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So I did have good intentions of blogging while away, and the app was there on my phone, but nope I was having too much fun! We crammed quite a bit into a month including camping and two trips to the mountains. Hazel had two extra weeks off school in addition to the two weeks term break, so I felt I had to make things at least mildly educational.

A rock circle we built in the Pembina River (engineering, hydrology, public art)


The girls playing down by the river near the campsite (engineering, environment)

On the train to Jasper with Jess and the girls. Instant noodles for breakfast after a 6am start - class all the way! (transport, nutrition, cultural differences)


Inukshuk at Angel Glacier pond (it was tiny, about 15cm high tops). I have totally fallen in love with inukshuks and plan to make a big one asap (cultural heritage, climate change, environment, engineering)

We picked lots of raspberries in the garden (food, sustainable living, foraging, eating what you grew)



Visited the Tyrell Museum (dinosaurs! evolution, fossils, teeth, general coolness)


Admired the prairies...  (landscape, crops, transport, spending hours in a car and not driving your family crazy)

 ...and the badlands... (landscape formation, not hiking before a violent thunder storm, how flash floods develop)

...and the Rockies again up at Lake Louise (environment, finding the nicest hotel in the world, hiking without whining, putting up with a little discomfort without whining, how good it feels when you get there). 

 

It wasn't all education, nature and pretty photos though, I did get in some crochet! I'd taken a couple books to show my friend Jess who wanted to learn to crochet (which she did) and I was taken by a sudden desire to make a bunny that's in Simple Crochet by Sara Sinaguglia for her daughter Amy's birthday present in February. It was a little down to the wire but I got there the day before we left. I made things a lot harder for myself by deciding that the only wool in my mum's stash that would do for the stripes was this gorgeous marigold crepe stuff, but it was in quite short lengths for reasons I was never entirely sure of, so it had to be tied together and it made things a lot slower. The inside was a total mess of ends but as it turns out Jess likes sewing in ends and she volunteered to do it. I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on the face, especially the whiskers and mouth, but needs must and overall I'm pretty happy with it. Hope Amy is too!

Behind the scenes

Here at Hazelnuts we like to keep things in perspective. Remember this gorgeous pot I found in Edmonton, painstakingly arranged and attractively photographed for maximum effect? Of course you do, it was memorable!

Well for me it was more memorable for the fact I was out in the falling snow, with no jacket, hat or gloves, and in my slippers. Because posting photos to my blog means that much to me.

Keeping it real photo taken by my dad.

I'm back!

The good times in the snow are all over and we're back to green and luscious Auckland in the middle of a hot summer. It's taking some getting used to! I'd have more photos to show you but they're on a DVD and my laptop's disk reader has finally died after hinting at it for a couple years so I'm now pondering a new computer or fixing this old one! Either option is expensive.

Hazel and I came back with 4 pieces of luggage, most of which were her Christmas presents, but they did contain quite a lot of fabric and lots of books - some of which were craft-related! "Oh how surprising" you say.

I thought I'd show you a few bits and pieces from them all, especially the Japanese books and the delightful "All You Can Sew For Children" books I and II which date from 1972 and 1973. I stole them from mum and had a great time going through having flashbacks to clothes she'd made for me from them. Some of the photos of clothes are wonderful (in an unintentionally hilarious way sometimes) and I'm hoping to make a few of them up and see how they translate to modern sensibilities.

I bought the Japanese books from Yes Asia and they were meant to take a month to arrive but they actually beat me home (and no I suppose they weren't in my luggage then were they...) in less than 2 weeks! On the left: Innocent and lovely girls' wear by Mano Akiko, ISBN 457911194X, and on the right: Dressy Little Girl -From one piece dress to coat (Onnanoko no oshare fuku) by Araki Yuki, ISBN 4529045269 / 9784529045261.



These are the Yes Asia translations, I think I've seen them called different names elsewhere, so if you were looking for them I'd go on the ISBN. Dressy Little Girl is probably the most accessible of the two and I discovered I already have an earlier book by the same author.

The buttons down the back of this are gorgeous.

Oh my goodness I love this navy knit dress but Hazel hates high necks so I'd have to adapt it and the buttons wouldn't be as lovely. She'd like the skirt though.

The top is from the same pattern as above. The skirt has these cute little kick pleats at the back.


This is such a cute jacket, but I was just thinking it would make a great dressing gown too.


I'll take a few photos from the other book tomorrow!

Duncan!

If people thought that embroidered Duncan was cute I thought I should show you how gorgeous he is in real life. He's a Norfolk Terrier and a total sweetie. And look at the fur he grew just for winter in Edmonton!

He came as cabin luggage from New York, which I still find an amusing concept.

We miss him (and Uncle Mike and Auntie Kate) a lot.

The bunnyhug jacket in action

I asked Hazel if she'd let me take a few photos of her in the Bunnyhug jacket and Wiglet* hat and ended up with a long series of rather goofy photos. Here she is "posing"

And looking fierce, which obviously means something else entirely when you're 5 (as it should too)

And the back

The jacket and hat have done great service, are warm and comfortable in addition to looking great, and I'm really pleased with them.

*We read a book called Bee-Wigged about a giant bee called Jerry who finds a wig and pretends to be a boy so people will like him and the wig turns out to be a guinea pig named Wiglet. Hazel figured if the jacket was like being hugged like a bunny then the hat was like having a guinea pig sit on your head, hence the Wiglet hat. Personally I imagine that it would be a less-than-pleasant experience involving claws and perhaps biting and peeing, but I try not to be too adult about things like this!

Wildlife

Well the kind that lives in our yard that is.

This hare (though we call him our bunny) hangs out in the front yard most days, secure in the knowledge that he's so well camouflaged no-one can see him.  Bunnies aren't very smart.


There is also the squirrel who tears around at a mad pace up and down trees, along his little paths and down tunnels in the snow, popping back up in other places and then doing it all again with a great deal of manic energy. I miss squirrels so much in New Zealand and sometimes I entertain the notion of smuggling a few back in my underpants.


I made these ornaments for my friend Jess whose tree fell over last year (the great Christmas Tree Disaster of '09) and who lost a lot of precious decorations. The pattern is from Fa La La La Felt and they're very cute, this totally awful photo doesn't do them justice. The instructions say to cut the circles out freehand after doing the embroidery and so I did but oh boy it's hard to abandon perfect symmetry and embrace the wonk. Mum did one of them and had the same problem so I think it's probably an inherited thing ;)

Merry Snow Mermaiden!

A belated Merry Christmas to you all! I had great intentions of having a lovely winter image to mark the occasion but things got busy and then there was a tummy bug fiasco on Xmas Day and so here we are a couple days after the fact.

I'm still coming to grips with taking photos in the snow, which is proving more challenging than I'd expected! Not helped by me always being taken by surprise when it starts getting dark at 3:30pm, I really need to take photos in the AM! Naturally this has meant that I've spent more time than is rational trying to get rid of the horrible grey cast that a badly exposed snow photo has. Look out for more Photoshopped madness.

These were the Mermaiden I made for (from left) Hazel, Nicole, Danielle and Amy, the pattern is from the Wee Wonderfuls book.



I love the final product but boy they're a lot more work than I thought they'd be! Of course I realised this after I'd mentally committed to the project, but just be warned if you are going to take one on - read the instructions first! Also, I'd recommend popping a bit of stuffing into the highest bit of the hair before inserting the head, it gives a much nicer finish. I did it for the pale pink hair but not Hazel's on the far left and you can see how it hollows out beyond the head. You could also put some stuffing into the tail, although I've been told by those in the know the floppiness adds to the swimminess.