there is time...

i think blogging is a lot like exercising for me...i sort of need to force myself to do it. so today i am while my dear husband is napping, it's nice and quiet in my house. my litter boxes are clean, my house is...not too messy, and it's snowing. i LOVE the snow. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I miss the days of when Montana got lots and lots of it. a few inches here and there does not satisfy my needs. sometimes i think of moving to alaska because they still get snow. plus i like the thought of moving. the first photo is out my front window. this is my daily view and the reason i wanted this house. well a reason...and not the view...but the corner windows. it makes my day and is the perfect place for our christmas tree. and the third...that's crackers in the snow. he's just so darn cute!

i have been not super busy, but it seems like always on the move. last weekend i went to gillette to visit lexie for her birthday. it was a big surprise and let me tell you, i almost pushed the car so we could get there faster. i was so excited! we had so much fun! our friend john drove me down and friday night we got there and hung out and chatted. we also played "scene it." it's way more difficult than we thought it would be. then on saturday we went down town to do some shopping, lex opened her gifts, we had a nice lunch prepaired by her husband and then the festivities began! it was a mustache party. here's lex with her mustache! we played battle of the sexes--glad to report the girls won both games, we had delicious dinner--steak, asparagas, blue cheese mashed potatoes, bread, and birthday cake from dairy queen. it really is our favorite! then sunday we layed around, went and got frozen custard as is customary, and got back on the road. it really was perfect! thanks les and nick!

i HAVE been knitting. but i gave almost all of it to lexie for her birthday! she got a pair of mittens and two hats. guess who forgot to take photos. but lex said she would send some to me. if not, i'll take some when i'm there for thanksgiving. i'm working on another pair of mittens for me, a pair for a cousins daughter, and now i'm ready to start christmas knitting! oh and i have an order for three pairs of mittens for christmas...better get started on those soon!

but lest you think i'm making knitting up, here is some yarn i've purchased in the past...WEEK! the two white skeins are buffalo that i got in gillette. i can't believe how soft and wonderful it is! the grey also came from gillette, and i think it will be a hat...or cabled scarf. the multicolored yarn is for a scarf for me. and all the other...for christmas presents...hrmmm...strange acrylic...what could it be??? who knows!

so that is the short of it. i have a knitting date tonight and am still deciding what to be knitting. we shall see i suppose!

we're alive!

okay this is a very strange random post, but i will most more this week about my knitting (lets just say 5 mittens and two hats in like 8 days...wow!) but more impressively is the storm we survived. we've heard between 70 and 90 a mile hour winds. that's impressive considering we're at 5000+ feet nestled in the rocky mountains. trees were blown over, power was out for 6 hours, ice was frozen, roofs blown off, and our shingling blew off our roof. now this is quite fine by me because behind my house is a 40 foot tree that could easily have fallen on our roof like the 30+ trees that fell down. but i will post more later. these funny photos are for my dad who is the best dad in the world because he's going to come down and help me fix it. thanks dad!

and...lexie's birthday photos too. fun times in gillette

(dad, the last photo is the piece of roofing that blew over on its self. i folded it back but it cracked in places. the other photos are my patch job...i am no quilter that's for sure!)

twice in one month!

here are the photos i promised. still no sign of the camera charger.

in other news...my new dyson vacuum came today. dang i love it alread. i want to vacuum everything.

also, one mitten is almost finished. yay me :)
this the path through washoe park. we were riding bikes. if you look real hard you can see bob riding ahead of me.
our gaggle of cats. sorry about all of the laundry :) it looks like fatty gus is trying to squash aggie. perhaps she is.
this is philipsburg. and that nice shiny building with the hose in front is for rent. i think my yarn shop needs to go there. it's beautiful. and there is a park next to it :)
there's bob riding ahead of me. yes. i took photos while biking. it was exhilerating! but i couldn't let bob see me do it!
i LOVE the colors of this goose. i think everything needs to be dark grey with yellow orange and white. like my house. grey house. yellow orange door and white trim. ready dad?

oh my gosh!

well i hadn't realized it has been so long since i've posted. i knew it was a while, but i hadn't realized over a month! thanks for reminding me lexie!

since i can't find my camera battery charger, i can't post any new knitting photos. but let me tell you, i was flying along with my sitcom cardigan. and i had up to the arm pits done, and i started working on sleeve number one. i had done all of my increases and it didn't look right. it's about five inches to short. so what should i do all you accomplished knitters out there? should i just knit without increasing for those five inches? should i rip it back (boohoo)? can the sleeve be salvedged? it put me into a funk. a serious serious funk. so i quit knitting for a while.

