17 Mar 2012
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Knitting
Every Zombie killer needs a hat. You can’t fight off the hordes of undead without something that makes you feel special and beautiful, right? And it needs to be knitted in a yarn that washes easily. Blood is so difficult to get out, don’t you think?
So, to help you on your fashion fabulous zombie killing way, here is a free hat knitting pattern based on the one worn by Little Rock in the movie Zombieland. Yeah.
02 Feb 2011
by Tamsinin Knitography, Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Kindle, Knitting, South Africa
Like the lesser spotted Woolly Mammoth, the Woolly Kindle is a rare and beautiful beast. It lurks in dark places and lures you in with its siren call of, “Boooooks, boooooooooooks, read my boooooks.”
The Woolly Kindle is also free. Yes. All you need is 1x Kindle and some basic ingredients to create this majestic creature.
Ok, I’ll stop talking rubbish and explain.
My Kindle is an older version (it was a gift from My Person) so there are very few ready-made covers for it. I also bought myself an utterly divine skein of handspun and hand-dyed merino wool (made from a pet sheep called Barney, ohhh yes) that demands it is used for something I touch regularly.
The result? I discovered two awesome patterns for Kindle covers that are both free and quite easy to make.
For the Monster Kindle Cover you’ll have to work in the round but it is quite an easy feat on circular needles. You may also have to register/log-in to Ravelry in order to see it as this was very kindly created and donated by a Ravelry member.
The Baobab is gorgeous, very easy to make, and has sentimental value because of the fact that it grows in Souf Efrica. Yes, I am aware that it is a little bit sad, but hey.
Fabulous free patterns, awesome Kindle covers. Life is good.
29 Jan 2011
by Tamsinin Knitography, Knitting Mama Tags: Crafty, Free, Kindle
Hot on the heels of my Daily Mailesque reveal of my tawdry relationship with my Kindle, here comes an utterly delicious free pattern for those of you who’ve also succumbed to Kindle love.
While this particular pattern is Kindlelicious, it will work just as well for any other eReader, just fiddle the measurements a bit here and there. Simple and gorgeous, this is a great pattern from The Sometimes Crafter.
11 Jan 2011
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Gaming, Geek Knit, Knitting
Fancy knitting yourself a Sack Boy? Yeah, me too. I haven’t even played the game, LittleBIGPlanet, and I want to own myself one of these little dudes. He is just too cute. I could eat him with a SPOON!
This is really not a complicated knit at all, there are some fiddly bits here and then that give my sadly pathetic skills some pause, but he is the kind of character that can get away with an mistake or two. I HEART this knit.
So…prepare your sticks and get knitting. Sack Boy all the way…
Oh, and thanks must go to Simply Knitting who let The Sun use the pattern and let all us happy geek knitters get a chance to create him for free.
01 Dec 2010
by Tamsinin Fascinating Things, Slightly Insane Tags: Christmas, Fascinating, Free, Portable North Pole, Squidge
There are some things that I love in this world and one of the biggest things is technology. How I adore it.
I adore the iPad that is currently stuck in the snow on the M25 (not really, pure conjecture, but the thought amuses me), the Kindle that I kiss goodnight every night AND the software that makes it possible to create a message from Santa for Squidge.
This is the best idea EVER. I love it. I heart it. The portable north pole and Santa’s message to your child, completely and utterly personalised. I can’t wait for her to get home so I can show it to her. Giggle. Grin. Chortle. Snigger. Chuckle.
30 Nov 2010
by Tamsinin Get Fit For Charity, Review Tags: Charity, Exercise, Fascinating, Fat, Free, Get Fit For Charity
- Image from: http://www.brmemc.com/
I electrocuted my stomach and I liked it. Wahooo!!!
But first, before I reveal all, a word from our sponsor…
“Oooh, it has been AGES since my last post. The utter madness of my approaching holiday is sucking up every last minute. And, to be fair, I did fall over and play endless Peggle on the weekend because I was a big lazy git. HA! Sorry, please come back. I love you.”
So, what am I wittering on about today. Well it is actually a review of a product I was sent about a month ago. A Slendertone Abs Kit.
Now, let me tell you, I was sceptical. I’ve always wanted one of these but I’ve also always been very wary of their claims. If I have a load of fat wibbling about on my belly then there is no way that flexing the muscles is going to strip that fat away.
This time, because I am on the Get Fit for Charity Challenge (back in full swing there, mates!) I have been eating six times a day, on a strict calorie regime, and exercising every morning at around 6am. It was obvious that I would lose weight on my belly whether I used the Slendertone or not, so I decided to do a controlled test.
