Lots of fluffy knitting but I'm going GRRRRRRR

Ooooooh I'm in SUCH a GRRRRRRRRR mood. An interesting combination of coming off anti-depressants and being on the blob. You know when you're in one of those moods where you just have to be totally irrational and you can't concentrate on one thing for more than 10 minutes at a time? Yep? That's the one.

I didn't think me + car was a good thing today (and Monkey is still charging an extortionate number of bananas for chauffering duties) so am doing some work at home - have got a sort of conferencey thing to organise (which is scaring me silly cos it's getting more complicated by the minute, we now have two alternative tours for the morning and one group has an hour to stand around doing nothing in before their tour starts. I think I may have found a way to plug that gap (teach them to knit?) but am waiting for someone to get back to me... Wish I could teach them to knit, it would be much more interesting than some of the options I've come up with, but as it's a librarian thing knitting is not really on the agenda.)

As I can't concentrate on that for more than 10 mins at a time... I'm also putting together an article I was meant to write a while ago for an academic journal(oops). Hmm, wonder how much of that will have to be rewritten?!

Did anyone watch the "it's not easy being green" programme last night? I was hoping it might be slightly more practical from my point of view. But I can't see myself farming a 3 acre plot and killing my own pigs anytime ever. But an entertaining programme nevertheless, and it did look fun to spend a summer having mud and water fights. Have just finished reading "A good life", which I had from the library. Think I preferred it to the "Good Shopping Guide", as there was a lot more background as well as suggestions of better brands/products to buy. I liked having the information that wasn't necessarily about buying more stuff, but more about rethinking how I do things. Bit like the ideas on the Generous website.

Not all is doom and gloom and avoiding buying things however (oops)!
I got this in the post along with some stuff to put in my SP's parcel:

Well, I was already paying for the postage at Curious Yarns, so it would have been silly not to get something else too, wouldn't it?! This is their Sock Yarn, in the Gothic colourway. Hazel gave me a skein of their two-skein sock yarn for Christmas, which I loved knitting with and it washed really well. My parcel has only just arrived (it got a bit delayed), then I went on their website this morning to find a whole new load of sock yarn colours and some funky critters to knit. Grrrr, am now drooling over the new colours...

This is progress on my Maya bag. Well, it's not mine, it's for my SIL's birthday, but I'm becoming very tempted to make one for me too. Only I must not buy any more yarn! It's a fun knit, the Maya feels lovely, although I find 8mm needles hard work as they feel enormous.

And I couldn't resist starting the Smith socks from Noro Knits. These are really quick and are loads of fun to knit so one is already finished! I made the leg about 10 cm shorter than the pattern as they seemed to be very long indeed. They're lovely and snuggly and warm (just the thing for Spring then!)
So far I've used over half a ball of DB cashmerino aran in shade 007, a rust/orange/red (not very James Bond like) and a ball of Noro Silk Garden in colourway 84.

And yes, that is Cranberry still blocking in the background. She is actually blocked and just haven't got round to doing anything else to her yet. This is the difference with blocking in the conservatory on the pseudo-sofa. When I used to block things on a sheet on the living room floor I was in a hurry to get them finished so I could get to the other side of the room. Now the sense of urgency has gone.