29 November 2013

A Hair Cutting Ceremony

Last weekend, my nephew had his first haircut
 
He's six years old
 
Let me explain, in Cook Islands tradition little boys don't get their hair cut
 
When they do, they have a ceremony and a party
 
I made the invitations ages ago, here's what I put on them
 
"In Cook Islands tradition, the haircutting ceremony is a rite of passage for young boys. At these large gatherings the boy sits on a chair draped with tīvaevae (quilts). As his hair is cut, members of the community plaster the boy with money or other gifts. The custom serves to maintain reciprocal ties within the extended family and community.
A little bit about what happens at a Pakotianga Rauru or “Hair Cutting” ceremony:
A male representative for each family is called upon to approach the child and his mother will hand you the scissors to snip a strand of hair tied by a white ribbon.
Family members are then encouraged to keep the hair to remind them of the occasion.
Custom states that everyone making a cut contributes something; as one should never come empty-handed. Though it is entirely up to the individual, kin close to ego usually give both an envelope and a gift. The expectation is that their monetary contribution will help him in the future. Gift items are usually of the sort that the boy can use in his daily life or that others can use on his behalf, such as bed-quilts, sets of cups or glasses, appliances and clothing.
The gifts are signified by the family record book, which is usually bound by a ribbon after the event, and set aside for a     future time. When the boy approaches adulthood, he enters the stage of his life where he begins to act as an individual with respect to invitations and  events. For these, he will need reference to the record of those who previously accorded him assistance, so he can judge what obligations he needs to reciprocate.
Please note that this information is purely educational, we do not expect anyone to bring a gift.
After the hair is cut, there will be a few speeches and then dinner"
 
So that's what happened!
 
We turned up and straight away I grabbed my little namesake off someone for some photos
 
Isn't she adorable?
 
 
 
Then found my nephew all braided up and super excited to get a haircut!
 
He sat like this for at least an hour, waiting so patiently!!
 
 
In case your wondering, yes we removed the hood to cut his hair, but those photos turned out too blurry
 
One his hair was attacked by the many visitors, the hairdresser arrived to save the day!
 
Turning this:
 
 
and this:
 
 
Into this:
 
 
 
Isn't he handsome?
 
Of course big sister had to have a photo in her pretty dress too
 
 
and for the first time EVER, I managed to get a photo of my brother and his girlfriend
Hurray!
 
 
I'm so pleased to be able to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime event!
 
 

18 November 2013

Photo Shoot

I love mittens
 
I HATE the cold
 
Those two statements merged this winter. I have now knitted three pairs of mittens
 
Husband thinks I'm crazy, until my cold hands meet his bare skin and then he remembers why I need them
 
Last week, I finished the most divine pair of mittens as a test for Katja from Woolly World Knits
 
I splurged out and bought some beautiful Touch Yarn
 
My LYS had some, so I chose a skein of Merino Random 4ply
 
The mittens have turned out sooooo well that when my workmate asked me to take photos of her latest Finished Object, I HAD to get her to take pics of my mittens
 
Of course there are only so many angles one can get photos of mittens.... but I'm happy with the results
 
 
 
Of course there were a few photos that didn't make the Ravelry cut...
 
 
Then there was one were I got a bit over enthusiastic and got stuck in the rose bush
Thorns are NOT cool
 
This photo ended up being my favourite

 
Naturally I'm now making wrist warmers - for when I need to use my fingers :-)
 
Make sure you check out the photos of Leisl's lovely cardi too
 
xBecky
 
 

11 November 2013

Blog Series: What has Becky been up to?

Welcome to Part 1 of my first blog series!
 
In this series, I'll tell you what I've been up to on my weekends
 
Now that I have some time, I can catch you up on my adventures
 
At the end of October, NZ has a public holiday
 
Some family memebers wanted to take their caravans on a trip
 
We couldn't decide between going up North or going South
 
We eventually decided on Matarui Bay up north
 
 
Here's a photo story of what we did
 
We climbed a very steep hill to look at the Rainbow Warrior monument
 
 
Everyone else checked the map to see where the actual ship is
 
 
I took photos of people taking photos...
 
 
...and looking at the monument...
 
 
...and got photo bombed
 
 
So on the way down I took a picture of the beach
 
 
We spent the weekend driving around, playing baseball
(I destroyed two balls with my super awesome swing)
going for walks and generally not doing much
 
 

08 November 2013

Racism

I know what you're thinking
 
Yes that is a strange blog title
 
Its something that happens every day in my household
 
And I have proof:
 
All the white ladies always sit on the left and the brown on the right
 
 
Here's my 'whitey's'
 
 
And my 'brownies'
 
 
I haven't given them proper names yet other than 'douchy mcdouche face', 'poo-bum' and 'oi stop trying to eat my feet!'
 
Whatever I name them, it'll be the same name for all of them
 
When I name pets, they die
 
My goldfish are a classic example
 
They have no name, they've stayed alive for well over a year now - yes I'm as shocked as you are!
 
Stayed tuned for my next post where I start my first blog series "What has Becky been up to?"
 
Its exciting stuff!