A Tale of Two Socks

I am about halfway through my second sock and I can't help but notice a problem:

The second sock is significantly smaller than the first. Same needles, same yarn, same pattern - different size. This is, ah, unfortunate and most likely means I'm going to frog it and start over and think loose thoughts. Not too loose, obviously, as loose socks are socks you'll walk through quickly. Bugger.

This happened with the second ladybug (in most thing I will pick the British terminology over the American what with living in the UK and all, but it's a bug not a bird!) booties, too. Maybe my tension increases as my confidence grows? I don't know, but it's definitely something to watch for.

In other news, I started the first sunshine booty (waaaaay too big - going to frog and knit on the 2.25mm needles conveniently freed up by frogging the sock), bought more sock yarn (addicted already!), and bought little yellow buttons for the sunshine sweater.

Also, the knitting needle give-away ends tomorrow! Speak up before they're gone forever.

Today I knit a hat

Today I knit a hat while watching the Scottish Open, hosted here in my lovely corner of the Highlands. The golfer I was cheering for, selected randomly because I like his name, didn't do well but I think he's previously earned his invitation to the British Open next weekend, so I may or may not continue watching and root for him in an entirely distracted manner. It's worth noting that my only interest in watching today was to see coverage of my new home (and the swanky golf course everyone keeps talking about).

Did you hear about the freaky weather we've been having? I personally have no reference (I've wintered here twice but this is my first summer) but I'm told this isn't a place that gets oodles of rain or thunderstorms and this weekend we've had both - so much so that the golf course flooded and the surrounding hillsides slid down across the course. The thunder woke us both up shortly before 5am, Saturday morning, three or four miles off. It quieted down and we got back to sleep but it continued to rain and occasionally thunder throughout the day - especially over the golf course. We weren't going to watch the match but followed the news throughout the day as they kept postponing the start time before eventually calling it off altogether at 7:30pm. Very disappointing for the Highlands as getting this tournament is quite the coup. Fortunately the sun came out in the evening and things dried up a bit and, while it rained off and on at our place today, the course mostly stayed dry.

Yesterday, we went to the local garden centre and bought oodles of bird food, mostly b1g1, and an African Violet for me. We also got new water bowls for the cats as Chris is convinced that the reason they like drinking from the Christmas Tree stand (yes, we still have it out in July for Oliver and Libby to drink from, no we don't still have the tree) is that it's bigger and they can both drink at the same time. So we bought a really big bowl for downstairs, where the tree stand was (they seem to like it well enough even though it says DOG), and a slightly-smaller-but-still-bigger-than-their-previous-water-bowl bowl with polka dots for upstairs.

Today we slept in, cleaned (I hoovered downstairs and the stairs, Chris did the loos and kitchen) and watched golf. First I finished attaching sleeves to the sunshine sweater, knit the collar, and wove in the ends. I'm not a huge fan of assembling sweaters and think I'll seek out knit-in-one patterns for the foreseeable future. Then I cast on the matching hat and finished that over Top Gear. I started casting on the booties, modifying the knit-flat pattern to a knit-in-the-round pattern on the fly but I realized I did half the CO with the tail, not the main thread and frogged the whole thing. That'll wait till tomorrow.

Anyway, hat is finished, sweater just needs buttons, and the booties should follow quickly. Pictures will have to wait as they're a gift and the recipient should get them before seeing a lot of pictures on the web. I'm wacky like that.

An Immigrant Should Occasionally Blog About Immigration

Since it's a FAQ in my life, no being married to an Englishman (in Scotland) does not automatically confer British citizenship. It doesn't even grant me residency or any other thing that would make living with my husband, well, possible. What it does grant me (other than a mutual promise to live together and cherish each other for ever and ever and always) is the chance to apply for Further Leave to Remain (Married). "Futher", because I'm already in the country (it would be a Spousal visa if I weren't) and "Leave to Remain" because I don't have to leave. Yet. FLR(M) is good for two years at which time, under the current system*, I can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain and stay, well, indefinitely - unless I leave the country for two years (I'd get to start all over should I wish to return). ILR is, among other things, a requirement for citizenship. Each of these requires an application to be filled out, fees to be paid, and documents submitted.

