"The other (a Hidemaster's Apron) we failed a 98% chance to HQ. And worse, we had decided to not use an HQ Aethersand in the craft, of which we had several, because we thought we had plenty of starting quality -- we would have had a 100% chance at HQ if we had used one HQ Aethersand..."


I did the exact same thing! I did not use a HQ sand when I could have on the craft and it just went south on me. So far I have done all the accessories and all the off hands and half the main hands and this is the first 'failed' i.e NQ one.