Ara of Dune: She IS the Quizatz Haderach

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before the shock of motherhood wore off, and poor Ara was doomed to become the victim of my extensive fashion experimentation. I suppose it all began with Halloween, that fateful day, when the sewing machine was dusted off for the sake of floral adornment. In my search for said machine, I ran across, you guessed it, my old knitting needles, and became ever so slightly obsessed with Getting Ara Ready For Winter. This of course involved a very determined trip to the local mall (home to 2 million people, or something like that) to try to convey the words "NATURAL FIBRES" to the cantonese-only, acrylic-clad but good-hearted sales women. Finally, they got it ("Ah so! WOOLY!! WOOLY!!!!") and they directed me towards, if not the purest stuff in the store, definitely the most expensive. What you see above is without a doubt the priciest single foot-square of knitted material ever produced, but which I am proud to say is "Mostly Merino! Cashmere! Hai Ya!". The styling of the arms, in case you're interested, was somewhat unplanned, but seemed appropriate once they'd got going. They're futuristic sleeves for a futuristic baby! Okay, so she looks like something out of a Frank Herbert novel, but she still manages to keep it real, and stay down to earth. Sadly, this little number will probably have been outgrown by the time that it's cold enough to wear it, but I'm sure, as past experience tells me, this is just the first of a number of insane sweaters that dear Ara can look forward to covering in goat-milk. [PS: The little circle-bandaid on her thigh is the last reminder of her latest set of innoculations, obtained during a visit to the new (better) doctor, who claims that she is "Very Aware!" and "Incredibly Strong" for her age! That's our girl!]