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.
12 Mar 2012
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Geek Knit, Knitting
I’ve been lax in posting about my crafting lately. It has to do with my launching a craft site, its epic fail due to my not having a clearer vision and people not really doing what they promised and some other frustrating issues.
However, I have finally had my epiphany and will be updating the site and relaunching it for summer this year. Until then, I’ll be popping some of my favourite knits, patterns and free knits that I have found on the net.
My first discovery is the Zombie Bear. This bear was designed by Blue. The pattern isn’t free, a tidy $5, but the bear has to be the BEST zombie bear I’ve seen knitted in a long time. He’s just too cute for words. And there is something about this inexpertly put together and beaten down bear that makes me melt.
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.
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.
31 Oct 2010
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum, Saffa Tags: Child, Guilt, Husband, Knitting, Mommy, Mother, Saffa, South Africa, Squidge, Tired, Zombie
This whole changing of the clocks thing. Can I just state, for the record, that it bloody kills me? When we change forwards (or is it backwards?) Squidge wakes up at a hideous hour for about two weeks and we stagger around like half-dead zombies of doom.
When we change the clocks backwards (or forwards or sideways) Squidge wakes up at a hideous hour for about two weeks and we stagger around like half dead zombies of doom. Good thing today is Halloween, people will think I am wearing make-up.
See the pattern here? It’s not that I MIND being an exhausted parent, you know. It’s a badge of honour! The bigger the luggage under your eyes, the more hardcore a mum you are. Dammit.
It’s the fact that I have no control over this deranged fiddling about with time. In South Africa the clocks remain niiiice and steady. No mad evil genius twiddling about with dials and controlling time stuff there. Just nice and quiet ticking (sorry) along, year in and year out.
Then I moved here, had a kid, and got confused as to which time zone I was in.
Today was spectacularly mad. The Husband has ambled off to a three day bachelor party in a canal barge on a river somewhere. Alone, I waft about the hallways of the home in a white gown, sobbing. Actually, I’m wearing stripy pants that I LOVE (see pic above) and a white t-shirt and am not so much sobbing as crocheting…
ANYWAY
I forgot about the clocks. I did. No clue. SO imagine my GUILT when I got annoyed with my offspring for waking me at 5:30am this morning. Only, she didn’t, did she? NO. She woke me at 6:30. A VERY healthy time and not at all bad.
You see, my child never sleeps beyond 6 really. This entire half term of travelling (update post coming soon) she woke me at 4:30/5am every day. For her to have entertained herself for an hour (she did!) and then call me is so good. And I got crabby because I thought it was 6am.
Stupid clocks. Stupid Saffa Mom. Poor little Squidge.
THIS is why Salvador Dali painted those clocks, I’m telling you. His head was done in by this madness.
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.
17 Sep 2010
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Knitting, Pattern, Star Trek
Isn’t it just fabulous that I can combine my utter geeky nerdiness with my new passion for knitting? Isnt it? Huh?
Today I discovered this awesome Star Trek knitting pattern from a site with an equally fabulous name, Off the Hook Astronomy. Not only did this talented lady figure out her very own double-sided Star Trek pattern for pot holders, but she’s got a smorgasbord of other goodies too. Her links to geeky craft sites are ace.
So here you go. Beam yourself up. Set your phasers to stun. And seduce a hot blue alien. It’s knitting, Jim, but not as you know it…
14 Sep 2010
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Knitting
Oohhh. This is a pair of socks begging for your knitting attention. Socks that will transport you to another dimension. Have I filled you with antici………….pation?
A fabulous, free knitting pattern for Time Warp Socks. If you still have that captured knitter in your basement, finishing off your Jayne Hat, then get them to whip you up a pair of these. Commuting will become just a jump to the left.
13 Sep 2010
by Tamsinin Guest Post, Knitting Mama Tags: Child, Geek Knit, Guest Post, Knitting, Mommy, Star Trek
This fabulous guest post comes from the lovely Rhian over at The Crafty Geek. She’s one talented lady and can knit socks like nothing else.
I’ve just started knitting my Tardis socks so I can testify that socks take quite a bit of getting used to, and Rhian has designed some for Simply Knitting! She’s awesome, funny, and brilliant. Enjoy…
I’ve always been ‘crafty’, whether that was cross stitch, knitting, card making or beading. Unsurprisingly many of my friends are the same. When my son Harry was born we received a gorgeous selection of hand-made clothes you couldn’t have bought in any shop.
From a crocheted Star Trek uniform and tie-dyed babygro to a huge selection of black knitted clothes from a goth friend (seriously, have you tried buying anything for young children in black? [It's almost IMPOSSIBLE ~Tam]), we were thrilled to be able to dress him in our friends’ talent. And his handmade clothes were always the ones singled out by other parents, who wanted to know where they could buy their own.
My own attempts at knitting for Harry were less successful. I completed what should have been a lovely cream jumper in 0-3 months size when pregnant; Harry is now nearly two and the jumper still lies in pieces in his cupboard – I never sewed it together. He’ll never wear it but I can’t quite bear to throw it away.
A blue Debbie Bliss cardigan and a cute knitted monkey still lie half done on the needles, stuffed on my craft shelf.
So knitting for Harry never really worked out. Truth be told, knitting had never been my favourite craft; cross stitch was my true love. But though I did continue with some commissioned pieces, stitching isn’t really the most practical craft round young babies. There are sharp needles and pointy scissors, and the fabric must be kept scrupulously clean at all times, as must your hands when working.
This picture is genius.
Then, when Harry was about two months old, I was finally convinced to give sock knitting a try. I’d heard it was addictive, but oh, I’d had no idea. Basic stocking stitch socks are fiddly in three places – the cast on, the heel, and the toe.
In between, it was just straight knitting, round and round and round. How many rounds could I get done in a nap? How many while Harry toppled piles of blocks over? I was hooked.
(Knitting does come with pointy sticks, yes, but they’re still not quite as lethal as scissors, nor as edible as a tapestry needle. Much more baby-friendly)
It’s now coming up for two years later, and it’s difficult to estimate how much time I’ve spent knitting socks since then – but it’s a lot. Sock knitting is the perfect mummy hobby. It’s fast, portable, and mistakes are generally easy to fix. Designs are as easy or as complicated as you choose.
If I can get my husband to push the buggy, I can knit while walking. I can pick them up and put them down as Harry is playing. When I’m in the mood, I can even knit socks for him (this still doesn’t happen very often; I am rubbish at knitting for my child). Compared to knitting jumpers, it’s also relatively cheap.
Rhian's own design...
And in the last year I’ve also been designing my own socks for a magazine; the perfect work at home mum solution.
I found maternity leave long and lonely; knitting brought me structure, achievements and new friendships. I thoroughly recommend it!
Previous Older Entries
What you said