Hello? Anybody Home?

We're back! Did you miss me? :D

It has been a whirlwind 3 weeks or so. I left everyone hanging with the drama of getting my Grandmother's quilt finished in time. Guess what... I did it! With a day or two to spare. Enough time to whip up a jumper I had already cut out for Jerusha before our trip out East. I was going to post a pic of the quilt right away and then decided to wait until I could get a picture with my Grandmother in it.

So, without further delay (there's been enough of that already!) here is my Grandmother's quilt I made in honor of her 90th birthday:









Here is the jumper I did for Jerusha before we left:



While we were away I finished this Forrest Soaker that I had started a few days before leaving:



I still need to lanolize it, but I'm working on a second one just like it with the leftover yarn.

Esther knitted a dishcloth for Grandmother for her birthday, but I never did get a picture of it. My bad... sorry! She did an excellent job. Maybe my Mom (hint hint hint) could take a picture and email it to me so I could post it here.

Hint.
Hint.
Hint.

We have already pretty much jumped back into the swing of things here. The day after we got back from our trip, we went up North to visit some family and get apples for making applesauce. Monday morning, the Post Applesauce Factory will be open! We were hoping to get about 20 bushels, but only ended up with 14. We may have to make another trip up for more apples in a few weeks.

We also received an invitation to a wedding for our nephew. Since my sewing list is only a mile high right now, I decided to make a cuddle quilt for him and his honey for a wedding gift. The wedding is December 13th, in Ohio. I doubt we'll be able to drive out there for it, but I can send a gift. So, it's off to the quilting races AGAIN.

On top of that, I still have Isaac's birthday quilt to finish. I barely got a start on it when I decided to do my Grandmother's birthday quilt. Now my nephew is getting married, and what's an aunt to do? I will also soon have another baby quilt to make as I have a niece or nephew due soon. I love making baby quilts. :) Also on the sewing list are church skirts for the twins and a church jumper and blouse for Jerusha, as well as finishing the second fall jumper for Jerusha. I had started it before we left, in hopes of finishing it, but just plain ran out of time.

If you think that makes me busy, remember home schooling? Yeah, we do that from time to time. That will be picking up again this week. Oh, and I decided to participate in the National Novel Writing Month challenge. 50k words by the end of November. I'm at 10k. According to their stats I'm right on track. I'm using the time I usually use to knit in the evenings to write. I have to say, I'm enjoying it, but not getting any knitting done at the moment. I've been putting off writing a novella for over 20 years. Time to give in to my hidden writing compulsion and just do it. So, if I'm not around much until the end of the month, I'll be pegging away at my little story, which, with any luck, no one will ever read.

You have to understand this challenge is not about spelling. Not about grammar. It's not about good plot development, or realistic characters, or anything that makes for good writing.

It is about WRITING. It is about jumping in, full bore, to the act of creative writing. The editing and rewrites can happen after the challenge dates are over. But right now every participant is giving in to the joy of just writing and not fiddling around. So, if you need me, I'll either be making applesauce, quilting, or shut up in my bedroom with the laptop banging out a 50k word novella.

Viva la pluma!!!