That's where I am now - filling out the application for FLR(M). How this one works is I download the interactive PDF (my first experience with one of these) which is saved on my computer. They estimate it will take about 3.5hrs to complete, not including the time needed to gather supporting evidence. I found this estimate to be somewhat...generous, though I did have to save it and consult a friend from UKY** as to the specific timings referred to by two questions: When did you decide to live together as a married couple? and When did you start living together? She concurs that they mean when did we get engaged and we started living together when I came over this last August on my student visa. The six months I spent here the previous winter I was "visiting" not "living with", an important immigration distinction. I emailed the PDF to my husband to look over and he quibbled over some answers (I got the correct number of years he'd lived in the UK (his whole life) but miscounted by a month) and agreed that it looks ready to be submitted.

Only I can't submit it yet. See, when I submit the application, I'll upload it to the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) website, indicate if I've booked an in-person appointment or will be mailing it in - if mailing pay the £550 fee; if in-person, pay £850 at the time of appointment - collect the supporting documents that will be requested at time of submission, and either bring them to the appointment (along with my husband) or mail them in with the official version of my application that I need to print out and sign (presumably along with my husband).

Did you catch the problems there? If I want an in-person appointment, I have to book it before I upload my application. They won't tell me which supporting documents I require until after I upload my application. Now, because I hang out on an immigration forum I have a fairly good idea what will be required - a recent UK-size passport photo, our marriage certificate, utility bills in both our names (or each, but ours are in both), paystubs and bank statements showing we have at least £106 each month after taxes and paying the mortgage, a copy of the mortgage. All of these have to be "original documents" which can be a problem in the modern world of online-statements and online billing. We switched back to paper statements after trying to get "authorized copies" for my Tier 4 (student) Visa.

But if they ask for something I don't expect? I saw on UKY that other people who are switching from Tier 4 to FLR(M) are including a letter from their university saying they're attending and passing all of their courses. Do I need such a document or are they providing excessive paperwork? Having booked my appointment, I'll have a limited amount of time in which to procure any supplemental documents, but I have to book an appointment before my current visa runs out in 41 days. And yes, booking an in-person appointment (in Glasgow) is more expensive than applying by post but I'd get a same-day decision rather than 3-4 months of limbo that I'd get if I apply by post. 3-4 months of limbo, living in a foreign country without my passport or the visa showing that I'm allowed to be here.

What's involved in booking an in-person appointment? I'm glad you asked: I went to the in-person appointment page, read through all the guidances, noted that Glasgow is my closest appointment centre (that's the other side of Scotland from Inverness), and "registered" to book an appointment. First I had to verify that I'm read all the regulations - that I'm applying for a visa that can use the in-person service, that I'm not booking an appointment for more than 10 members of a family unit, and a few other questions I can't remember. Second, they needed an easy-to remember but difficult to guess word between 8 and 12 characters, all letters. I picked one, typed it in, and wrote it down on a pad of paper: "UKBA: Memorable word: MEMORABLEWORD***". My word is, therefore, hard to guess unless you A) have ever met me or B) can find the large legal pad sitting next to my laptop with "UKBA: Memorable word: MEMORABLEWORD" blazoned across the top. On the next page they asked for my first and last names, my phone number - preferably a mobile so that they may send me an sms, and a valid email address. Since it's just me, I didn't have to enter information for anyone else. On the fourth page I'm asked to verify that my name, phone number, and email are all correct and enter the 2nd, 4th, and last character of my memorable word. Apparently they're already worried that someone may be trying to impersonate me.

That's it - my application to register is complete. Wait, my application to register? I'm not actually registered? That's correct. I got an email telling me that my application was being reviewed. Later I got an email saying that I'm registered and here's a 9-digit Reference ID and a 16-character Transaction ID which, along with randomly requested characters from my Memorable Word, will allow me to log-in and attempt to book an in-person appointment.

Or I could've called the application centre's phone number and booked an appointment over the phone.

