Sew Dance

 Yeah, so this year sucked. 😂 Plans were definitely derailed. The goals I set were as follows: Stitch from stash using my dice method of picking projects Complete a cross stitch that's not an ornament Get in better shape Find a job Edit my 2019 Nano novel and attempt to publish it. I did #1 and #2, almost had #4 (but Covid derailed the first one and they chose someone else for the 2nd), and I attempted #5. I at least started to edit, but as part of my novel was supposed to take place in the present I didn't really want to work on it. I rolled my dice to select projects 60 times. 47 were new starts, 30 in May. Finished 5 cross stitch, scarves, and 4 other crochet items. Second half of the year was not very crafty. So goals for 2021: Other than a New Year start, work on cross-stitch WIPs. Finish at least 2 crochet/knit kits in my craft closet (of doom). Officially pair hand-dyed fabrics with no background cross stitch patterns. Edit my 2020 NaNo novel and try and get an agent/ma...

 I've mostly been writing, not a lot of crafting, but I made my parents matching hats for Christmas and the ball for Clyde. Also made one ornament for the tree. Had to have a new one. And I started on a dragon shawl. Lots and lots of crocodile stitches...   Lots of photos of Clyde in the past month.   Silly kitty.

So, I have been working on something. Just a bit. Page 3 of Dragon Dancer. I'm rather entrenched in NaNoWriMo this year. With nothing else to do and an expansion of my 2017 novel, I'm just under 78,000 words at the moment. That is the most I've ever written on one story. And it's not done. Even if I finish the first draft by the end of the month, I'm not entirely certain this won't be split into two books as I add scenes and descriptions I've skipped during this draft.  I know I'm not reaching one of my beginning of the year goals of publishing. The story I thought I could do that with became a bit difficult with Covid and the fact that the beginning period was supposed to be taking place this year. I'll hold off on it. Maybe another time. Or turn it into a screenplay. It might work better if I don't have to fill in every detail of the late 1950s. I can let set design and costuming take care of that.

Clearly, I haven't posted in a while. Mainly because I haven't really been crafting. Writing and video editing caught me and refused to let go. Also it was too hot to work on an afghan. The Crochet  Crowd's Better Together afghan is complete. Now to cross stitch for a bit before NaNoWriMo takes over my life.

Justina. It was fun. But I felt like she was holding back with the lines. Bit high. Jesse. That was not good. He was leaning forward in hold. Also not the right song for a tango. Too high. Chrishell. Barely any cha cha. Pigeon toed. Knees were bent. Not good. Too high. Jeannie. Cute. The transitions into and out of the lifts at the end were a little rough. I'll give her the scores, but high. Monica. Her frame wasn't good and Val pulled her through the dance. She felt too loose for a tango. Way too high. AJ. Wasn't very smooth. Appropriate for a prom dance. If they were teenagers. Bit high. Skai. It was fun. She's easy to lift. I'll give her the scores. Vernon. Best part was Peta's outfit. He was heavy on his feet, his butt was sticking out. Not good. Too high. Kaitlyn. Took a while to get into the tango part. Best tango of the night but kind of one note. I'll give her the scores. But too high.  Nelly. Samba is rarely danced well on this show, especially by t...

The opening was stupid. And Tyra's dress is not flattering. Nelly. I didn't realize you could bounce through the paso doble. No shape, flat footed, posture was so wrong. Too high. Chrishell. That song is not a foxtrot. Hustle or slow cha cha. She really didn't do much. Too high. Monica. No bounce. No hips. Way too high. Anne. She was unsteady on her feet at the beginning. Not sure if the outfit restricted some of her movements. Too high. Nev. Points for doing a basic rumba and attempting the hips. But his knees were bent the entire time. I'll give him the scores. Justina. She was working the fringe. Footwork was a bit messy. I'll give her the scores. Oh that dress is worse than the first one.  Kaitlyn. Pretty. Needed to be closer in hold. I'll give her the scores. Johnny. Fun, but a bit wild and messy. Little high. Jeannie. They actually had contact at the hips. Sharp-ish, but messy at the end. Frame was a little wonky at times. I'll give her the scores. Ver...

Disney night. they borrowed one of the snails from the electric light parade. It was better dressed than Tyra. Skai. Didn't connect with it. Didn't bring her knees up a lot and the footwork wasn't great. Bit high. Monica. Pretty, but too upright in hold. A little hiccupy in the rise and fall. I'll give her the scores. Justina. Cute. Fun. Little low energetic for a Charleston. I'll give her the scores. AJ. He looked a little forward in hold. And a lot of hopping in that routine. I'll give him the scores. Anne. Meh. Less hoppy than AJ's. She lost the choreography. Too high. Jeannie. Simple elegant, cute playing on the old characters. Her best dance so far. I'll give her the scores. Nelly. Not much foxtrot. Bit slow. A little off in matching Daniella with rise and fall. Bit high, but i'll give him the scores. Carole. Poor Pasha. I agree with the scores. Kaitlyn. Not a lot of hips. Nice lines, but Artem pulled her through some parts. Little high. Vernon....

