Category: crafty

I vowed this year to knit hats for everyone in the family. This is Neko’s. It impressive for two reasons. One is that the color choice indicates we have completely moved out of the Pink Phase and are on to more pleasing colors. Hooray!

It is also impressive because it was just supposed to be a regular hat, but then she decided it needed earflaps and pom-poms and, people, I actually made that happen without too much fuss or the whole thing falling apart.

Now if my model would only be a bit more cooperative…

I have never met a child who can brave the elements more than Neko. Give her a yard full of snow, and she’ll stay out there for ages. It’s also where her sometimes elusive extreme focus kicks in.

Today she hunkered down, determined to make a snowman, despite the fact that everyone else found the fire and warm slippers a much more attractive alternative. She’d go work for a while, come back in and warm up, and then back out she’d go. Then there was the great debate of how to accessorize, especially since lumps of coal are not common around these parts.

By mid-afternoon, she called us outside to admire her work.

But don’t call it a snowman. Or snow-woman. Apparently, this snow creation is gender neutral.

Neko found a cat costume in the American Girl catalog about a week ago. And then she decided she wanted to be a cat herself. But then, quite suddenly, it occurred to her that she didn’t have any money saved to buy a costume for Chrissa.

Much sobbing and sadness followed.

And then a compromise—I would attempt to sew one in exchange for no complaining and five dollars for materials.

Neko’s cat costume will be a modified sweatsuit, so I decided to head that direction for Chrissa. If you don’t look too closely, it’s pretty impressive. And there really is a tail on the back.

Thank you internet for making this costume possible.