For two weeks I ate the same food and did the same exercise, the only difference was that for one week I did sit-ups and for the other week I used the ab buster. The first week was the sit-ups. 90 sit-ups spread over three different positions with varigated holding times. By the end of that week I’d lost 1.5 inches on my waist at the thinnest part, and .5 inches on the fatty bit just above the hips.
In the second week I used the Slendertone. After two days I realised I was doing it wrong and had to start again. I wasn’t really pushing it to the limits. Once I pushed it to really zap me, a sensation that I have come to REALLY enjoy, I was actually stiff the next day. Genuinely stiff.
This took me by surprise. For nearly 40 years I thought these were gimmicks, and yet I was feeling more burn after using the Slendertone that I did when I was doing sit-ups. I did this every day with two rest days, over a period of seven days. Exactly the same schedule as the abs in my usual routine.
So…want to know the results? I lost two inches on my waist at the narrowest part and .5 inches on the fatty bit just above the hips.
It appears that the Slendertone works just as well as standard ab exercises and has measurable results with a controlled diet and exercise regime. I can’t say that it would compete with, say, a workout like Shaun P.’s Insanity, but for anyone looking to tone their abs while watching CSI, this is great.
The entire system really appeals to me. I love running and gymming and all those things, I do. But after a day of running around with school stuff, work stuff, house stuff, admin stuff, blah blah blah, it IS nice to flop on the sofa, plop on the Slendertones and get exercised while doing NOTHING.
I just have to add, though, putting them pads on your bare flesh? COLD! Is very COLD. I pull that face you get when you are about to get in cold water or do something you know you have to, but don’t wanna.
So yes, I electrocuted my stomach and I liked it. Yeah, baby, yeah.
22 Nov 2010
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum, Review Tags: Exercise, Face, Free, Husband, Review, School, South Africa, Squidge
I did. It was all inspired by the post entitled “My Face Fell Off“. Someone from the Modern Herbals offices got in touch with me and recommended I try out their Syno-Vital Hyaluronan product which is made from….the same stuff that you find in the vitreous humor of the eye. Awesome.
Eye- juice. How could I resist?
The box arrived all nice and shiny and I whipped it open to find lots of little silver packages lurking inside. I was instructed to rip off the top, tip the contents into some water, and chug it down. All before food!
Now, I am rubbish at remembering to take pills of any kind. You should see how crap I am at remembering my echinacea so I don’t get sick in SA. I had to put these guys right next to the bread bin so that I wouldn’t miss them when I went to make breakfast every morning.
It actually worked! I took the sachets every single day for 30 days. The taste was, ahem, unusual. It’s an almost faintly salty, flat flavour that doesn’t offend the palate but does kind of make you feel like you really are drinking eye-juice.
So what is it? Hyaluronic Acid is a natural part of the body found in the joints for lubrication and it binds 1000 times its weight in water, making it the ultimate natural moisturiser and nutrient carrier. Oooh.
As we age our bodies produce less of the stuff (stupid aging) so theoretically if you use this every day you will be keeping your body nice and moisturised and your nutrients will be wonderfully transported.
This particular product is made from premium grade Hyaluronan with a molecular weight of between 2.1 and 2.5 million Daltons. Sadly this is NOT Timothy Daltons. Not even in his heyday. Sorry. I still don’t know what a Dalton is but it looks important here and these guys apparently have far more Daltons than some competing brands.
At first I didn’t notice a difference at all. And I honestly did peer into the mirror a lot, an experience I don’t particularly relish anymore.
It was a hellish month – these 30 days that I took the product – with The Husband and I getting about 4-5 hours sleep a night. Squidge was struggling to settle into school and had bizarre sleep patterns, we were both manic with ridiculous amounts of work, and I started my diet (that hasn’t been going to well. Am very ashamed. More on that tomorrow).
Needless to say, the Syno-Vital had one montrous task ahead of it. I monitored my skin and I have to say that, in spite of no sleep and lots of work, I wasn’t looking as haggard as I usually do after a month like this. It looks like this stuff really works. I’d be interested to know how well it would do when I am well rested! So I have plans to buy a box for South Africa holiday and do another check.
I waited for another three weeks after the product finished to see if my skin reflected any changes. Again, it was a tough few weeks with me getting about 3-5 hours sleep a night and, let me tell you, this was a period of definite Face Falling Off.
As I am not a scientist I can’t say that I discovered any miracle results as my tests were not entirely scientific in nature. However, I can say that a month ON the sachets vs. three weeks OFF the sachets shows a difference. Not a massive difference, I only took it for 30 days, but a difference nonetheless.