then last week i went to MBI training. i found with school training stuff, there is a lot of down time, and i need to make a baby hat, so i brought the first inch of one with me. it's my usual baby hat with a jolly roger knit into it (is that so unusual? i'm young and somewhat hip, but i got a lot of weird looks when i showed people). so in all the down time...i finished it my first day of training. it turned out okay, but i'm not happy with my color work, so i'm going to reknit it. darn it, i should have picked up yarn today in butte.

so with my confidence back, i went to the scrap booking store on friday to just look at yarn. you know how looking turns to buying. i said i wasn't going to buy some sock yarn. why make mittens with sock yarn anne? you have enough problems knitting two things that are the same, why exasterbate it with two small gauge projects? but i did. i bought myself some pretty yarn that has found it's way into 1/2 of a mitten. i am incredibly picky about my mittens. they can't be too big and flop around. so when i realized my thumb was way too big i bit the bullet and ripped backwards and made my thumb smaller. and i'm really happy with how it is progressing. it's giving me the confidence to work on lexies mittens. see lex, i haven't forgotten, i just want them to be perfect for you!

in other news, my cousin lisa nominated me to be a Rockin' Girl Blogger. which totally blew my mind :) now i'm not sure if i'm supposed to nominate anyone or how it goes (i should read into this), but i will admit that i am a total lurker with blogs. i have twenty or so that i read everyday but have only left like three comments on peoples blogs (for those of you who comment on mine, thank you so much, i will try to overcome my shyness and comment on yours too! i really do appreciate it!). so that is so very awesome! but there are some blogs that i just love to read...like...LOVE and i don't know if it would be weird if i just nominated them without ever once letting them know i read it.

in other news: fall has come and i want to take some pictures of beautiful anaconda (it's the one time it really is a beautiful place), but no camera. also last friday, first snow in town, but it's been about 1000 feet higher for a few weeks now. also the husband and i went to they might be giants concert in missoula and had an awesome time! last year we saw the rolling stones, this year it was much smaller but a great concert. there were probably 400 people there and by the end we were...15 feet from the stage. there was no security fence or anything. it was great fun.

in kitty news. they have been accepted by the other cats. even anti-social gus loves them. she's become a mama cat and takes good care of them. but...they have been horribly sick with the "pintler pet illness." apparently it's quite common for the shelter kittens to get this disease where the cats sneeze and get gunky eyeballs. so for three weeks they've been on antibiotics. it really is horrible. but they've quit sneezing blood and seem to be a little better. if any of you are vets or married to them, please see if you can find out more. i'm trying to pick a new vet for the kitties because this vet didn't even give me the name of the disease. now i know i could have asked, but the vet doesn't have very good bedside manners and i don't feel comfortable asking him questions.

it's taking too long to upload pictures, so i'll post them tomorrow.

and GO RED SOX! ahhhh yes, life is good :)

no weiners...

well, i had no takers on my contest. so grey kitty is called rory. this is embarassing, but i don't know if it's a boy or a girl. so i figured rory would work. it's kind of fitting. he/she has this roar when meowing. i was thinking that nutters would be a really great name too, but i think rory just fits.

so i figure i should talk about knitting. like i said, i knit the cabled scarf in the one skein book. i tried to work on cables at the beginning of summer, and then this weekend it clicked. in my head i knew what needed to be done to make a cable, and voila, a new scarf! i really like the scarf, but i have to say, i'm not really fond of the yarn. i used blue sky alpaca. i've had this yarn for over two years and another skein for three! the reason i hadn't knit it was because i didn't like how loose it knit up. and if i tried using smaller needles, it just ended up getting knotted up. plus, the yarn breaks and it gets too fuzzy. but it's sooooo luxurious that i just love it :) i'm thinking of making the assemetrical hat next. this photo is a pretty crappy photo of the scarf, but it gives you an idea. i need to block it and weave in the ends. i'm thinking of giving it to a friend. she is one of those people who is always so nice and warm towards me. she's a knitter and i think she would love it as well.

next in line is the sitcom sweater. i'm buying the yarn for it tomorrow in missoula. i love making sweaters, but i'm too cheap to buy the yarn. this sweater shouldn't be too expensive though so I'm looking forward to starting it. it will be a good addition to my sweater shelves. i want to keep knitting lots and lots of sweaters, but i have so many it's hard to justify more. but i'm sure i'll keep going. i need to take a knitting class to learn more about the technical stuff...increases and decreases, just so i can start learning to adjust the sweaters to fit me perfectly.

