• Oxleas Wood Café. I haven't written there for a long time, but there was a time when I was there 2-3 days a week with a laptop. Probably need to do that again.
  
• Generic coffee shop writing, with or without free wi-fi. Actually, without is probably better. I find that getting out of the house helps me not beat myself up because there's a sink full of dishes somewhere not being washed. I used to particularly enjoy writing in very public places and just tuning out whatever was going on. I remember in high school purposefully writing in the IAA cafeteria because in my room I was available, and in the cafeteria if I took a seat off the beaten path and had my head down over a legal pad, I was likely not to be disturbed. Singapore, believe it or not, was great for this. Everyone mostly moves very fast in Singapore, so if you're the sole person taking up space at the back of the coffee shop (where there is certainly free wi-fi), nobody is going to complain overmuch. Also, you're obviously a tourist.
  
• Anywhere quiet and isolated. I've actually done searches for places that have picnic tables in and around London that aren't attached to particular restaurants or cafés. These are less common here than in the US, for some reason.
  
• I'm interested in the idea of writing in train stations, but there are few good places to sit with a laptop that aren't attached to specific restaurants or cafés, and there's only so much coffee I can consume over time. Writing on trains also appeals as a concept, but long train journeys are few and far between for me, I'm almost never alone, and sleeping seems to be a more common default switch for my brain than writing.

• Makes coffee that doesn't taste as bad as instant by the cup and immediately;
  
• Is fun to play with;
  
• Is easy to clean;
  
• Means everybody can have whatever sort of hot beverage they want without lots of prep. You can see a list of available capsules here.

• Takes up a bit of space (but is all in one piece and easy to put away);
  
• Uses only Dolce Gusto coffee pods;
  
• Coffee pods are expensive (£3.28 online, £3.75ish at Sainsbury's. The prices are the same whether you're getting a coffee that requires 2 pods (8 cups/box of pods) or only 1 (16 cups/box of pods).

• You can steam an entire meal using all three baskets, or just steam some rice using only one;
  
• The appliance stacks away neatly and takes up less space when stored;
  
• It shuts itself off automatically according to a timer you set;

• We have found it difficult to clean, but your mileage may vary;
  
• One of the steamer tiers has a crack in it, but this does not affect performance;
  
• Tastes tend to travel upwards in the steamer and drips tend to travel downwards, so particularly if you're steaming fish, will have rice and veg that tastes of fish if you steam three things together

My settlement visa (spouse) dates from September, 2005. My ILR dates from 2007. I thought the classification would be from the date of my settlement visa and place me firmly in the home student bracket, since I've had residency for more than the three years I've seen specified. However, a recent postgraduate application has landed in my prospective university's international admissions office. Am I doomed to international studenthood for another year?

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• MCA Direct is a fantastic source of the kinds of wool you’d find in a haberdasher’s or a Hobbycraft. They sell all grades of acrylics, wools from Sirdar, Patons, Jaegar and Wendy. Their high end is Rowan wools and Regia sock yarns. They often have good closeouts on discontinued wools and sell project packs at a discount. Ordering from them is fast, direct, and personal; I got an apologetic email when I ordered something that had just been sold out, for example.
  
• Texere sells bulk wools on cones at pretty good prices. You can find all kinds of grades and blends, not all of which are suitable for handknitting. They do sell some balled yarns, but the thing you’d be looking for here is large amounts of yarn for specific projects.
  
• ColourMart has a fantastic array of fine laceweight to aran weight fibres. They specialise in cashmere, silk, and other high-end fibres, and their selection, while mercurial, is vast. Do not visit this site if you are a lace knitter with an online shopping addiction. You Have Been Warned. ;-)
  
• First 4 Yarns comes highly recommended. They’re another supplier of mixed yarns, including some higher end things.
  
• Get Knitted is a big mail-order outlet that recently opened a storefront in Bristol. They’ve been the ‘best’ UK mail order shop for a long time, and they carry knitpicks needles and other posh accessories.
  
• Socktopus is a mail order shop that caters exclusively to socknitters. They also have a storefront shop in London, but I haven’t been in. While they look good on paper and run a lot of workshops, their website selection is often thin or out of stock. I’ve never ordered anything from them.
  
• Knit N Caboodle is another big mail order supplier; they have Zauberball at better prices than anybody else, and they also sell ‘Purple Pins’ dpns, which are very cool to look at. I’ve recently heard stories that their fulfilment is slow and not great, but I’ve also had friends get instant responses from them, so your mileage may vary.
  
• Colinette Yarns sells directly from their mill although they’re also distributed worldwide. Their website is often the best place to find the perfect colour of whatever Colinette yarn you’re looking for, and fulfilment is pretty fast. I’m particularly enamoured of Jitterbug, their excellent multicoloured sockweight yarn.
  
• Angel Yarns is the only online shop I’d put in the ‘avoid’ category. Their website is not tied to their stock, apparently, because everything is listed as in stock, but you can wait ages (and I do mean ages) while they procure your stock. Highly annoying. I ordered twice from them while we were in Singapore, and they never managed to get an order right.