Take trivets, for example. Linda Permann's Crochet Adorned (details in my right sidebar) has a nifty little chapter on "Vintage Kitchen Trivets," and I decided to give them a go as first project. I started with the pattern for the "Round Trivet", which went well except that my first round unexpectedly came out rather hexagonal, as did the next two "round" trivets that followed.
So instead of finishing the trivets according to the pattern, I tried a slightly different approach. Browsing through the book, the trim for the "Scalloped Spring Jacket" caught my eye, and I added it as edging to my trivets. Now I had some nice lacy hexagons, but they were still seemed to be missing something. Fortunately, with a great book about crochet adornments open before me, there was no lack of ideas!
I made three "Buttercup" flowers, and planted them on my trivets.
In the end, I rather like the wandering, organic way that my round trivets grew into hexagonal ones, with buttercups on top! Do you have projects that take interesting and unexpected turns along the way, and evolve into something a little different from what you were expecting?