other news...i got a new job. instead of being the elementary school librarian i am the junior high library. it should be a really great job. the staff in my building is really amazing...they're always trying to improve things! i think it will be a much better fit than the old building. dear husband also started a new job a few weeks ago working as a high school teacher in a school for emotionally disturbed children (i don't think that's what i'm supposed to say, but its a school for...very difficult children). he's really starting to enjoy it and is loving using his degree now. it's a good thing to be doing.

on tap for the weekend: back home for another wedding, a griz game, and hopefully some kayaking. hmmmm how can i steal them and bring them down here?

oh...also needed to add to my last list: second anniversary for dear hustband and i. yay for us!

contest...

well...tomorrow is the last day for the contest...any takers? grey kitty has yet to be named. although we are leaning towards rory.

dad...don't tell mom

so i know it's been longer than two weeks. sorry scott. life gets away from me. plus, i'll be damned if i can knit. this post will be horribly short and not very well written because i have to get this done before my dear husband gets home and needs the computer.





what i've been up to:





lexies wedding--fun

starting school--not fun

knitting a scarf--fun

so the scarf i knit is from one skein. now it may not look like much...that damn alpaca that i used the wrong sized needles on. but...it is my first ever cableing. i am so proud of myself that i wandered around for two days showing it to my husband. i can't wait to knit more things with cables! i need to block the scarf and weave in the ends, but hopefully it will turn out nice.

cleaning the house--not fun

going to movies--fun

playing with my dog--fun

renee's wedding shower--fun

playing with me...two new kittens--super fun.

we got two new kittens last night. we were thinking of getting one, but at the shelter there were two kittens that we couldn't decide between. and wouldn't you know it, they were buy one get one free! so bob got one. his is the black one with a white mustache (called the great mustachio) and mine is the grey one. he doesn't have a name right now, so uhm...lets have a contest! if we pick your name, i'll send you an old shoe! no....i'll send a nice little package with...yarn and chocolate and maybe a few other goodies. if you don't like yarn...then i'll keep the yarn and i'll send you something instead! so help a girl out here with the naming of her kitten! as a reminder we have: francisco the white cat, gus the fugly cat, the great mustachio the black and white cat, and crackers the dog. :)


this is from a fire that started out by our house. it stayed under 10 acres.


anyways here are some photos of my life for the past three weeks (i hate to be so super selective, so perhaps i'll post them all on my flickr account and you can go look at everything!)
this is the 50th anniversary of mooses saloon. it was so much fun!






(more tomorrow)

it's august, already

i can't believe that it's august. it seems like summer just started. it's been real, real hot here. so i haven't been knitting much. but thank goodness my great cousin lisa sent me the needle i needed, so the hat is coming along. thanks lisa! that's about all.

it's fire season here in montana. so every conversation revolves around the smoke, where the fires are, and who is getting evacuated. i'm getting ready to leave to kalispell for two weeks, and the fastest route is closed due to a fire. they're getting ready to evacuate the town of seeley lake. so instead i'll be going through missoula on i-90 and highway 93. i-90 has been closed on and off due to a fire, so i'm crossing my fingers that i'll make it. my parents lake place is smack in the middle of two fires, so last weekend we spent the time in a smokey haze.

but i'm off. i'll be in kalispell for two weeks. one week working for my mom and another week spending time with my family. it's my mom's business (mooses saloon) 50th anniversary party and my little sisters wedding. so we have family coming from all over, some i haven't seen in 10 years, so i'm super excited. i'll be back with pictures and all that fun stuff.

failure...

i've been wrestling with knitting decisions. still. still no idea what to knit. maybe i'm one of those winter only knitting people. i donno. i like small projects. yet i LOVED making my sweater. it really was wonderfully gratifying and amazing. i didn't get bored. i was excited! but something i keep trying to make myself knit is socks. damn i hate those things. and it makes me feel like a knitting failure. i talked about it with my moms friend who is opening a yarn store (i'm going to plug this store to no end so that it succeeds!), and she too doesn't like to knit socks. i really think it's the whole attaching thing heel and the side together. i can't get it pretty enough. okay and i can never get a really good fit. but it drives me crazy! i look at all these blogs with people finishing socks day and night. really, come on folks! knit something big and ugly damn it! i sure do. so i'm sitting on like six skeins of sock yarn (i love to buy it, hate to knit it) and just think "i'm a knitting failure!" i kind of feel the same way about mittens too. they irritate me, thumbs...always too big. i want a nice secure thumb. and not too floppy of a top. i donno...