Nev. Not as awkward as it could have been. Still needs to work on his feet, straightening his legs and using his hips. I'll give him the scores, but maybe a bit high. Skai. Ignoring the flub on the trick, it wasn't that good. Samba by numbers and hoppy. I agree with the scores. Johnny. That was all over the place. Posture wasn't good and they got out of time with each other. Bit high. Justina. Frame needs fixing felt a little start and stop rather than flowing. I'll give her the scores. Monica. Uh, where was the jive? Too high. AJ. The costumes were distracting. A bit staccato for a foxtrot. I'll give him the scores. Anne. Seemed slow for the music. She was too upright in hold. I'll give her the scores. Nelly. Um, can he move his hips at all? He was stompy. Too high. Chrishell. She didn't do anything. What were the judges looking at? Too high. Charles. Uh. Not good. Too high. Jesse. Not too bad, butt was sticking out. I agree with the scores. Jeannie. Where ...

Wasn't sure I was going to watch. This season is going to be odd between Covid, the new host, and Bruno's silver hair... AJ McLean & Cheryl. I'm a BSB girl. He lost his balance on the landing. Not bad otherwise but he needed to point his toes more during the kicks and flicks. Kind of safe. I'll give him the scores. Chrishell Stause & Gleb. I don't know who she is. Very careful, very on her toes, no bent knees. Just bad. I don't think I saw a heel lead. I agree with the 4s. Vernon Davis & Peta. Bad song. He's bending forward in hold and there was no hip connection. Not sure what the judges saw. Too high. Anne Heche & Keo. She tried, but very careful. Not a lot of hips. I'll give her the scores. Jeannie Mai & Brandon. Bad song. Where were her hips? She was all over the place. Too high. Jesse Metcalfe & Sharna. It was ok. Not great. Maybe a bit high with the scores. Skai Jackson & Alan. Never saw her in anything. Really staccato ...

Did you miss my weekly updates? I was dancing around my living room, caught my foot on something on the floor and fell backwards onto my butt and the heel of my left hand. Didn't really hurt at first, but I did something to my forearm near my elbow, over my radius. Needless to say crafting was out for the week as it hurt. Crochet and knitting is still out for the foreseeable future just so I'm not twisting it unnecessarily.  Luckily I'm able to cross stitch. I can also finally share the video I was working on most of the month. The recipient loved it and quote tweeted me. :) Also made this one, while waiting for his birthday.

Still haven't done much crafting this week. So much that I didn't take pictures until today. I started Tropical Dream by Teresa Wentzler. 4x2 on 20 ct. And I finally got yarn for an afghan I'm making as a present. Just started part 2 of the Better Together CAL.   Most of my time has been working on the birthday video. Rough cut is done. Now I'm working on transitions and titles.

So apparently I've been doing everything but stitching this week. Very little progress on Alcazar Castle.   Instead I put two wooden puzzle kits together. The carousel spins. And I made another video. Today I played around with After Effects and created a fireworks display for a video that's more of a commission. Might have to roll the dice again as the castle isn't holding my attention. I do need to get yarn for a commissioned afghan, but haven't quite gotten to the store yet. The Leverage Reboot starts filming tomorrow (officially, not sure if they did anything beyond the table read last week) and it's been making me happy for a month. Thus the videos. 

I had to redo the top left corner because I had messed up on the brown quarter circle. Wasn't that interested in the colors after I redid them. Dice brought up Alcazar of Segovia Castle. A new start. But my focus this week was other projects. One, I got to my 45 page goal for my spec script. Now I just wait for the reboot to see how much I have to change. And I made two Leverage videos. So... Keeping some skills needed for my 2nd career choice from rusting. Bonus if you made it this far, Clyde.

I honestly thought today was Sunday when I got up. I've officially been unemployed too long. Anyway, I finished The Wolf  a few days ago. The dice picked out my other "Fabulous Women in Glamorous Places" kit. I got a dragon sword to add to my collection. Definitely decorative rather than functional, but the tip is sharp. And I saw a bunny. It let me get pretty close (but this was taken with bit of a zoom)

So, I'm officially halfway through with The Wolf. Onto the bottom 2 pages.  Was being creative in other ways this week so I didn't really work on this until the weekend. Wrote some more on my script. Still 15 pages short with the ending/wrap up missing. And made another montage video. Two actually, but one was a bit of a happy accident. The happy accident.

Crafting related anyway. I spent most of my time writing. I got back into video editing this week and made this:  I might give him the piece I'm working on should I get the chance to meet him.

So, I had trouble sticking with a project this week. I started with my baby dragon latch hook. Haven't worked on that in a while. Then I picked up a new crochet kit, fresh floral topper. I could have finished it, but the flowers were annoying me. And now working on The Wolf that I started for Stitch Maynia. And in between those last two, I decided to try and make a new Latin dress, for my eventual (hopefully) return to dancing. Currently just playing around with fabric. Saw one I liked from a designer, trying to recreate it a bit. My draping of the skirt needs work, and this will end up being a two piece dress. While trying to find a pattern to help me visualize the drape, I decided to order lining fabric for another one. Get one thing done at least. Maybe. Should probably make masks first. Also ventured to Joanns, the first store I've been in, in months, for floss. 376 skeins, and the over 12 foot long receipt. Sorted it a bit before entering it in my spreadsheet. However, my ...

Finished page 3, was really having trouble getting through the last 10 rows. Some new stash. Still waiting on something I ordered before this. It may be lost. :( I'm going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo's July session. Going to take a first pass at a Leverage script and a romance novel that popped into my head while trying to figure out the script. Wish me luck. Novel will only have a 25,000 word goal. And some cute pictures of Clyde.