November...how is it over halfway gone?

Last week's post wasn't very personal, and I know some of you readers are family and friends that want to see what I'm up to. It's been a busy week between work and home. I spoke at a panel this morning, so work continues into the weekend.

My NaNoWriMo progress...I've made it to over 26,000 words. After making it past the halfway point, my motivation has lessened. I'm hoping to try to catch back up this week. We'll see how it goes.

WIPs - I'm almost done with my first quadrant on Andrea Mowry's Rose Cardigan. This is my selfish knitting project. Generally, you knit this sweater with hand painted yarn, so the colors fade together. I'm liking the more noticeable fade with the solid colors. Starting with the beautiful burgundy and going a faded orange is not for everyone.

I've made progress the Marled Mania Cardigan for my sister-in-law. I'll post a pic when I'm a bit farther along.

I finally found the pattern I want to use to make my mother-in-law's gift. I haven't openly told her about this blog, so I think I can get away with showing. You might recall that she loves Halloween and Day of the Dead. I found the cutest crocheted skeleton stuffy and I want to make it and stuff it with some lavender scent. Check out Spinayarn's blog that has this creepily adorable free pattern.

I'm going to start on the cute gift for my mother-in-law tomorrow. I've agreed to a couple of text knits. A hat and a pair of mittens. I'm planning to make the items as presents for family and I'm excited to work on the beautiful patterns. One of them is "secret." I'm not sure how much time I'll have to make the things I wanted to for my own kids for Christmas.

The Art of Crochet Blankets arrived this week and I'm planning to use design concepts to make some awesome decorations for my little dining room. I want to use different patterns to make cushion covers for the chairs and I want something pretty to decorate my table top. I can't wait to show you what I pull together. After the holidays will be my true start date. So much crafting to do in so little time!

My boys are going to my nephew's 2nd birthday party tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly time flies. James is so adorable! He has the same blond hair that my Jeffrey had at his age. Then, cub scouts stuff, conferences, and Thanksgiving...what a week! I do love two paid days off from work and family time.

I'm not sure where the time has gone, but I'm happy to have 2018 all wrapped up.

One last thing, if you'd like to see some fun WIPs and yarn on YouTube, check out episodes 36 and 37 from PotionYarns.

Have a great week and happy crafting.