now...i'm not knitting. i'm embroidering. kind of enjoyable. it's different. i'm working on a dishcloth for me. it's really hilarious actually. i'll take photos tomorrow and then post them sometime. ehehehe i lie. sometime it will get done :)

anyways. i was laying i bed last night and realized i forgot to put my links in. so here is the hat. and here is the wedding gift.

enjoy the hot hot summer days!

procrastination...

i know that i promised pictures. and i had every intent on doing so...but then i went to kalispell. twice. well..the first one is the one that matters because i didn't upload my pictures. and then we had a great storm and i took really wonderful photographs. holy moly was i glad to have really amazing photos (sometimes i amaze myself). we came home and the night before we were supposed to go back I went to print out some of them for my mom with our new printer. damn how i should have read the directions! well...apparently you're supposed to use an adapter when you put my memory card in the printer. and it got stuck. for an hour. i finally used some tape and a butter knife to get it out, only to find out i had scratched the memory card and lost all of the pictures. pictures of the storm. pictures of las vegas. last snowstorm pictures. really really important photos. so i am still so sick over it, i haven't even put in my new memory card (i did however by the damn adapter too, which might make my digital picture frame work better).

also, i am incredibly discouraged. i'm knitting this. and i've been working on it for...oh four weeks now and have three inches done. why is it taking so long? well cotton and my needles aren't being really friendly. it's a really tight gaige and it keeps getting stuck on the end of the needle. really slowing me down truthfully, so i don't even want to look at it. i went to buy some addi turbos, but the stupid yarn store in kalispell didn't have the right size (they might have, but the owner is so snotty that i didn't want to give them ANY money). so it's on standstill. i also did knit this for my sister. it was nice and quick and fun to do. and really hilarious at her bridal shower. it made my day. so in short, i don't know what to knit right now. i'm thinking of working on some baby hats just because they're quick to do, don't take much thought and certainly don't heat me up. but we'll see. i'm itching to do a sweater again.

a friends mother of mine is starting a yarn store in kalispell (it's enough to have me move home, she even offered me a job). she was showing me what she ordered and some of her knitting. she makes the most amazingly beautifuly sweaters. amazing. so i'm thinking of starting one soon. she gives me the guts to do it. so we shall see.

hopefully i will get some knitting done and will be able to face my camera again for pictures. i'm thinking of giving a digital tour of anaconda. really is a strange little town. so we'll see.

It's been a long time comin'

done lately:
gillette, wy/ rapid city/ deadwood
vegas
internship at Hearst Free Library
jaywalker socks
cotton summer hat
The Talented Clementine
The Bell Jar
Hattie Big Sky
summer
new job at the junior high
talk of moving away


my dear sister reminds me that i haven't updated often. so here is a quick update. she told me she likes to just read it, she doesn't care if it isn't knitting related (okay, she would prefer it if it wasn't). but i have been knitting. i'm just too lazy to take pictures. i need/want to make a little cover for my sisters wedding. her colors are blue and brown so i wanted to make a little brown shrug or even a shawl (but i don't know about that yet). i haven't found any good easy patterns yet, so i'm still debating. we shall see i guess. but i will post lots of pictures tomorrow with what i have been up to, i promise.

WHERE IS MY CELL PHONE CHARGER????

so i bought myself a graduation present (yes, two a's and a b and i'm now graduated--with the exception of my internship) the new envy phone. and i'll be damned if i can charge it because i lost the stupid charger! and did i mention that we don't have a land line here at my house. and my husband is out of town. and my phone is dead? AND i can't check the messages from my school phone because it's a long distance call? i'll tell you i'm pissed. so if you have seen it mom, dad, leah, please let me know and send it asap so i can call you and thank you.

on to less depressing things...

the school year is almost over. 9 more days. i am pleased as punch! i may have the option of moving to a different school or even a classroom (please god let this happen!). i've found that this option gives me a much calmer piece of mind and i don't have my students nearly as much. yes, some teachers hate students at this time of year, and i am one of them. i adore each and every one of them on an individual basis, and i would probably bring home two if pressed. however when you get 25 of them into a room in the spring and it's snowing (yep, 8 inches) something goes wrong with them and they get crazy. which makes me crazy. and we yell and scream and throw things. okay not that bad, but it could be!

