Sew Dance

Overall, not the greatest year I've had.  2017 goals were: Work on a GK/HAED. Finish some kits in my closet that can be displayed in my apartment. Learn to knit. Attempt to be less sedentary. And I achieved: Yup. Lots, including Insanity. Also yup, although most are not displayed. Started. Went to the gym for the later half of the year until mid-december when holidays and freezing temperatures kept my butt inside. I finished 3 cross-stitch (including one ornament), 9 crochet projects, and 1 in the other category. Somehow I finished more last year despite working... 2018 goals: Work on my rotation. Other than the one new start I'm allowing myself, no new cross-stitch. Knit an item. Edit one of my stories.

I finished the afghan. Row 43 gave me trouble because it wasn't written correctly. Also started knitting. I think I did pretty well and am ready to read a pattern. And here are my new dragons that I got for Christmas. Now to finish preparing for my New Year start of Dragon Dancer (cut the fabric and serge it). I already put my rotation in order and am going to tidy up some of my stash piles.

Merry Christmas! I hope all of you are enjoying some sort of craft today even if just for a few stitches. Page 5 of Insanity is complete. Made this cute little guy in a day. And finally put together my ort ornaments. Still need to find the bag with 2016. Also did some repair work. (You can also see the difference a normal bulb vs. my daylight bulb makes with the colors) Started this afghan, Treasures of the Sun King. Clyde somehow hurt his back paw/hip a few days ago so he's been staying still (gasp!) the past few days. Vet gave him some pain meds and they seem to be working.

Yup. Still insane. 10 rows left on page 5. Going to finish those up then make some ornaments. Then maybe I'll crochet until the new year. I think I'll start Dragon Dancer just to get some pink in my rotation.

Or rather insane. Started with 10 rows on the page, now at 40. I've also started thinking of a rotation for next year. So far I have the following: The Accolade (GK) The Arab Tent (GK) Insanity (GK) Cinderella and the Prince (retired HAED) Fantasy Triptych (Wentzler) Black Stallion (HAED) Dragon Carousel (Allison) Best Friend (Allison) Stroke of Midnight (Wentzler) Alternative Reality (HAED) I'm thinking of adding a new one of a HAED I purchased directly from them that I already have the material for. Preferably in a color family different from the others. That narrows it down to Dragon Dancer, 4 Heavenly Beasts, Chase, and Tempest. Current colors are dark, brown, green/sky blue, beige, purple, red/gold.

My start and finish for the week (other than a Christmas present that I'll show later) I'm glad it showed up against my red couch. And I won NaNoWriMo again! 50,840 words was my final total. Feel free to read it here: https://tablo.io/katie-haskins/finding-exile

I finished things this week. First was my scarf, which I made way too long. It comes down to my knees when not doubled over. I did more on the dragon and finished all the purple backstitch. And I finished my tree skirt. Working on a scarf for my boyfriend for Christmas. I also got caught up with my word count for NaNoWriMo. And I tried to be good with all the Black Friday sales but I failed. Got more floss for HAED patterns and also got these from ABC Stitch. Oops.

Cute opening and an interesting little number to bring us back after the first round. Redo round starts. Lindsey. Jive. She closed her feet more than the original. I'm happy. I agree with the scores. Frankie. Argentine tango. Still pretty good. I think the lack of wig took away a little of the sexiness of the original. I'll give him the scores. I love watching Val dance. Jordan. Samba. Missing a little bounce for me. I'll give him the scores. Derek. No hips. Ah. Hot shirtless men dancing. Terrell tried to match them. Didn't quite work in the dancing aspect but I'll give him a 10 for the abs. Nice dance from the troupe. Vanessa. Frame needs work but the skirt stayed on this time. I like that song by Lindsey. Nikki, Sasha,  and Debbie. I think they had to simple the choreography for a reason. There was also a big difference in voice quality between Debbie and Jordan. They're making me get in the Christmas mood and missing dancing at the sam...

