and knitters galore out there–we all have our own way of dealing with setbacks like this.
This first thing *I* did was cast on the next sock, figuring that I’d start from scratch and unravel the fucked up sock to fill in the toe of the second one if I needed to. Of course, I fucked up THAT sock and need to recast, but still. It was something to do, right?
When I have a newish release and I get hit with the first crappy reviews (and yes– there are ALWAYS crappy reviews for EVERY new release– even the ones that have decent scores on GR or Amazon) I always throw my energy into what I’m working on now, because that work I can do something with, and the other one has been set loose into the world already and can either make friends or enemies but it cannot be changed.
So I’ve got my ways of dealing with screwups and disappointments in the things that I create.
What do yOU do? Do you have a timeout basket? (Brilliant idea!) Do you jump on the frog-wagon like it was an olympic sport? Do you cast on a totally new project RIGHT NOW because the old one is dead to you? I’m just curious– how do we deal with the agony of defeat?
Hmm, it depends on my general mood at the time. But I either curl up in a ball of defeat and read the most emotionally painful story I can, or I scream bloody murder and immediately begin fixing what was broken (if a yarn project) or if it can't be fixed I go about making a new one which IS correct.
And I do my best to avoid looking at reviews at all. My heart is not up for it.
Oh, Amy! How awful!
I do have a timeout basket, a literal one for knits, (though, let's be honest "frog pond" is a more apt name considering what happens to most of them) and a metaphorical one for books that are giving me trouble.
I'm very much a fix what can be fixed and leave what can't to the past kind of person. Darn the holes in my favorite stocking cap, but maybe leave that old rights-reverted first novel as an out of print.
Looking at your photo there, I'm fairly certain that can be fixed and the only thing you'll have to undo is the bind off at the cuff. I've seen worse! Have faith!