Okay, this arrived in the mail yesterday. Guess who wants a princess sweater? (If you guessed Tom, that was a good guess, but it's actually Her Nibs.) One day, just before she turned 4, a time bomb went off and G. became enamored of everything pink and princessy. (Trust me: she didn't get it from her mom.)
Here's a little brainteaser for you, my esteemed readers: Name the ways in which this is so, so wrong. I can think of at least seven. Go on, you can do it. Meanwhile, this project-to-be gets added to the queue, evidence of the deep and abiding love only a mother can feel for her child.
20 comments:
I'm so glad I scrolled down before my kid could see that picture.
She wants a pink ballerina sweater. I have the yarn, I have the pattern. Can I bring myself to cast the damned thing on? Not quite yet; I'm still sober.
It is wrong...
1. because there's a lot of fun fur trim involved here.
2. because it features knitted skirts. Knitted skirts look good on nobody, not even cute preschoolers.
3. because why is the Snow-White girl eating an apple with such enthusiasm? THE APPLE WAS POISONED, DUMMY!
4. because it involves So. Much. Intarsia.
5. because there's no such thing as a Disney Princess Feminist
6. because you'll be wasting valuable knitting time creating an outfit for your daughter to advertise The Man
Carol, my daughter has (I think) emerged from a brief and mild attack of Disney Princess-itis. She wanted a sweater in "purple sparkle yarn." So I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice. Just go buy the dress-up costumes. She'll have the princess crap and you can knit yourself a shawl or something nice. FWIW
But please know, I truly admire your willingness to Go There. There's nothing like a mother's desire to fulfill their child's deepest desires. Ask the mother of an American Girl Doll and Easy-Bake Oven owner....
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Liz, you rock. You got nearly all of the ones I thought of -- and one I didn't. I will indeed consider seriously your advice. She will probably be just as happy carrying the pattern book around...
Uhh, how about the fact that Walt's good buddy J Edgar Hoover would have loved one of these sweaters?
I say get her a sweatshirt or go to JoAnn Fabrics, get some appropriate polar fleece, and make a jacket or blanket or something like.
Step away from the fun fur! Maybe you can make one without the trim. I agree with Liz--there is just too much intarsia going on. There has to be a better way to meet the princess-y desires of G's heart. We had a Mulan phase here around age 4, but I escaped with just the dress-up set.
I'll just point you to Peggy Orenstein's article in the NY times Sunday mag this week "What's wrong with Cinderella?" (cant put the link in the comments)
I think I've emailed this link to a dozen people this week. Must be something in the water. Fortunately I havent had to knit anything pink, however, I'm working on the pink quilt from Hades. Kimmen
I'm thinking one of the reasons might be the rolled hems. Rolled hems with intarsia just seems like a bad idea, especially with the motifs placed as low as they are.
I agree that knitted skirts are a bad thing, and add in that my daughter would have the behind of a knitted skirt pilled and fuzzy shortly after she donned it.
I love Liz's list. Especially #5. Reminds me of the song "Daughters of Feminists" by Nancy White. Great lyrics - google it if you're not familiar with it.
I am a mother who's son wanted a sweater with Mr. T. on the front. My mother the saint knit it. With all the gold jewellery, the hair, the clothes etc. Princess is nothing next to Mr. T.
Of course, if Ma hadn't knit it, the kid wouldn't have owned it.
Keep in mind though, he was 5 when he received it. He's 26 now, and still raves about the sweater and his Granny. Sweaters like this can be useful ammo in the future.
Just sayin' (though I would knit with wire before I'd knit any of those)
Barb B.
I pity the fool who'd knit a Mr T sweater! (sorry, couldn't pass that one up.) Did she use metallic thread to create the jewelry? Oh, Barb, you have to put a photo of that on your blog.
Kimmen (did I get your name right?), my husband and I have been talking about that article all week. It's fascinating, or it would be if my kid wasn't caught up in the whole phenomenon.
Leanne, I'm off to Google that.
Why in the world did you let her see that?????? You could knit her a blanket w/ the princess of her choice. That still gives you the Mr T wow-factor, yet gets you out of the fun fur & skirt thing. It may even go to college with her... you'll be the most famous mother in the dorm.
Now, to find that article and song.
If you have to make something I'd say make the sweater only minus the fun fur. Knit skirts are a disaster and never look good on any human regardless of age. I'd would do a different hem because of the intarsia; the rolled hem doesn't look finished and with all the work involved I'd want it to look wonderful.
Knit the sweater - without the fur trim, of course. I knit a Dangermouse sweater for my youngest DD when she was that age. She is now a young mother herself, and, having discovered I still have the chart, wants to know if I could knit it again for her! She says it was a highlight of her life! Who knew!
So, knit the princess. It's the right thing to do.
It's a phase - little girls do outgrow this stuff. If you think about it (sorry to go all serious here) other primates become sexually mature at age 5 or 6 (how this relates to little human girls developing a love for pink, purple, sparkles, and princesses I'm not quite sure, but I am sure it's connected) while human children go into latency for a long, comfortable phase. Meanwhile, I do believe you are safe to indulge the princess mania or whatever other "pretty" fad our culture is currently promoting (unless, of course, it's the prematurely sexy Britney Spears-type getup.) I bet your daughter will love and remember that outfit forever ( without necessarily actually becoming a princess) and also fondly recall that you made it for her. In our family, the mania revolved around Klara and the Nutcracker, and needed me to paint a pink sweatshirt with the above characters and a Christmas tree (quicker than knitting a sweater) and to purchase a pink knitted skirt which, by the way, did NOT stretch out and get funky. So, go to it, and do not fear! ............Hmmm, over on Franklin's blog, I just rambled on about the importance of early influences on adult choices......... Apparently, I'm of two minds today.....
Let me clarify: I have no intention of either using Fun Fur OR knitting the skirt. She'll get one sweater sans fur. I wonder if I can get away with duplicate-stitching a mustache on Cinderella?
I Blame The Patriarchy! No one can answer this question as well as our Spinster Aunt (which by the way, thanks for the link).
I think what is wrong is that your daughter has been sold without even knowing she was a target demographic. I say, turn her into a princess--but make it Princess G., not a cartoon character.
One last comment to mary k.--have you seen the Disney princesses? Every inch Britney sex-pots complete with bare bellies, little in the way of intellegence and formal schooling, and unable to determine their own futures. Britney didn't invent this stuff, she is as much a product of our culture as she is a supplier.
those are f-ing ugly! and so wrong from a feminist point of view.
but only you, carol, know your child best.
happy new year 2007!
This is why I did not have daughters.
Pink yarn gives me hives. Fun Fur, ditto.
Knit her the crown from www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/web_projects/sum_06/Make_Believe_Crowns.pdf and tell her it's better to be QUEEN!
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