but the really great news...i finished rusted root in time for Montana Tech's graduation. i think my sister was a little embarrassed, but mostly proud. i can't tell you how many compliments...the best being little johns: "oh! i thought you bought it at a cute little store. i didn't know you could make clothes." thanks john, you warm the cockles of my heart. however, there is no photo yet. they're on my sisters camera, or moms, or soon to be brother in laws. so someday soon.

in the mean while, i've been working on some swatches from uhm...a book that i can't remember the title of. you know, the one with a bunch of stitches---Stitchanary...or something like that. and i'm lazy and i hate to swatch, so instead of making swatches that can't be used...i'm making dish clothes. so that's my life, i will really start posting soon, i'm in a knitting funk right now. this weekend i'm thinking of painting my kitchen cabinets, but i should do some knitting with some photos. until then!

p.s. how great is the new draft autosave? no more lost posts for me!

p.p.s. k lex, i wrote a blog entry. now you have to post pictures of your house with your stuff in it. can i come visit/live with you soon?

if you could only see me now...

oi i know! i know! but i only have one and a half more weeks before I am a real true librarian. which means i am gearing up for finals. i've had one hell of a semester that makes me want to quit and become a gas station attendant. if you want particulars, e-mail me. i can't say too much--it is a public forum ;)

anyways since i've been gone:

MLA (montana library confrence for those of you who don't know) really great, did some good networking with other librarians and even made a few friends. however, i have realized that perhaps my calling isn't school librarian, but public librarian. so that is to be considered this summer when i do my library practicum at the hearst free library. yay!

end of school: enough said. as mentioned i will be finishing up my classwork FOR GOOD!

beautiful weather: that's right, it's been beautiful here and we've bbqed twice (and for a later post, the wonderfulness of grilling vegetables)

with the beautiful weather, cleaning the yard: i don't know how the snow melts and then three days later my lawn is 8 inches high. now don't worry, not all of my lawn, just the front. i don't have lawn in the back, just dead sod. thanks ARCO (photos later because really, it's hillarious).

and the husband and brother in law took out a big (almost) dead lilac tree. thumbs up scott!

here's a photo. my husband didn't want his picture associated with this, so this is my brother in law.

and finally...

RUSTED ROOT! look at me. doing a sweater. with lace. i'm so proud of myself and cannot wait to sit down and get it done!

until next time (probably after i finish my classwork. yay!)

*sigh*

oh blog, i've not forgotten you. it's quite the opposite. you're always on my mind, sitting there neglected, feeling unloved, and wishing to spend some quality time with yours truly. but it doesn't seem to be! the class work that is never ending. and isn't it ironic that last week we were studying blogs and i spend hours reading library blogs, but couldn't be bothered to update you? and it gets worse! there is more classwork to start this weekend making it 11 credits in 3 months with a full time job. it's no wonder you're lonely, blog!

it's so sad that i have knitting news that should be posted--jaywalking socks that aren't turning out, a rusted root sweater that leaves me near tears, but i just don't have the energy to post pictures! and there's housework that needs to be shown to the world, and general grumblings that need to be pacified by well meaning commentators. don't worry blog, in two weeks the classwork will be done, leaving me hours of uninterrupted knitting and blogging time.

i promise in the next week to update you with great pictures, and wonderful stories, and even some new knitting. until then, be happy with knowing you're in my thoughts!

lost and gone forever...

no i'm not. i'm just insanely busy. since the last update: st. patty's day (huge here in butte/anaconda) my sister came to visit from wyoming and we had great fun on the green day. we spent most of it in the sunshine watching people and drinking beer. well i didn't, i was the dd/sherpa (who knew i needed such a big purse?) here are some of my fave pictures from the day.
(i don't know who this dude is, but look at all the people behind him! it was crazy!)

also, since it was little sister's birthday some cupcakes in her honor. they could have been the most delicious cupcakes i've ever baked. mmmm

and! a new bike for me! my wonderful husband bought it for me. and i must say it is the most beautiful bike in the world. and it's such a nice ride. so smooth and nice. we've only got to ride once this week though and today was really crappy weather, so soon i'll get to take it out. i can't wait to be done with my classes so i can spend some real quality time with the new bike.

and finally knitting. yes, i've broken down and started some socks. i'm a bad sock knitter. i suffer from sss really bad, and i just lose interest. but i've started a pair of jaywalkers. i do love them. i'm enjoying the pattern and the knitting of socks. i want to keep knitting them all night long, but I know i need to sleep so i can get up extra early and write my lesson plans. but i am enjoying the knit and the yarn, it's from knitpicks, but i can't remember anything about it, and i've lost my ball band. also i purchased the yarn for my rusted root sweater and i hope to get started on that. a new friend came over today and I taught her how to knit today and i think we'll get together this weekend. i'm so excited :) anyways, until next time!

they say it's your birthday...

today, my little sister turns 10. the big 10! i can't believe it! happy birthday littlest sister! wish you were here to share the hubbub of st. patties day in my corner of the universe.





