I started working on a nice piece of briar and a flaw opened up while turning the top of the bowl, so I had to decrease the size of the bowl. It's going to be a nice pipe, but it's not a Pale Ale.
So I grab another block of briar and start working. The grain is stunning - like in the way that you look at it and say "Holy Crap! Look at that!". Problem though, I didn't notice it earlier, but there's a giant flaw in the tobacco chamber. This is particularly frustrating because it is such an incredible looking pipe. The flaw will not affect the smoking qualities at all, and the pipe could well outlast my lifetime, but there it is. Nobody would buy that pipe.
Sad thing is, I'm at the point now where the stem is ready to just plug right into the stummel once it's done. I think this is the first time I've had a hand-cut stem finished before the briar had even been drawn on yet. And now I have to make a stem for my new pipe with a flaw in the tobacco chamber, that will outlive me, and is such a stunning example of my work that it would easily justify the creation of a new grading system.
