YATTA!

YATTA!  I have my TN-VISA.  That is all... engage happy times and celebrations all around.  YATTA! YATTA!


YATTA video... watch now you must :D

A free pattern.. recycled knits!

These mitts are a great way to recycle old beloved socks! When the heels/toes wear out beyond repair (or if you hate darning), simply cut off the foot of some old knitted socks (and save as a nifty little pop can/beer cozy!) frog the gusset and heel part of the sock. Grab some needles (I use 2.75mm for most of m socks but if you always use 2.5mm, go for those) and then add a cuff to the "ankle" (work either in garter stitch or in a K1/P1 or K2/P2 rib, whatever you did at the top of the sock!) and you have yourself some gauntlets and you have recycled some old knitted socks!

The socks pictured have a Feather and Fan lace pattern (from the book socks, socks, socks).

Drama of the past few days

Many are probably already aware of the exciting, busy, hectic, crazy, absurd, and tiring roller-coaster ride that Rowan and I have been on recently, but for those that aren't here a bit of a summary.

Those that have been following this blog, know that I've been waiting on some papers, so that I could cross the border and finally get my work VISA.  Well, Tuesday of last week, I finally had those papers in my hand.  Rowan and I booked flights for the next day to Canada to visit with Vissers and friends in Kingston for a few days, before crossing the border back into the US, where the processing would (in theory) take place for my work VISA.

Well, everything was going fantastically, we had a great time in Kingston and were dropped off at the Toronto International Airport by my brother on Sunday morning.  Armed with my passport and the documents from the (large, well known, and well respected) University I will be working for, we approached the pre-flight border guard and asked for my VISA to be processed.  He kindly directed us to the secondary inspection point (as expected), where another guard received my documents, took finger print scans, a photo of me, and we took our seats.

You should see that smiling face in the photo they took (I have a copy of it): bright-eyed, full of hope and excitement, ready to start working hard, and happy as can be.  We didn't have to wait around too long before they called me up.  The border guard read over my petition letter, and when finished, looked up at me and told me that I would very likely be denied my work VISA.  A few questions later and I was asked to sit down while she went to speak with her supervisor.  Needless to say, when she came back nothing had changed and I was ultimately denied the VISA.

So, Rowan and I continued on to the US under the VISAs we had before.  Such an amazing week, but that couldn't change the great disappointment we both felt for the next few days.

Now it's Wednesday and at least I have some better news to report.  The international services here at the University was just as surprised as we were that my VISA was denied, so they figure it must have just been the border guard that I got, as my VISA is pretty much a no-brainer and should have been accepted.  This means that my petition letter will be re-worked and I'll be sent out to try again in a day or two.  Hopefully lightning doesn't strike me twice...

Fisher Men's Vest

I've had some time to knit again recently, and have been making great progress on my sweater... it's now a vest!  Next step will be to knit up the collar, then onto the arms.  Definitely still love the yarn colour and the pattern.  See for yourself.  Don't mind the dazed look on my face.  These photos were taken pretty soon after waking up this morning :D

My Thesis in sock form!

Looky... it's a coral sock... like it was made for me!

Much, MUCH better!

As some of you may know, the internet provided by our apartment is pretty crappy.  Where crappy is defined as sometimes it's incredibly slow just to check email in the evenings.  Well now that I have a job (technically, I will soon have a job), we've decided it's time to fix this problem.  A little bit of research and a little bit of "just going for it", has pointed me to choosing Time Warner Cable (Road Runner).  Decent enough prices, no contract, and hopefully good speeds.  Here's the results of a speed test, pretty much exactly as advertised:

Being cable, it is expected that it won't have peak speed during the evenings (aka, heavy usage times), but still it should be nearly infinitely better than what we had.  Video chatting, movie/music streaming, torrenting, and doing this all at the same time, here we come!

Things I did this weekend....

1) Finish off some Olympic socks!

2) Jason and I cleaned the Apartment
3) Went shopping
4) Had a birthday party
5) Wrote a review of my own manuscript
6) Watched team Canada kick ass!
7) Finished another sock

8) Knit myself a pair of Owl mittens out of leftover yarn