AG Complaint Department: Fucking It Up With Kaya, AG Style

Kaya can be modern and not be a stereotype.

So if you have been surfing my blog and have seen my header, you will notice that it's Kaya up a tree, with her hair in pigtails and in an outfit I'll probably review on her, the Earth Day outfit. When I first thought about getting Kaya--and I absolutely was going to get her, because Dolls of Color rock--I assumed that she was going to be as historical as any other Historical I had. All my other historials had, after all, stayed in their time periods. And then a buddy of mine who is Native goes, "Why do images of Native people always stay stuck in the past?" And I got a smack awake--one of several I've had in my life. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't until college or so that I started really learning about Native people properly instead of "the stuck in the past" way mainstream history does. I had studied Pocahontas, I knew about Sacagawea, and I'd read Island of the Blue Dolphins in middle school and of course learned the little I had in school--but the approach in American history still sticks Natives in a past narrative. Having Native friends--really open, honest ones who weren't and aren't afraid to call me on my shit--is one of many ways how I opened my eyes. I'm no expert on Native people and I'd be the last person to claim expertise, but I've been taught a thing and as an anti-racist and anti-bigot¹ I am passing the learnings onto you.

Kaya is the only canon Native American in the AG line, released in 2002 (and at the time, put Felicity in semi-retirement). She's billed as the First American Girl--as is her right, contrary to some shit people say. And because of this, AG collectors tend to fuck up seven shades with her and her collection. Shit, AG has fucked it up. This post is a not-even-remotely complete list of the multiple ways that people fuck up Kaya's presence. I plan to just pick a few to rip into--mostly because I've seen them recently.

Learn, and stop doing this shit.

Crafting Creatively: Get Your Knit Together

Knitting and crochet look good--when you do it right. Sonali says~

There's a nip in the air, there's a talk of apple cider, and the trees are detreeing themselves. Things smell of pumpkin, cinnamon, and my birthday coming up. Mabon and the Autumnal Equinox have hit, and it's time to look towards the darker days of the year and the fact that come November the sun's going to be fucking setting at 5 pm. Long story short: it's fall weather. And fall weather draws in wearing sweaters, and sweaters mean knitting or crocheting, and there is a lot that goes wrong in AG crafting when it comes to making a good sweater or anything in yarn, for that matter.

See, I tied it all back to the fact that this is a doll blog. Mad skills.

Knitting and crocheting are pretty useful skills to have, even when you don't have a doll. And pretty neat too. It's turning yarn into clothes, and yarn into clothes is a pretty kicking rad situation. I've been crocheting for years and knitting for a few less years. And by a few less I mean that I learned crochet at seven and knitting at twelve and a half, so. It feels nice to make things of yarn and needles and hooks. At the same time, I see some things in the doll community that are perfectly good waste of yarn and time, and no one is telling these people no. Well, now I am. Cause some things are just a big old free spun worsted weight ball of NO.

Here are, in my opinion, some of the bad things done with a set of needles, hooks, yarn, and spacers that make your doll yarnwork look utterly terrible and a big old ball of handspun amateurity.¹ There's going to be examples of things done right, and examples that should crash and burn into a twisted, melted knot of WalDeMart² Red Heart Super Saver nightmares and be posted on What Not to Crochet or What Not To Knit.

Kanani showing how it's done right.

Bee-tee-doubs, this post actually covers both crochet and knit work. But "Get Your Crochet Together" doesn't make a pun on a cuss word, and we're not making a crotch joke. We're semi-above that. I am also going to shit all over Red Heart Super Saver. Brace yourself. 

AG Complaint Department: Never Too Old for American Girl - Or Anything Else!

Addy, Michi, and my mom's Cécile.

So, back on track with things on the blog: ranting, raving, reviews, and magazines.¹ But first the ranting. Well, more like fussing and talking, as it were, on a topic that is pretty dear to me.

In this picture are three lovely dolls. To the left is my Addy, to the right is Michi Taylor, and in the center is Cécile. But Cécile's not mine². This pretty girl belongs to my mother--I gifted her to my mom when I went to AG Houston, along with her starter accessories. When I told some people this, they were a little shocked that my mom wanted an AG doll. Why would grown people want dolls? Shouldn't we want things like babies, or cars, or booze or houses or other mature, adult things? Isn't doll collecting a sign of immaturity and not growing up?

Fuck no. AG dolls might have a lower limit in my eyes, but they have never had an upper limit. Children can be too young for dolls and toys. But people can never, never be too old for dolls.