(in our house, the girls like to do eachother's makeup...with crayola markers. leah did mine and my hair for me. thanks leah. [it didn't wash off])

the BEST week(end) ever!

well i must say, if it wasn't the best weekend ever! first, i am a prize winner! for the first time in my blog reading history. yay for me! over at the ol' funfur hat project, i won the clover leaf lace mitts pattern from knitspot. so exciting! i am looking forward to knitting them.

also, i did eight loads of laundry yesterday, folded 8 loads of laundry, and put away 8 loads of laundry. i thought i had to buy new socks, turns out, i just needed to find all the socks in the dirty clothes piles!

and if that wasn't enough, i cleaned dog nose smudges off the window. and cleaned the screen door window (better to spy on my neighbors that way). it's crazy. it was so nice today in anaconda i hung out with the front door open letting in light, and it was like there was no window there! so that was also really great.

then i went to the cashore marionettes at the historic washoe theatre. it was amazing. you should have been there! there was a horse marionette with like 20 strings, an elephant with nearly 40 strings, a woman with a baby (and the baby was a seperate puppet! the puppeteer did two at one time, and had the woman lay the baby down in a cradle--mind blowing!). i went by myself and there is something so nice about doing stuff like that by yourself. bob came home and asked if i went by myself and i said yes and he told me i was much braver than he. but i have no problem with doing stuff like that by myself--you're in the dark, you couldn't talk to anyone anyways--so no big deal. it reminded me of living in portland. i spent a lot of time wondering around by myself and i like that feeling. it's very nice :)

then today my old roommates rachel and alex came to visit me. it was so nice to see rachel, i haven't seen her since she moved and it's been like two years! hi rachel! so they brought over bagels and scones that were delicious and we hung out and caught up. it was really enjoyable.

i also washed my car, finished a book, and wrote three units to teach! now, i'm sure you're asking, "But Anne, how did you manage to get all this stuff done? And why were you so ambitious?" The answer is simple--I am avoiding. i'm avoid work, i'm avoid school, i'm just avoiding all those agravating things in my life (also avoiding a knitting project for a very special girl which makes me feel sort of bad). I am so overwhelmed with my coursework for this semester that i just sit and stare at my $400 worth of books and wonder, "why did i do this to me?" and now...this huge long blog...avoiding my homework still. it's 7:38 and i have a 100 point project due tomorrow and i haven't finished the reading for it yet. anyone know if montana has any sort of guidelines for spending budgets in the library? yeah, me either! so i'm off to do some reading and hopefully accomplish something tonight.

ohhh! and in knitting...i broke down, bought the rusted root pattern, realized i have a skein of the yarn in my basket and am ready to start practicing that lace repeat! yay!!!

(mt. haggin x-country ski area)

workin' so hard...

so i have been knitting. last weekend i started a shawl, promptly realized i wouldn't have enough yarn for it, frogged it and started a scarf. it was love at first k2tog. really. i didn't hate one minute of it. i wanted to knit on forever! i enjoyed the yarn (pattons wool/soy blend stuff--i'm too lazy to get up and find it), i enjoyed the pattern (from my pattern a day calander i got for $4 at the end of january), i just loved it. i took it with me to meet my sisters future inlaws. i took it with me when my sister tried on wedding dresses. i would have taken it into the shower with me if i hadn't known it would felt up. i am pleased. i am in love. and i am proud. i spent like 10 minutes trying to get more photos. you're just going to have to live with this one picture of my baby.

did i mention i have never done a pattern like this. like with holes and yarn overs? almost like a lace pattern (i think, i haven't ventured there yet). this is some seriously proud knitting. then i forgot to wear it to school today to show it off. oh well, there is always tomorrow! with this new found confidence in my ability, i think i am ready to conquor rusted root. i feel that it is in my bones to knit it. i know that i can do the beautiful leaves. i just don't know about cotton yet. i'm a little scared. but i think it might be time for a challenge that doesn't involve library knowledge. bring it on.

also, i got crafty with a pair of jeans. look ma, i actually finished it in a timely fashion! i started this last week as well. you know the drill...old jeans, cut, seam rip, add in some modesty panels, and sew it together. it's my first attempt at using a sewing machine since i was in the 7th grade. i did pretty good i think. i found the directions all over the net and just sort of winged it. life is good

I'm famous!

eh...so i am alive! and i've been knitting, but i have way more exciting new. you all need to go look at the montana standard webpage. it's the butte newspaper. and this article was on the front page today. YEAH!!! the front page! i almost died. but i'll post pictures of the knitting this week. i can't right now because i've got a rocking library chat to attend and then more homework! yay for school!

