How to Fix a Mistake

Apr 16, 2026
Katelyn Reilly
Newsletter

I spend much of my free time doing textile and fiber art projects. The rhythm of stitching clears my mind; the colors, textures, and visual patterns reset me. I’m aiming for beauty and balance, not perfection, which is great because I make mistakes all. The. Time. If I’m ever feeling a little bit too proud, all I have to do to humble myself is stitch for a while. I’m guaranteed to make a mistake before long, and not necessarily because I’m distracted or rushing. I could count my work and the pattern a dozen times and still be off by two stitches, thanks to what I imagine must be glitches in the time-space continuum.

As a seasoned fiber worker, after I catch a miscount or realize my yarn skein has birthed an impressive knot, I’ve developed a protocol that works 100% of the time to get myself back on track. The first step? Stare into the middle distance, squint unattractively, and think, “well—this surely can’t be happening again.”

Image

I really do have a mistake-fixing protocol and I will share it with you in future Workings. Needlework and work-work have enough in common that the protocol serves me fairly well at the office, and I’d love your help improving it. In the meantime, I will simply say these things:

  • It’s been too long between this and my last note—thanks for sticking with me. If I ever again need to put my head down and focus on other things for an extended period, I’ll tell you ahead of time.
  • I didn’t finish that book I wrote about in January, the one about trust in the workplace. I may return to it, but not until I’ve read at least a few other books about trust in the workplace written by people who’ve led teams and built businesses themselves. Suffice it to say that I believe even more than I did a few months ago in the importance of trust at work.
  • We have a “free professional headshots” event coming up in a couple weeks, on May 14th, in Kirkland, WA. Join us for a latte, chat with our recruiters, and get a fresh photo for LinkedIn! I’ll be there and I’d love to see you and yours. You can RSVP here.

Thanks, and until next time,
Katelyn

Photo by me, of my much-restitched, still mistake-ridden, and yet beloved project “Cherry Magpie” by JedXstitch)

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