Sew Dance

Now, my goals from next year. Find a full-time job. Improve my stamina. Finish 2 cross-stitch projects and 2 pages of a GK/HAED. And the results. Almost? Yeah. Didn't happen. Will this year just from not being able to sit all day, hopefully. Finished 10 cross stitch pieces and 29 ornaments for a total of 39, 16 crochet projects, 4 other craft projects, and 4 pages of In the Garden (not a GK/HAED but I'll take it). I think I counted correctly. Maybe I should set my goals a little higher? Completed 2/3 although managed to go way beyond number 3. Goals for 2016. Turn yarn/fabric stash into finished projects. I figure I should cut down my stash in my closet. Yarn/fabric is bulkier and heavier than my cross stitch so I may concentrate on those. Get back to dancing. Which should help improve my unmet goal (2) from last year. I will get back to insanity. But the height of my bed plus my new lamp hasn't made working on GK's easy to use the magnifying glass...

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I didn't get any new stash for Christmas. But I did get money with the instructions to spend it on 'string'. Close enough. Plus my birthday is coming up. The last of the ornaments for this year.  I've been working on this one since July during downtime at work.  Just finished this one today. And I got him for Christmas. I love Garfield.   Also discovered a Tilton Crafts. Now I have another wishlist...

I apparently got a lot done. Some pieces from scratch, others were partially completed. Finn and Violet are complete. Peppermint manta was put together. I had spent some time prior to this week doing all the sequins. I may get around to the snowman.  I put these ornaments in the frames. And the reindeer was completed as well after working on it on and off.

Well, today in New York it was almost 70 degrees in the middle of December. Very strange. I didn't get much crafting done. An interview (didn't get the job), and putting up the tree, along with facebook being a distraction, made for very little done this week. But I can show you something I finished last week.  Isn't it cute? Next owl is almost done. And speaking of the tree, look who I found under it. Why? Oh, forgot last week (almost forgot this week too) I won threads from a contest tiffstitch held. Aren't they pretty?

Snowman afghan is finished. And so is Kiwi the owl ornament. Also made a cute Christmas present today that I will post a photo of at a later date.

I hit 50k today. So hip hip hooray for me. I should probably go back and edit some of my earlier ones and see if I can get published. Onto crafting! Almost finished this ornament. Just have a few stitches and then the beading Also scrapped the turkey afghan as I wasn't going to get it done before Thanksgiving and went onto one a bit more wintery. One or two more pieces to actually create then everything gets sewn together. And I bought some more stash. Although compared to last year, I was really, really good. I stuck to the clearance page at abcstitch. And I ordered threads for my Ink Circles design from 123stitch and this chart.

And we say goodbye to Season 21 tonight. Cute opening. Chaka. Probably a good idea to stick to singing. Kim. Hoppy and no hips. She quotient have lasted much longer than the week she had to withdraw. I wish they would do more pro numbers like that throughout the season. Silly Tom. Paula. And she still can't dance samba. Carlos. Magic Mike the Christmas edition. Mmm good looking shirtless men. Nick. His butt wasn't sticking out!  Victor. Still bad. Andy. Does decently when he doesn't have to do ballroom. Alek. He'd do well in the theater arts category. Lots of lifts. I love outtakes. Gary. Still has no idea what he's supposed to be doing. Hayes. Very short and it seemed to be a sticky floor. Alexa. One of the odd dances mark choreographed. Strange little 'night before Christmas' Bindi. Still pretty. Andy and Chaka. Their voices don't blend well. And the fusion dances Nick. Sals...

Round 1: judges pick Carlos. Interesting song choice. But I saw foxtrot. Slightly pigeon toed once or twice. I'll give him the scores. Alek. The song's a Viennese waltz not a rumba. No hips. She danced around him a lot. He was a bit stiff. Too high for me. Nick. Kicks and flicks were good. A few other places looked a little sloppy. Overall I really liked it. I agree with the scores. Bindi. That was very long Quickstep. I agree with the scores. Round 2: freestyle Carlos. It was interesting. But I saw some steps from the latest group/line dances. Alek. Eh. Didn't do much for me. Too high for me. Bindi. I did get chills at the end but it didn't affect me like the last dance she dedicated to her father. I'll give her the scores. Nick. I liked it. I agree with the scores. And Carlos leaves. Based on dance ability it should have been Alek.

