13 Jun 2011
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum, Saffa Tags: Blog, British Mummy Bloggers, Mommy, Pattern
So about a year ago, probably less but time has turned into chewing gum lately, I applied for a chance to do a blogging carnival with Mommy Bloggers and then, as usual, promptly forgot about it. If it wasn’t for a chance comment by a lovely reader, 21 June would have arrived and, along with it, a ton of emails that would have completely bewildered me.
If you happen to want fame and fortune and glory (Oh yes, a blogging carnival does do such amazing things) then please do join in. It’s free. Hahahaha.
Now the rules, as I can gather, are simple. I host the carnival by chatting about it here. I link up to all those amazing humans who have written posts and I admire their genius. I also take the day off because reading all those blogs is definitely going to be fascinating and I doubt I will finish quickly.
Then I panic after writing this post because I just spent half an hour searching the BMB carnival list to see what the bloggers before me had done and found nothing. Yeah. That’s right. Nothing. Mummy from the Heart did mention hers in May but I’ve seen nothing on her site. So if these finalists for the MAD awards are not getting responses, then I may well be that sad git in a dark blogging corner swinging her legs morosely.
Or I can pretend I didn’t want you here anyway and why do I care. Which is obviously the truth. Right?
The carnival cometh and I am hosting it. If you fancy sending me a post on 21 June and participating in this amazing exercise, then please, please do.
You are allowed to dictate a theme so here is my theme: Grumpy and funny
If you are grumpy and you wrote a funny post, send it here.
If you are funny because you are grumpy I’d like to read it.
Actually, just tell me why you are grumpy.
I am about to turn 40 and adopt the moniker Grumpy Old Woman. Join me. Share the grimace. Be at one with your inner GRRRRRRRR.
Ha!
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…
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…
21 Aug 2010
by Tamsinin Knitting Mama Tags: Free, Geek Knit, Knitting, Pattern
Oh, my dear knitting knickers, this pattern is awesome. If you’ve ever wanted to knit yourself (or a close Doctor Who fan) a Dalek, then here you go, a completely free pattern that just rocks. I am so going to be whipping up one of these. The pattern is courtesy of Entropy House.
11 Aug 2010
by Tamsinin Knitography Tags: Geek Knit, Knitting, Pattern
This is SO exciting. The first entry into the Knitography section and it’s a corker!
What is it?
A crazy creative shawl that’s all about having fun with different colours, knitting techniques and fabrics
How do I make it?
This particular garmet is perfect for a beginner who doesn’t want to tackle anything too complicated but will kill themselves if they have to make another scarf. It’s simple enough to take on, is the perfect training ground for practising complex stitches like Moss Stitch and Lace, develops your increasing skills, and doesn’t show mistakes.
Increase by knitting the first stitch normally then, before pulling the stitch off the left hand needle, knit into the back of it again. Voila! You now have an extra stitch.
Cast on 3 stitches, knit a row. Then M1 (your increase) on the first and last stitches to make 5 stitches in total. Knit the row. Then get yourself either a stitch marker or two stitch pendant markers (like mine in the pic above) and mark the centre stitch. With this pattern you must always have an odd number of stitches in total.
Then knit 1, M1 (always increase on the second stitch from the beginning and the second stitch from the end for a neater edge), K1, M1. You now have 7 stitches. Knit the row.
Now the pattern for the rest of the garment appears. You do a total of four increases per row from now on. Knit the first and last stitches. Increase the second and second last stitches. Increase the stitch just before the centre stitch and the stitch just after the centre stitch. This is what makes that awesome optical illusion of a V in the middle of the shawl. Got it?
Then after doing a row with increases, knit a row to give it some love, then increase again on the following row. You should always have an odd number of stitches so you can increase on either side of the centre stitch.
Feel free to give me a shout if you get stuck.
Wool and gauge: Stick with double-ply but go mad with your wool. Any variety will do. I got fluffy ones, thick ones, alpaca ones, wool ones, the lot. As long as they demanded the same gauge I was happy. I also recommend going up about one or two needle sizes more than the recommended size. I am using 6mm circular needles (which are fab because the garment gets really weighty for standard needles). I bought about ten balls of wool in four different colourways.
Oh, and stop whenever you’re ready. Change colour whenever you’re ready. Have fat bits, thin bits, chunky bits – anything goes.
Photography settings: Nikon D40. 45.0mm focal length. ISO 200. 3.3f
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