It's the finale. Only two more nights for this season. Nice but understated opening. Redemption round. Drew. Pass Doble. Better than his first one but still lacking in shaping, posture, and footwork. I'll give him the scores. Frankie. Foxtrot. I felt it came off as stiff at times. A few steps looked choppy. Too high. Jordan. Charleston. While it was all danced and recognizable as a Charleston, the song was an odd choice. I agree with the scores. Lindsey. Quickstep. They kept body contact throughout but I felt her left elbow dropped to much. I agree with the scores. The freestyles! Drew. Cute and fun. Although I spent most of it with an eyebrow raised wondering what they were doing. Too high for me. Frankie. At times it felt like dance by numbers. I haven't had to say that in a while. But he seemed off time in areas and had trouble keeping technique with the steps. Too high for me. Jordan. Good dance. Very him. I agree with the scores. Lindsey. I loved ...

I continued to work on Sassy Cat. Coincidentally my throat started feeling odd. I don't know if it was the sudden cold weather or the fact that I was working with wool yarn that shed when I separated the strands. I'm allergic to wool, but can work with it. Assuming I don't inhale it apparently. So I put Sassy away. And made a wreath. The snowman glows. So did not realize it did that when I bought the kit. And yesterday since I was somewhat brain dead and needed something somewhat mindless (but not quite as mindless as repetitive crochet rows) I pulled this guy out of my closet. Managed to finish the half stitches. Now to backstitch with metallic thread.  My extra ball of yarn came to finish the tree skirt. And somehow I've been slowly catching up to where I should be for NaNoWriMo. Excuse me while I go write. The first 20 chapters (as of the initial posting of this blog) can be found here.

Semi finals. Dancers pick. Pro picks song that represents celebrity. Drew. Very hoppy and stompy. A lot of things went wrong with this dance. Too high. Victoria. I kept seeing on Twitter that we were going to cry during this. Didn't get there for me. I'll give her the scores but a little high for me. Jordan. It was danced well but that song was not an argentine tango for me and detracted from the dance. Not a 10. Lindsey. I connected to that contemporary dance more than Victoria's. A few odd stops where I felt it just went flat. I agree with the scores. Frankie. That was mostly hip hop and the salsa sucked. No hips. Too high. Yay for pro dances. Iconic dance round. Redoing really good dances from previous seasons. Drew. Jazz by Corbin Bleu. Lift was cool but the dance didn't fit him well. Either too small or uncontrolled. Too high. Victoria. Charleston by Amber Riley. Not bad. Twisting motion is still hit and miss with her feet. A little high for me....

So I got this far on the tree skirt. 12 motifs and the beginning of the edging. Realized I didn't have enough gold yarn to complete the 2nd stripe. Thankfully the company is sending me another one. In the meantime, I'm working on Sassy Cat. I actually was going to pull out a Christmas kitten kit I had, but this one jumped out of the drawer when I opened it. Literally. So I took it as a sign and started stitching after sorting the wool.

I liked that opening. Terrell. I liked the song but I don't feel he danced it well. His toes were not pointed when I felt they should've been. The flicks were off too. Not sure what the judges saw. Too high for me. Drew. I think he had more rise and fall during his viennese waltz. It was pretty. But I think Emma danced more than him. A bit high for me. Victoria. She didn't do too many steps. Steps weren't as sharp as she could do. A bit high for me. Lindsey. Not bad. She looked a bit hoppy. Samba is a down bounce. A few places were iffy. Were her shoes fuzzy? I agree with the scores. Frankie. Not bad. A few spots were a little off for me. I'm somewhere between Carrie Ann and Len. Too high for me. Jordan. I liked it but it was also a bit odd. I agree with the scores. Trio round. Terrell. With Kelly Monaco. He really didn't do much. The girls danced around him as he pretty much stood in place. Nice abs though. Too high. Drew. With Rashad Jennings...

I've completed the next row of pages on The Accolade. I stayed up really late to do it too. 131 rows are now complete. So, back to crochet for a while and my new tree skirt. Also got a new phone, so pictures are going to look a bit different again. and it's November, which means it's time for NaNoWriMo again. As you can see below, I'm a bit behind with this year. I had a busy weekend and my muse has been distracted. So I'm not as 'in' this story as with other years. I am however writing something each day. Once I get to a section I know better I should be able to catch up. I'm also posting on Tablo  should anyone feel like reading my very rough draft.

