When boo-boos turn out cute…

After four straight days of shoveling, chopping and otherwise hacking at the snow and ice in our driveway, my hands, wrists and arms complained terribly every time I tried to do any crocheting. So what if it was the week before Christmas and Mom’s hat wasn’t done. So, what else is new? Mom getting something half-done for Christmas is pretty much routine around here.

I did finish her hat yesterday and hopefully will have pictures tomorrow. For a teaser, here’s a link to what I used to base my pattern on – Crochet Ridged Hat.

I was also trying to come up with a simple stuffed crochet heart pattern for Valentine’s Day. I figured that I could spend a couple of hours and would have a pattern that I could actually post on The Crafty Tipster. Well that was the plan anyway. My last pattern for a pinecone was really cool but I kept changing it every time I made one and never actually got around to posting anything. Hopefully, one day soon the pine cone will be unveiled.

The heart didn’t come out like I had planned. It just didn’t look right. . Yeah, I know you can see the white stuffing. It is only a prototype. I would definitely use some cheap red acrylic yarn to stuff a final piece.

My poor little heart seemed a bit too pointy to me and was definitely not something worthy of sharing with the world – at least not yet.

But, while trying to figure out where I was going wrong, I realized – hey those make cute little legs.

I love making little critters and things and thought my failed heart was turning into a cute Amigurumi something.

As you can see my little oops doesn’t have a face yet. And I’m thinking of adding a bit of hair. But overall, I think it’s kinda cute for a boo-boo. (The green yarn is there to mark the “front” side.)

I figure if it weren’t for those projects that go wrong somewhere that the world would be missing out on so many great works of art and inventions.

After all, Post-It notes are made with a failed glue and who would want a glue that doesn’t stick?

A bit of creative thinking took that failed glue and gave us Post-Its. Not that I’m comparing the genius of those little notepads we all know and love to my little crochet critter but both take a perceived failure and turn it into something useful.

So, what great cleverness has come from one of your oops projects? Care to share? Have any great stories of turning a craft failure into inspiration?

A few suggestions for further reading...