Text A: an original contemporary personal account-style practice extract.

The handle of my first woven basket leaned towards one side. I noticed it as soon as I lifted the basket from the workshop table and wanted to remove the handle before anyone else examined it. Instead, the instructor suggested that I carry a few tools across the room. The basket remained steady, and the handle felt comfortable in my hand, although its uneven position was still obvious.

I took the basket home and used it to store wool rather than placing it on the shelf where I had imagined displaying it. Before making another one, I marked the centre of each side and checked the handle from several angles. I did not decide that the first basket was perfectly made. Keeping it simply allowed me to see what I had learned since weaving it.

Text B: an original contemporary personal account-style practice extract.

I began piping my sister's name across a cake without measuring the space. The first letters were broad and confident; the final three were pressed together beside the edge. I reached for a palette knife to scrape everything away, but my sister asked me to leave it. The guests could still read the message, although the crowded ending made my mistake clear.

That evening, I recorded in my recipe book exactly where the spacing had gone wrong. When I decorated another cake, I wrote the complete message on paper first and used small marks to guide the lettering. I would not describe the original writing as neat, but my note reminds me why the whole line must be planned before its first few letters are piped.