That's where I've left things for today.

* I say "current system" because later this week they're going to announce changes to the family settlement route, changes that are expected to include extending the probationary period before you can apply for ILR to 5 years and, of course, the semi-annual fees hike. The UKBA does not believe in "grandfathering" people in - when they move the goal post, I have to aim for the new one. This means I, and every other settlement-seeker, am aiming for a goal-post that will be somewhere else by the time I reach it.

** UK Yankee, a forum for US citizens living in the UK

*** not my Memorable Word

The Other Bridesmaid Shawls

Flower Basket Shawl - Evelyn A. Clark
King Cole "Riot" - Magic 404 - 100g/296m - 70% Acrylic, 30% wool
I wasn't sure when Miss Krissy was going to find my blog, what with it being linked to hers*, so I didn't want to post pictures before I gave it to her, but now I can! The pattern knit up fairly quickly. I wasn't able to memorize the pattern until chart B, but once I got there I could "see" the lace and how each row followed the proceeding row and it went very quickly from there. I added a few extra repeats (11 in total) to make it an actual shawl, not just a shoulder-warmer and used most of two rows in doing so. The second skein of yarn had some knots in it, always frustrating, and split when I was trying to untwist it which was even more frustrating. The colours were similar to the ones Krissy wanted to dye her hair for the wedding, and worked out better than planned as she didn't put any green in her hair but some of the colours in her hair took a greenish tinge as they faded and bleed. Her youngest doesn't like to wear warm clothes but gets cold, and Miss Krissy found the shawl useful to tie around herself and the baby when she's wearing her.

I understand why people advise against knitting lace in variegated yarn as, as the rows got longer and the colour-pools shallower, the pattern got a bit lost. I enjoyed the pattern and may knit another one, in solid or semi-solid for myself. For Miss Krissy, I think the colours are more important than the lace.



Annis - Susanna IC
Patton's Grace, Artessano 100% Alpaca 4-ply
And this is Miss Laura's shawl. I actually knit it twice as the first one didn't look right after I blocked it - the needles were too large for the yarn, which created a nice drape but made it impossible to weave in the ends in the middle of the fabric. Since it's mostly knit in short rows, I couldn't change skeins of yarn at the edge. I bought two skeins of Alpaca in a colour-way that I felt would be even more appropriate for Miss Laura and knit it on smaller needles and the pile of the yarn and smaller stitches worked better for hiding the ends I had to weave in. I wanted to make it bigger than the pattern but was worried about running out of yarn again so I didn't, and it turned out a bit on the small side - definitely a scarf and not a shawl, and the top rolls, but it is very suited to Miss Laura's personality. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Miss Laura's shawl before I gave it to her and I have no specific pictures of any of the shawls after gifting them.

* she didn't find it until I specifically gave her the link today. Hi, Miss Krissy!

Knitting Needle Give-Away

My first give-away!*

For Christmas my then-fiancé-now-husband gave me a set of KnitPro intercheangeable wood needles. This giveaway is not for them but rather for some of the cheap needles I bought when I was first learning to knit and no longer need - and I want them out of my knitting box. In all honesty, I doubt I need half the needles I am keeping, outwith my interchangeables, but you never know when you're going to want a second circ for a Turkish CO or when I may wish to use DPNs rather than Magic Loop for a project. It could happen.

In the meantime, I have some needles with which I am willing to part:

Straight Pins:
Clover "Bamboo Premium", size 5.0mm (8US), 32cm(9in) long

DPNS:
Bryspun Bry-Flex (plastic), size 4.5mm (7US), 5in long, set of 5
Bryspun Bry-Flex (plastic), size 4.0mm (6US), 5in long, set of 5

Circulars:
Susan Bates (metal), 4.5mm (7US), 81cm (32") long
Susan Bates (metal), 5.5mm (9US), 81cm (32") long - no packaging
Clover "Bamboo Premium", size 4.5mm (7US), 41cm(16in) long - no packaging
Clover "Bamboo Premium", size 5.0mm (8US), 41cm(16in) long - 3 pairs (don't ask - I already gave away a fourth), packaging for one pair

That's it. Those are the needles with which, at this time, I wish to part. I have no idea how much it'd cost to post them so while I'll most likely cover it within mainland UK (especially if you'll take all of them off my hands), I make no promises. If no-one wants them by this time next Tuesday (12 July) I'm taking them to my local knitting night, and after that to a charity shop. If more than one person asks for any given pair of needles I will make an arbitrary decision, blah blah blah.

