Picture Perfect?

Am I the only one who is dreadfully disappointed when I try a crochet pattern and the result is absolutely not as cute as the photo or drawing that came with the pattern? Not only is it often not as cute, but it often bears no resemblance whatsoever to what it should look like.

In the past, I made a bathroom tissue topper with a swan on the top and it was mistaken for a camel. Recently, I tried a bat for Halloween and it looked like a piece of black holly.

I had a fave pattern for years that was a granny square variation that made up into a mini-Christmas-stocking. A dear friend of mine tried and tried, and she said hers always came out looking like croissants. Even though it made her feel terrible, it made me feel better because then I knew I was not alone in my pattern mess-ups.

There's nothing much we can do about it. Each of us "reads" a pattern in a different way. No matter how many proofreaders or testers we have, or the designer had, the crafter will always see it their own way.

The only thing I have found to ease the pain is to always keep a pattern that I thought I could love if I could make it work. I'll often pick one up a year later, it works perfectly, and I have no idea why it didn't the last time I tried it.

Bottom line - if at first, you don't succeed, try, try again, but let it rest for a while (LOL).