Happy Birthday!

Here's my dad. he's the number one dad. he comes to anaconda and paints and repairs and does anything i ask him. i love him.

Well, today my dad had a birthday. and i didn't send a card. so here dad:

Happy birthday!!!

what's better than a birthday wish on annes blog?

:)

sleepsfortheweak

once, my younger sister was complaining about being tired. so i replied "sleepsfortheweak" and lex looked at me and said "what?" and i said "sleepsfortheweak" and lexie said "WHAT?" and i looked at her and made eye contact and said "sleep. is. for. the. weak." and lex said "oh! i thought you were making words up. now it's this big joke for us and i tell her that on occassion just to laugh. there really is no point in all that, but dang did we laugh. almost as hard as when we realized we were singing some ac/dc lyrics wrong. but that is a whole nother story!

well. i knit and knit and knit and knit and i don't get anywhere. why? because i'm an idiot. i knit and i drop a stitch. i knit and put it away and three stitches fall of the needle. and because it's funfur, i can't find the dropped stitches and so i unravel the whole stupid thing and start again. i swear, what am i going to do with myself. plus with school and work and life, guh, i'm just lazy. but on the other hand...i do antisipate a change in direction...a new pattern for lexies mittens ala knitpicks. so this week i'll get my poop in a scoop and put in an order.

sorry about the lack of posts. i hate to dissappoint my huge audience (hi dad!) hehehehe oi i crack myself up ps i'm sorry i can't spell!

ahahahha

whew, just posted this to the wrong blog. but here is how my week ended:

bad hair cut for crackers

i'll fill in more later.

Added later:

It was a great weekend. Friday after school I went cross country skiing with some teachers in my building/district. it was a blast! the weather was perfect and the snow was great. and it wasn't nearly as hard as i thought it would be. going uphill seemed sort of backwards to me since i'm a down hill skier, but even that wasn't bad. i know i got a workout but it was really just great fun! i took some photos but not many (i was trying to keep up with the front of the pack!)

oh my gosh though, going down hill in cross country skis is so hard! but so much fun. it was like learning to ski all over again. and i didn't fall once! after skiing we came home and my dad was in butte, so we went to butte to visit him and do some shopping. we came home and emptied out our bathroom because my dad was going to help me paint it on saturday! yay dad!

here's the final project. now, you may not know what it looked like before, but it had weird beige/khaki colored walls. so we painted the ceiling white and the walls this...well...we aren't sure what color it is. we started out with a spring green which was way too bright in our small bathroom. then i went to the store to by other paint and it ended up being torquios it was awful. so i went back to the paint store and we added some green and black and we ended up with this color. i really really dig it. dear husband hated it at first but now he is starting to like it. he told me he gets to pick a new shower curtain and it's going to be a transformer one (i hope he is just kidding!) but i love it, it's like a new bathroom but not nearly as much money! so thanks dad, you're the best!

THEN! on sunday i slept in til like 10, watched tv till 10:30 and cleaned my house. we had some friends come over for dinner tonight and it was such a blast. it's hard to find people to spend time with in anaconda. it's a very close knit (ehhhh--that's the closest to knitting content we're going to get today) community that it's hard to make friends if you aren't from here. so we had adena and scott come over. they're a really fantastic couple. they're quite worldly (adena is from new zealand) so it is nice to have other things to talk about. so it was a nice evening. i made cashew chicken and ice cream sundaes. oh, and roasted asparagus with seasame seeds. it was pretty delicious.

so all in all it was a busy weekend but lots of fun. now its time to study

yeah...

i started my library classes this week. i only have three more (all done this semester) and then i'm done. well, then i have an internship at the public library. but no more classes no more books, no more teachers dirty looks! :) bad words coming from a teacher hehehe. so my knitting will slow down considerably. i really hate online courses. and the university of montana's online portal thing (the program you use to take online courses) is really difficult to understand. plus! i was working on homework tonight and realized i don't have one of my text books. so i had to order it from amazone and i'm praying it gets here by monday because the homework is due! i don't think it should be my fault since the university bookstore was out and that's who we should be able to order it from. so hopefully it will be here!