* Saying it like this makes it sound like I'm a cool blogger with lots of readers who regularly gives away nifty things to those readers. This is far, far from the truth.

I'm going to run out of sock puns in short order

I'm going to run out of sock puns in short order so I'll save what few I have for special occasions - such as actually finishing a sock (not even a pair, just one). It is knitting up fairly quickly now that I'm actually knitting again though yesterday we slept in till noon (I'd wake up, see Chris was still asleep and roll over; he'd wake up, see that I was still asleep and roll over...) and then I lay out in the garden for a bit because it was actually sunny and warm for the first time in at least a month and having watched 3 more episodes of Game of Thrones the day before my Song of Fire and Ice reread was calling to me. It's not so much that I forgot how good the books are as I deliberately wasn't thinking about it as the wait between books is so long. But I read a few chapters on the lawn and then dead-headed my rose bushes and chopped the big one back down to about six feet tall. She wants to take over the world and I want her to keep flowering and not eat people. I am somewhat miffed that it started blooming right when we left to get married and I came back to find those early roses had already died. Fortunately there's oodles more. I actually get two very different types of roses on the big bush, little single-row white roses and bigger pink tea roses. They're dark coral as buds but blossom a very delicate pink.


That done and the sun behind clouds I came inside, caught up on my social networks and knit a little while Chris watched Wimbledon. I keep forgetting that he played tennis when he was a little lad. Not my idea of an exciting sport, but then none of the sports he likes are my idea of exciting. After that ended, he went to do some work in the office (upstairs) and I watched an episode from season 3 of Doctor Who (I'm almost up to Blink!) and had to model his sock on my own foot which may have been a mistake as he's now convinced that I'm going to keep them for myself. Then I made dinner, mini shells with peas and pancetta, and we watched Top Gear, House, and a Stargate:SG1.


I don't think I'm going to tell you what all telly I watch in a day as it sounds like (and is) a rather un-flattering amount of telly. But telly, especially telly I've seen before, is great background for when I'm knitting. My hands are busy but my eyes and ears get bored. I tune out music too easily and I don't like audio books, so telly is my best option.

Nothing Much is Happening

Since last I've updated: I've reknit the left side of the baby sweater to include button holes and started the second sleeve; I've knit another repeat of the lace pattern for my first sock and have started the heel, though I'm not yet ready to turn it; I've been gifted a giant sofa doily/shawl (I believe it's a silk blend) and a bag of silk yarn in red (7 50g/124m balls and most of an 8th, and, oh yeah, I got married. You are now reading the blog of Mrs Christopher Aves.


Cascading Hearts Faroese Shawl - Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Misti Alpaca, Tonos Carnaval: Symphony Blue - 100g/400m - 50% Alpaca/30% Merino/10% Nylon/10% Silk
Pardon the extra large picture, but I've been wanting to crow about this shawl since I finished knitting it several months ago and this is the only picture I have of it blocked. Chris and I picked the Cascading Hearts pattern of off Ravelry and I had hearts embroidered on my dress to match. I also picked up a heart shawl pin to secure my shawl (not that you really need one with a Faroese shawl), and everything was done in blues to accent the tartan of Chris' kilt and, even though it rained all day, it was too warm to wear it. So this is the only picture (though another aunt took the same picture), when I modelled it for my mother and her sisters. I would be heartbroken that, after waiting so long to use it, I never put it on except the day was so amazingly wonderful that I can't be upset about the things that genuinely went wrong, let alone something as small as not getting to show off my shawl. The yarn was lovely to work with. I used about 2 and a half skeins and keep eyeing the remainder for a hat, mittens, or neck-warmer.