Too Many Projects

A couple of weeks ago I was struggling to knit anything at all and now I find myself with way too many projects on the go at once....
Firstly I have a pair of socks for my SoSeSaSwa partner - they are pink and knitted in NDS Angel and that's all I can say until she has received them.
Secondly I have a completed Corsica Waistband.
Thirdly I have half a wristwarmer....It was freezing cold this week and I am trying not to put the Central Heating on during the day, my hands were like ice blocks and I could hardly type. I suddenly thought "I need handwarmers" and started scavenging Ravelry for suitable patterns. I don't like fingerless gloves, they remind me of Fagin, so I was looking for something a bit different. I came across these and printed the pattern off only to find that I didn't really have anything the right weight in my stash that I was prepared to use. My brain was too cold to begin to work out the maths required to make it work with the yarn I do have so I reluctantly gave up. I still want a pair though and have added it to my queue.
I scouted around for a few more hours (ravelry is great when you don't want to do any work) and then started to knit these in some beautiful cashmere aran from Hipknits. I got one skein in a mixed Sale Bag of blue and green yarn and I absolutely love it - shame they don't do it any more.... Anyway I knitted a few rows before realising that even though my gauge was fine, they wouldn't go over my hand - frogged and stared again and have now got up to the bottom of my fingers....but I don't like them. I've stopped knitting on them whilst I have a rethink. I definitely need something to cover my wrists and then flare out over my hands so that my fingers are still free - oh and I only have 75 yards of Aran Weight - any suggestions????

My son's school asked me to teach the children to knit and my son's class teacher said she wanted to knit doves for the Church Christmas Tree, which is being decorated in the theme of 'Peace'. Knitted Doves????? Of course - Alan Dart to the rescue and a few minutes later I had made one of these.
My son's teacher loved it and asked my son to make on for her, two girls in his class also wanted one. So this weekend I've made another three and am currently knitting up the pattern in chunky wool on 6mm needles so it will easier for the 10 and 11 year olds....wish me luck, I'm not that patient with kids.....
Oh and the new Twist Collective threw up yet more beautiful patterns to add to my queue - only one complaint though, they are almost all in Chunky weight yarn and there isn't really a cheap Chunky yarn available in the UK so I don't think I'll be able to knit them any time soon. But if you haven't seen Twist Collective yet - take a look, it's much much better than the Winter IK preview that has also just gone online.

Fish

Monday is fish tank cleaning day. The Tropical Fish belong to my son but guess who has to clean the tank each week? It takes me anything from 30 mins to 1.5 hours depending on the number of jobs that need to be done and each week I dread doing it and then find myself being sucked in by the task, wanting to make the tank look perfect.

I siphon out 3 buckets of water, change the top layer of the filter, dismantle the pump and check it's clean, clean the algae from the front and side glass and remove any dead bits of plant. Then I make up 3 more buckets of clean water (with chemicals to make the water safe) and put the 30 litres of water back into the tank. Wipe the lights and put the pump back on and the job is done.

I'd like to have a beautiful planted tank like the ones in my son's Practical Fishkeeping magazines but it's much more difficult than it looks. My plants don't exactly thrive and there is always algae on them. Strange that I can rescue almost any house or garden plant and lovingly nurse it back to life, but aquatic plants don't seem to respond the same way.....

Oh and the Beastie at the top is my son's favourite fish - a Golden Nugget Plec. It eats most of the plants and produces masses of pooh out the other end - messy messy beast!