Roses of Success

I just had to pull the third blue row out of the baby afghan for the second time in twelve hours.

This is the kind of thing that tends to make me crazy with frustration, second guessing and self-loathing.

Not to mention project loathing.

To make matters worse I spilled the left over peas while clearing the table tonight and made a mess all over the table, the side of the table cloth, my pant leg and foot, the floor and the chair leg. Who knew pea juice could be so sticky!

My MIL had to come in and clean it up as I'd have likely made a bigger mess of it. Plus I was hopping on one foot trying to clean the other with a paper towel so as not to track it. She's going to have to mop the entire kitchen floor again.

I had to get a shower and put on clean clothes in order to protect the bedding and the afghan as I continued working. I blithely finished the blue row which I'd left off at the call to dinner with about twenty to thirty stitches left or two to three inches. Out of 300 stitches or 36 inches.

Then I inspected the row looking for egregious mistakes. The kind that mess up the pattern or stymie the stitches on the next row. Again I'd made it almost to the far end of the row before finding the error. I'd already heaved that big sigh of relief and almost begun to reach for the scissors to clip the white thread of the row below so I could bring it around to start the next row.

The mistake was very similar to the one I made this morning before I slept--I'd skipped a stitch (which meant nothing to attach the stitch in the next row to once I'd worked it back that far) and had 'fixed' the hitch in the pattern by repeating a double crochet instead of alternating with the triple as required. This morning I'd made the mistake in stitches three thru six. This evening it was stitches fourteen thru seventeen.

Like I said. This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy.

But last night Ed and I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Banb together and the song about roses growing in the ashes of failure spoke to me and later I'd hunted for it on YouTube so I had it handy to refresh my spirit.

And I'm reminded to be grateful that I found the error before I put in the next row. Because I would have found it when I reached that point and then had to take out two rows!!

Like I did twice with the first green row first with white row below it and then with the white row above it. That experience prompted me to inspect each row before starting the next. That takes about three minutes but saves me up to 70 minutes if a mistake is found. For though I have to take out the current row back to the mistake I don't have to take out the portion of the row above that was worked back to the mistake.

The theme of the song, Roses of Success, is that mistakes always teach you something you can build on for the next try. This time I think the lesson is that I need to inspect the current row any time I'm interrupted enough to put the work down. Because I do believe both mistakes in the blue row today occurred as I resumed work after such an interruption.

Roses of Success Lyrics:

Every bursted bubble has a glory!
Each abysmal failure makes a point!
Every glowing path that goes astray,
Shows you how to find a better way.
So every time you stumble never grumble.
Next time you'll bumble even less!
For up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses of success!
Oh yes!
Grow the roses!
Those rosy roses!
From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!
(spoken) Yes I know but he wants it to float.
It will!
For every big mistake you make be grateful!
Hear, hear!
That mistake you'll never make again!
No sir!
Every shiny dream that fades and dies,
Generates the steam for two more tries!
(Oh) There's magic in the wake of a fiasco!
Correct!
It gives you that chance to second guess!
Oh yes!
Then up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses of success!
Grow the roses!
Those rosy roses!
From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!
Disaster didn't stymie Louis Pasteur!
No sir!
Edison took years to see the light!
Right!
Alexander Graham knew failure well; he took a lot of knocks to ring that
bell!
So when it gets distressing it's a blessing!
Onward and upward you must press!
Yes, Yes!
Till up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success.
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses of success!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Those rosy roses
Those rosy roses
Those rosy roses
From the ashes of disaster, grow the roses of success!
Start the engines!
Success!
Batten the hatches!
Success!
Man the shrouds!
Lift the anchor!
Success!