in other news, i have been knitting. i'm working on the funfur hats still. i have one done (grrrrr i need to get my rear in gear! but in my defense, i had two done, and i frogged them because they weren't the right size and i had dropped a couple of stitches and it was driving me nuts! so i frogged them and now i have two done. so i'm off to work on those and watch some tv since i can't do my homework (boooooo too bad!)

ask me about my knitting!

despite my inability to make up my mind about what to knit, i kept myself rather busy this weekend. i completed two, count them two, hats and one half of a pair of mittens. the mittens are late christmas gifts for my sister. and the hats, they were just out of boredom. the pattern was here. i had some yarn in my small stash that i didn't really like (why do i feel the need to buy yarn in colors i'm not fond of?). so i figured knitting a hat with it couldn't be worse than just having it in a ball. so i got to work. turns out, i wasn't too fond of it knit up. but i had to finish? why? well of course i started it thursday night and promised to to a coworker for their daughters birthday on friday. so i sat down and i got to work. let me show you. just too flat and big and floppy. so i had to reknit it. and i did. that's right folks. during the anaconda/hamilton girls basketball game, i knit. and i knit hard. and i came home and knit. and i changed the pattern and decreased 6 stitches every other round rather than every round. and i did the band in a size smaller needle then called for. and i finished the damn thing. i found two of the cutest buttons that were silver and had square holes. and i even wove in all the ends that night. it was amazing knitting for me. and sunday afternoon i gifted it. without taking a pictures. alas. it was a cute hat. so what do i do? i cast on for some mittens. why not? it's sunday morning. the house is picked up (notice i did not say clean, just picked up). i don't have a really stellar mitten pattern. so i ended up with this point mitten. i like my mittens to have nice rounded tops, not pointy. anyone with a pattern that fits that description i would be soooooo greatful to. so i have one mitten without a thumb done. i'm pleased.

and also. i was reading over here about this. so i decided i would start knitting up some charity hats. well, i haven't bought the yarn because my car has been in the shop since last tuesday (it's fixed, it's beautiful, and i'm thrilled!). so tomorrow i'm going to return my overdue library book. hit up the possible yarn here in town, and then head to butte to get some fun fur to get knitting. dang i wish i could knit at work! so that's my story and i'm sticking too it!

it's a new day...

well school was rockin today. who would of thought? i really enjoyed it. i think being with the kids reminded me why i am a teacher. i absolutely love it when the kids make me laugh (and they do it a lot). i just am feeling insecure about what i do for these kids. but enough about that.

for christmas from my inlaws we got to buy a chair for our living room (we do have other seating, we just really wanted this particular chair). we ended up over estimating the cost of the chair so we had money left over. my wonderful husband let me buy a new pea coat that i had been eyeing for a while. and we STILL had money left over! so we broke down and we bought an automatic cat litter box. such an indulgence, but totally worth it. i love it! although the noise it makes is rather obnoxious, but it's a small price to pay for a clean litter box. i just love it. but the best part is totally the dogs reaction. if he hears the cat box clean (even if he is dead asleep anywhere in our house), he jumps up and runs to watch it. it's hilarious! i think he is envious of the cats. i just have to scoop his poop with a plastic bag. but anyways, i could just go on and on about the benifits of my great cat box...

now to knit or not to knit. let me explain my dilema. in about 15 days, i start my online courses to finish up my library endorsement. i'm a little nervous because damn do i hate online courses. and these just suck. i learn a ton from my teacher (i've had the same teacher for like 5 classes), she's awesome. but i just hate all the work. so i won't be able to knit much. which leaves me with this dilema. i don't know what i want to knit right now. i, unlike it appears to be the rest of blogland, do not have a stash. i have some oddball yarn, but like one or two or half a skeins worth. i do however have about 8 balls of sock yarn (i've produced 1 pair of socks in my knitting time). so, do i break down and buy new yarn for a sweater ( i really really want to make a sweater) even though i wouldn't be able to buy anything else for the month (pb & j it is), or do i knit some socks (small knitting makes me nervous---my mittens are making me ill). or...do i just search through the stash and make another hat (which i do need)? i tell you i don't know what to do. also, i have three beautiful skeins of blue sky alpaca (two baby blue and one white), any suggestions on what to do with it? it has been calling my name...

so that's my problem. i have knitters block. yeah...

duh...i forgot a picture to make the post interesting! these are our wonderful pets: francisco, gus, and crackers. they're great