Halloween comes early for DWTS. Prepare for spooky and scary routines and the team dances. Victoria. Pretty. Simple. I'll give her the score. Jordan. I liked it but I didn't see his hips forward. I'll give him the scores. Nikki. Not very good. Mostly tricks and the jive content wasn't good. Felt like she walked through it. Too high for me. Vanessa. It felt stiff to me. Maybe because it was zombies? I'll give her the scores. Terrell. Not bad. Frame wasn't bad but I think he needed to tuck his butt under more. A little high. Lindsey. Pretty good considering the pain she must be in. I agree with the scores. Frankie. Interesting concept I don't think he really did anything. Too high for me. Drew. Cute. A little high for me. Team round Team monster mash. Cute. Nikki still can't jive. It was a bit hectic. I guess I'll give them the scores. Team phantom of the ballroom. I love this play and the dance captured it. I agree with the score...

So I finished the peacock. Still have to finish sewing the body to the tail but it's done. And I pulled out a really old UFO. The Accolade. Something funny; after working on HAED's and Insanity, I could almost have done this like I normally do. I'm getting spoiled by the number of stitches of the same color next to each other. I am kicking myself for going across all six pages at once though. Makes it take a really long time for anything to appear as it takes me about 1.5 hours for each row. That being said, I have six rows until the end of the 2nd row of pages. So almost have 12 pages complete out of 42.

It's a night at the movies. I loved that opening. And the giant staircase is back (kind of). Ah, early Hollywood.  Nikki. It was ok. A few iffy sections. I liked the glitter snow at the end. Or was it supposed to be rain? Don't know if I would give it 9s. Drew. He was bent forward at the hips rather than his hips being forward. And he got off time at the beginning of the group section. High. Definitely not a 9. Nick. It looks steampunk rather than western. That was awful. Hoppy and stilted. Too high.  Victoria. It was a bit hard to see if she had the posture with all that padding. But I liked it. I'll give her the scores.  Terrell. Decent. Definitely fun. His kicks and flicks weren't bad but other steps looked a bit flat. The spy theme helped control his long limbs. I'll give him the scores.  Frankie. Fun. Got off a few times. I agree with the scores.  Vanessa. Her frame wasn't quite right. Her skirt unfortunately fell off early. I ...

So I completed the first page (of my working copies) of Dance Me Out and started page 2. Unfortunately, I got bored very quickly with the almost single color. So I switched to something I felt would be a quick finish. Say hello to the peacock doily. Oddly, it's done in DMC #5. I kind of need quick because my boyfriend bought me a kit for a crochet tree skirt. And I should probably start soon so I can have it for my tree.

Disney night. This time they're going in chronological order through the years. Victoria. Cute. But a very odd song. Sparkely bodysuits. I'll give her the scores.  Vanessa. She felt behind and Maks had to drag her along. She also seemed to get stuck in her solo spins. I agree with the scores.  Lindsey. Very pretty. Would like her to brush her ankles more as her legs look too far apart at times. I agree with the scores.  Cute interlude of the mickey mouse club theme.  Nick. I thought he was a little forward in hold and he didn't quite match Peta. Feet messed up a few times. A little high.  Drew. Not bad. I liked her dress. It felt a bit slow for a Viennese waltz. He also had too much up and down so it felt more like a waltz. Tad high.  Kermit is funny.  Sasha. No hips. It looked like she could barely move at times and was always on her toes. I don't know what the judges saw. Too high.  Terrell. Interesting. But I...

So I started Dance Me Out. I think I'm about halfway through the top left quarter of the design. Half stitches help with the speed. I also seem to have gotten into baseball in the post season since I went to the Wild Card game. It makes Monday night's a little crazy. I end up starting to watch my recorded version of the game. Switch to DWTS at 8. Then go back to the recording during commercials for a batter. I then catch up with the live game after I post my blog. Hectic, hectic night. Also am trying to expand on my outline for NaNoWriMo. Problem is my main characters are very sketchy and really the only things that are conclusive are one scene that started this whole plot, and the character of the usurper (not an MC).