Considering the cost of creams and other such things, I am inclined to make this my new beauty regime treat. I like the fact that it does more than just make me “appear” younger, that it also promotes health and well being. I didn’t get a cold while I was taking it, but am suffering from a monster one today.
Connected? Maybe…
20 Oct 2010
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Pattern
I haven’t stopped snorting and sniggering since I discovered this free knitting pattern. I mean. Seriously. It’s genius. Not only do you, as a geek, get to unleash your inner weirdo, but you get to knit yourself some bacteria. And, if you can part with them, they’d make an awesome gift for a baby.
Just think about it…Baby’s first bacteria! What parent wouldn’t thank you profusely for being so thoughtful?
17 Oct 2010
by Tamsinin Get Fit For Charity, Knitting Mama, Saffa, Slightly Insane Tags: Baby Loss Awareness, Blog, Child, Exercise, Fat, Free, Half Term, Knitting, Mommy, Pattern, School
WELCOME TO SUNDAY! Ohhh, I do hope you are having a fantastical day. Over here at Tamsin Towers it has been a manic couple of weeks. So much so, that I’ve barely been able to visit my favourite blogs and say hello to my favourite people. The next week isn’t looking that much better but Half Term is coming so enforced relaxation is on its way.
I haven’t given my blog a focus. This has been bugging me a lot lately. A focus means more ideas and strategy. So, hopefully, over the next few weeks I’ll be implementing a stronger focus on parenting issues and crafty parenting.
And here, in all it’s glory, is the week’s roundup…
This week I started my Get Fit for Charity mission. So far I have ten sponsors which is, I have to say, more than I ever expected. It’s been a tough couple of days and the past few days I’ve been the I in Pain. I had to go down the stairs on my bum for a 2am toilet break last night. My legs were just Too Sore For Words.
I can’t WAIT for the weekly measurement and weigh-in on Wednesday. 
If you fancy sponsoring me, please do. Every penny is going to Learn As One, a worthy cause indeed. If you haven’t already seen how I look now visit here. Look right to see Sarah’s transformation and how I plan to look by Christmas. Wahey!
OH AND! AND! I was sent a Slendertone System Abs kit to try out for a month. Now, because I am also doing masses of crunches and stomach killing exercises with my diet and exercise plan, I wanted to make sure that this was a fair review.
SO, I am using it on the non-abs days and The Husband, who can’t exercise at the moment due to an arm injury, is using it on the same days for the same time! He is my control group. Not exactly a WILLING control group, I’ll give you that. There are yelps of, “It’s cold” and “Urgh, STICKY!”
It’s true. The pads are cold and sticky. But I am loving the tickly sensation when its doing its thing. Its quite relaxing actually. I find myself getting quite zen as I knit, watch Medium (one of my all time favourite shows EVER. How can you not love a show about a middle-aged mum of three who kicks butt?) and get stomached by Slendertone.
I am deeply sceptical of products like these but perhaps with The Husband as control group A, and Sarah as control group B (she knows how long it took her abs to show when she started the programme the first time) we can see how much of an impact this system has on my figure.
It was with vast quantities of anger and sorrow that I saw Baby Loss Awareness get covered in chocolate. It was a sad moment in our media history and I truly hope their protest made some difference. Sadly I can’t find anything about it in the news. I wish I had litres of cash so I could make a difference.
I joined in with thousands of British Mummy Bloggers at their #savvyhalfterm twitter party. It was really good! Many of the ideas were pure genius and others extremely funny. I lost many hours to scrolling through the stream and reading the ideas. I know I’ve stolen several for my half-term plans! Here are some of mine.
And I uncovered an adorable free knitting pattern for babies that has had several emails come my way cooing in delight. This pattern is actually quite simple and will make anyone really happy if you decided to pick up the sticks and knit it for them. If you get stuck with any parts of the pattern just drop me an email tamsin [@] saffasogood [dot] com, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
Tomorrow will be all about dissecting the morning news of the day, an aching body update on Get Fit for Charity, and something insane this way comes…
11 Oct 2010
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Baby, Free, Knitting
Debbie Bliss is all over the place at the moment. I reckon she’s stalking me. Every page I turn, every knit I peek at, there she is. This free baby knit is, you guessed it, a Debbie Bliss pattern from 2006.
Baby shrugs are ace. They are relatively straightforward for a beginner and they can be customised with beads and ruffles and crochet flowers and all sorts. So, take a gander at the pattern. It looks like they give enough detail to supplant the yarn if it’s not available anymore.
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