The wife was doing one of those gorgeous needlepoint Christmas Stockings for the most recently born grand-daughter. She started last fall, about 14 months ago. She had to put it aside to finish baby quilts last winter and couldn't take it up again until about May.
As the summer began she was doing a lot of it in the evening and after a month discovered that some of the skians of yarn were from a faulty die lot and when the stocking was in the right light some areas looked white-yellow instead of a bone white.
You guessed it. She took that thing apart and reworked areas by substituting and blending, over and over again.
Finally in September we went out to search for the exact best substitute yarn...we spent hours. She finished it up by reworking it for hours late at night and sent it off for final finish crafting about five weeks ago and got it back just in time to express mail across the country on the 15th.
She probably could have put together a needle point rug in less time, LOL. I bet she put four times the hours into that stocking and despite it being great looking, she dreaded picking it up because she knew every sticth that was blended or less than perfect. Once handled, no one else could ever see any distinction. But, she can.
You needle work elves are so regressive.
Perfection does not come easy....