Remember Beanie? (She's the one above in the pleather shoes, matted hair, and denim jumpsuit. There has long been disagreement if Beanie is a girl or boy, but Lupine and I are clear – she's a girl.)

She's been with us since, oh, 1975 but in earnest since Lupine found her in a box in the basement in 2008. She's been loved. Loved with a capital L. Loved to the point of losing her beanies all over our bed, our car, and the coop floor on a daily basis. There is only so much mending you can do before a denim jumpsuit simply gives way to decay.

 And so it became clear last night that Beanie's androgynous jumpsuit days were over. Lupine slept with her tied inside a small cloth bag for one last night ("Look at her new dress!" Lupine called out, proving her eternal flexibility) and then we decided that we'd do some surgery. Beanie was going to get a new body. 

And so, the next morning… I cut her head off.

Using a Waldorf doll pattern as my jumping off point, I drew up a new pattern (sized to match Beanie's body) and sewed up new legs, torso, and arms. It was harried but Lupine (and Beanie) was steady all the while.

In the end, I breathed a sigh of relief as her head attached firmly to her shoulders and Lupine swept her up in her arms and danced away with her through the house. Beanie is now part Waldorf doll stuffed with millet and wool (rather than matted polyester and plastic pellets) and part old-school Mattel, bearing Beanie's dreaded head and eternal plastic smile. 

Considering the basket of (head-to-toe) Waldorf dolls at his disposal, Sage fell for her surprisingly hard after her surgery. He's asked me to thrift another Beanie, cut off her head, and make him one too. Hmmm…I think that's sweet, but its all been so confusing…