Most memorable year, aka make sure you have tissues on standby. Frankie. Not bad. His frame felt high. Too high.  Terrell. He paused too much. Churches waltz is supposed to flow. Too high.  Nikki. I didn't much dancing. Almost all tricks. Too high.  Nick. He did good but that isn't really a ballroom dance. Still too high.  Lindsey. Very pretty. First tears of the night for me. I agree with the scores. Derek. I liked it. There were a few places he seemed to blank for a split second on the routine. A tad high but I'll give him the scores.  Jordan. Very good. I agree with the scores.  Sasha. I can tell she's hanging onto Gleb in hold due to her elbows. It was decent. Too high.  Vanessa. Unfortunately I didn't see any hip movements. Better than some of the others that got that score. So too low.  Drew. Fun but he needed more control over his limbs. I'll give him the scores for entertainment value and having his ...

So I switched projects to Fantasy Triptych, but didn't get much stitching done as I was at the Yankee wild card game on Tuesday and was displaced from my apartment Thursday and Friday due to the contractor fixing the wall that got wet from the leak. Spent that time at my parents making working copies of all the kits I have. I'm currently bouncing between projects trying to decide on my next one so I don't have much progress on anything else.

It's guilty pleasures night and they seem to have opened it up beyond a specific song. Opening was a bit all over the place.  Drew. He still needs to watch his feet. Too high for me.  Derek. Not very good. I saw heel leads and the lack of hips made other things look weird. Not much cha cha. Too high.  Victoria. Not bad. But too far apart and head position was too upright. Not worth an 8. Vanessa. Cute. Alan had an easy dance. I did see some differences between her and the troop but it wasn't too difficult choreography. I'll give her the scores for execution.  Nikki. She was too upright in hold and didn't have enough body contact. Especially since it was 50 shades of grey inspired.  Too high.  Frankie. Footwork wasn't bad but he only seemed to do half a bounce. Too staccato and no hips. Too high.  Lindsey. Cute and fun. I would've liked her legs together a bit more. I agree with the scores.  Sasha. She really didn'...

This week's project was mainly this shawl that I had last worked on when I did overnights at News12. Also worked on this scarf Monday/Tuesday, feather and fan stitch with a sparkly ball of yarn. Also started a long time ago. I had to rewind my yarn because my hand would ball was locked and wouldn't pull from the center. Oops. Ended up with a leak in my ceiling/wall due to the top cap of the pipe that carries the hot water for the heat failing. Had two giant paint bubbles jutting out from the wall. Building will be fixing it in the coming week.

Hot opening. Nikki. No bounce, no hips. Very basic samba but not executed well. Too high.  Victoria. I didn't see much rumba. Tricks and pauses. Too high.  Derek. Paso by the numbers. It fell flat for me. Too high.  Sasha. Tiny bit of bounce. Almost no hips. Too high.  Nick. Odd song choice. He walked through it. A bit soft in execution. How does Peta have abs like that? Tad too high.  Jordan. Probably one of the best male sambas I've seen on the show especially for week 2. Some technique was a little off (probably due to the shoes he practiced in). I agree with the scores.  Drew. Bent knees and no hips. She danced around him. Too high.  Debbie. I didn't feel the passion. Felt dance by numbers on her part. Too high for me.  Vanessa. Not bad. It was clean and she used her hips for the majority of the dance. The pants were odd. I agree with the scores.  Terrell. No hips. Flat footed. Not very good. Too hi...

I like that everyone is doing ballroom one night and Latin another. Takes me back to earlier seasons.  Debbie. She had no frame. A bit of being pulled along. Too high.  Nikki. I didn't see any waltz. No rise and fall. Too much posing. Too high.  Lindsey. Cute. Should've been in hold more but that's Mark not her. A little low as I think that will be one of the better dances.  Barbara. A basic tango but very beginner. I think she forgot a few things. Left hand wasn't in the right position. Knees should've been bent. Too high.  Nick. Much better than his Latin. A bit one note and mellow in performance. I'll give him the scores but a tad high.  Drew. Not too sure why they did that high stepping move so much. His energy didn't match the energy of the song. Too high.  Vanessa. A little off balance at the end. A few odd leg placements. I'll agree with the scores. Tad high.  Frankie. That was way too fast for a tango. I thi...

Yay! Now to do something else for a bit.