Between job hunting, NaNoWriMo, and two days of work this week, I haven't had much time to craft. I did however finish my friend's afghan. No more blue squares. Also started a Thanksgiving afghan, but I made the center circle too tight causing the rest of the square to be an inch too small and very wonky. In other news we had a very interesting bird in the side yard. I'm pretty sure it's a woodpecker.

I liked that opening Bindi. Interesting. The song felt more samba than salsa. I saw some bouncing and not enough hips. I liked her dress. A little high for me. Alek. He didn't do much and it felt more like a Viennese waltz. Too high. Carlos. I liked it. It wasn't all lifts and tricks. But at the same time the dancing seemed simple. Too high. Nick. I think they got out of time at the beginning. Still needs to tuck his butt under him. I agree with the scores. Yes! A full size pro routine! Dance off time Alek vs Carlos. Carlos did better but neither had much actual cha cha. Bindi vs nick. Both were good. Nick had fewer tricks. Trio round. Bindi. That was cool. I agree with the scores. Alek. That song is a swing, not a tango. They danced around him a lot. His positioning looked a bit odd at times. Too high for me. Carlos. Not much partnering. Interesting tricks. For some reason the tails didn't belong on that suit. I don'...

Apparently last week I forgot to mention I was doing NaNoWriMo again. I hit the halfway mark on my word count. I'm trying to stall before my last major arc I had planned because as usual, my outline is too skimpy to write 50k. Onwards to my crafts. I made a holiday appropriate stuffed animal. An itty bitty kitty cross stitch (which came with the frame) And I'm in the process of sewing the squares together for my friend's afghan. Also gave in to a sale at Herrschners. I will try to be good until Black Friday/Cyber Monday. And that will hopefully be the last purchase for a very long time. I've probably gone S.A.B.L.E. Speaking of NaNoWriMo, would anyone be interested in reading something I wrote during one of these?

Only 2 weeks left. Alek. Not a lot of hips. His movement wasn't very fluid. Good with the tricks. I saw pigeon toes and  lots of standing in one place. You high for me. Alexa. A bit dark. There was a similar piece a long time ago in SYTYCD. Towards the end she was looking a bit lay abs mark pushed her through. I can see where the judges are coming from, but a little too high for me. Carlos. Odd song choice. It was distracting. I don't feel he got the proper character and there was something missing. Too high for me Bindi. I liked it. It wasn't a crazy choreography. And she danced it well. I agree with the scores. Tamar. It felt a bit one level. But it was a dress rehearsal. I agree with the scores. Nick. Loved it. I want her dress, I love the song. Too low. Showstopper team up challenge Alek and Carlos. They had more fierceness when they weren't dancing with the girls. I guess I'll give them the scores. Bindi and Alexa...

I finished making the squares! I still have a lot of ends to tuck in. I currently have a nice big pile of orts with maybe 1/3 left to go. Also started this little guy. Almost done with his tail.

Welcome to icon night. Carlos. Not bad. I think I saw some heel leads at the beginning and they clearly missed a few connections. There were hips. Val helping out was funny. I agree with the scores. Alek. It was pretty. But he didn't do much except lifting Lindsay. She danced around him for the most part. Too high for me. Andy. It could've been more fluid. He messed up his feet a bit. A bit too high for me. Alexa. The theme wasn't an Argentine tango. The song didn't convey it either. She did mess up her footwork. Too much spinning in the choreography near the end. Too high for me. Nick. Pretty, he actually danced. The spins looked awkward a bit but I'll blame bare feet slightly. I'll give him the scores. Cute reveal. Bindi. I could've done without the 'extra' choreography. Not enough foxtrot. Typo high for me. Tamar. It lacked a bit of aggressiveness I'm used to. At times I felt she was on the verge of messing ...

Well, it's done. And I continued working on my friend's afghan. Almost done making the squares. I really hate blue squares right now.

Month: October Spent: 34.27 Earned: 47 Ha! I earned more than I spent this month. At least on cross-stitch/needlework. My finishes for the month. I finished the tree right before I created this entry. And now for my stash... From Herrschners, which recently changed it's website and photo locations... Also, Annie's had a sale. I keep meaning to get into quilting and buy things, but nothing's been made so far. And the downloaded patterns. But I was good and didn't purchase anything on 'I love yarn day'.