Sew Dance

While working on John Clayton's dancer series, I came across some interesting fractal stitches. If they can be called that. As shown on the instruction sheet, there are full cross-stitches that are only 1x2.  They can be vertical or horizontal. I find this to be an interesting way of adding extra dimension and smoother lines. It also allows for a smaller amount of colors. Unless you're converting a photograph using software, it's hard for a designer to create the shading required for a Golden Kite, for example, type of creation. The other way I've seen is to use 1 over one in certain areas. Of course, you cannot use a blend of colors when using this technique. An interesting note with the 1x2 stitches, sometimes it ends up that a full cross-stitch ends up being offset. This can be seen with the sideburns and jawline in the face below. It's an interesting way of adding details to a piece. With a slimmer chance of driving either the designer or the stitche...

I know I try and post on Saturdays but considering where I was I decided to wait a day. Because I finished Foxtrot. And I got a new phone, the Galaxy S4 which took the lovely picture above. I had an 8 MP camera and now have a 13MP. Makes a bit of a difference. I wanted to start Dance me Out and opened the kit to find one of the thread colors missing. I'm going to check the others by this company to see if it's a fluke. Unfortunately it's anchor thread and that's not easy to find in the US.

It's the results. Everyone's back in the ballroom. And the first person going home is Aly. The three female finalists didn't really add anything to that repeat pro number. Wynonna is a much better singer than dancer. So tony gets to dance with Peta. Lisa is still being dragged through her dances and the moves she does on her own are very tentative. Dorthy is a very poetry dancer. Too bad she had rip leave so early. And Kristy was a nice addition. Andy is still as bad as before, but funny. Can Psy go away now? Very, very repetitive. And those pants. They are not attractive on anyone. I like the song, but it's better executed as a quickstep. I like Pitbull, but I happen to have heard too much from him the past few days. Instant dances: Jacoby. There is too many places where he wasn't moving. And salsa is not hard to get the steps and movement right. Looked a little funky to me. Too high but the judges are going to give everyone the same score ton...

It's the finals! And for the first time, there are four couples. The judges pick round. Jacoby. Better then the last one. But he still walked through most if it. The kicks were most of the dance and got a bit repetitive. Too high. Aly. I'm wondering where her hips were. Her legs were bent the entire time, and they faked the samba roll. They started with the arms but never moved the feet. Too high. Kellie. Pretty good, although why did it go to Viennese waltz in the middle. I'll give them the scores. Zendaya. Could have used a little more hips. It was better them Aly. There weren't too many moves that used the bounce, but that was the choreography. Interesting outfit. I'll agree with the scores. Cha cha relay. Kellie only did grapevines. I saw no cha cha in Jacoby's. Aly had some but was poorly done. Zendaya had lyres cha cha than Aly but her technique was better. I'll agree with the ranking. Freestyle round Jacoby. I felt underwhelmed by i...

I finished my afghan. Ta da! Put a listing for a custom version on my etsy site. So now that I finished this little project, I went back to my cross-stitch for 2 days and managed to finish page 2 and at least 1/4 of page 3 finished. And I finished the spring semester of my masters! Don't have all my grades in but so far so good. Summer session starts Wednesday. So five days off before two 6 week courses. Plus my summer internships. I did put two of my projects from this semester on youtube. My video editing mid-term and my after effects final.

It's the semi-finals. Where did the season go? Round 1: the normal dances Kellie. Lots of good lifts and spins but she didn't take all that many steps. Still not sure what the stand and twist your hips move is. Derek is the only one who uses it. She could have had more expression. I don't know if I would give it a perfect score, but we'll see how the rest of the night goes. Ingo. No bounce, no hips, awkward feet, stiff overall. Too high. Ally. What's with the nearly flat shoes? No hips, she continued her arms through the pause but she stood still with every other part of her body. I don't think it was that passionate. Way too high. Jacoby. He had more steps than Kellie, and thus traveled better. The lifts were better incorporated for me. I thought his butt stuck out a bit too much at times. So far this is the only dance that was worth being scored a 30. Zendaya. I think she messed up her footwork a tiny bit. She could have looked up a bit more. It w...

I didn't work on any cross-stitch this week. I was crocheting only. I got one side of the ripples done on the afghan. But because of the repetitiveness, I alternated with a doily. I had done some of this earlier during one of my long breaks at school. When I got bored with making scarves. But now for the reason for the title of this post. I've been very bad this week with acquiring stash. Let's start with some I purchased these a few weeks ago at a local store, Annie's and Co., but kept forgetting to add them to my posts. Be A Dragon by Enchanting Lair (came with the variegated thread and the charm) 28ct Cashel in Jade by Enchanting Lair (it's darker than the photo) Mermaid's Love Tokens by Praiseworthy Stitches (came with the beads, pin, and fish) I don't know what made me look at sew and so's site, but I did. And I noticed one of my wishlist items was discontinued and they only had 3 left in stock. So I caved and bought it...

Next week is the semi-finals. Eek! Zendaya. A happy foxtrot. Odd music, but it worked. Smooth and graceful. I'll agree with the scores but depending on the rest of the night they could be higher. Sean. He looked like he was thinking too much. His posture was leaning towards Peta and his butt was sticking out. I guess I'll agree with the scores. Jacoby. I felt as if he could have stood up straighter. His footwork looked a bit odd at times. Ingo. It wasn't bad, but he could've been smoother in the footwork. He stepped back instead of gliding. I guess I'll give them the scores. Kellie. Why was she in place so much at the beginning? Then when they finally start to dance, I couldn't see her feet because of the fog. It was pretty. Scores are a little high for me. Aly. Something was missing but I can't figure out what. I didn't think it wast the best of the round. Trio dances. One of the newer sections they I really like. Zendaya. Thank you for...

I nearly got her face finished. I didn't get as much done as I spent some of my stitching days working on final projects. I got yarn for a new afghan so being the "start-aholic" I am, I needed to start it. I'll probably be concentrating on my crochet this week. After I finish some more final projects. Only two more weeks of school. At least for this semester.