The heat broke suddenly on Monday this week. I thought to myself, how uncanny, that on the first day of fall it suddenly felt like fall outside. Beatrix has been asking for weeks, “How long until the first day of fall?” and I’ve been giving her vague answers because I rarely know what the date is. Evidently I don’t know what date fall begins on either, because it actually didn’t start until Wednesday! Of course, due to misinformation, Beatrix and Larkspur celebrated on Monday. When I realized my mistake on Wednesday, and confessed to the girls that I had been wrong, they both shouted, “Mommy!!! You did this last year! We were climbing the trees shouting ‘Happy Fall!’ at the top of our lungs, and it wasn’t even fall yet!” “Well girls, all I can say to that is you should have learned your lesson then and known better than to take my declaration this year as fact,” I replied. At least I can say for certain now that it is definitely fall, and we’re happy about it! I’ve resurrected my goat walks, though I only take my girls. We have to keep them separated from the boys at all times because Little John is still intact and we don’t want any “mixing” going on! Agnes and Greta are so amusing. When we get a little distance away from the house they get kind of clingy. Sometimes it seems like they are trying to walk while touching me. I try to tiptoe away from them just for fun and as soon as they notice (doesn’t take long) they yell and chase me at high speeds. Then I scratch them and talk to them and they eat and eat and eat.
I knit a couple of little things for my friend Jaime’s new little daughter, Ondine and gave them to her today. She’s a tiny thing, so the hat is big on her (I crocheted an extra tie in yellow for it, not sure which color I liked best), but the little Mary Janes are perfect. I love baby knits!
The last photo is a peek at some of the yarn I have dyed with plant based dyes (gathered on our property or nearby) over the past few weeks. That has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun! This fall is already shaping up to be a good one!
karen says
so glad the goat walks are back in full force and I am so happy it is officially fall and it sort of feels like it too 🙂
Maria says
Beautiful pictures! The photo below the one of the goldenrod – are those elderberries??
Ginny says
Below the goldenrod are pokeberries!
Holly says
Beautiful little mary janes! And I love the goats so much too!
Chere Mama says
I just love the picture with the blue, purple, pink berries. Like storybook colors!! Love the goats and the contented faces while they are eating.
kathy b says
Your goats are great and I love the pretty cat. lovely baby knits too
MamaAshGrove says
HA! We did the same thing. We rushed home from a suzuki violin meeting and potluck, skipping the potluck all together, in order to get home and have our equinox fire outside as a family. Then on Wednesday people were saying “happy fall!” and I realized. . . .
Liz says
Your goats are great! We had one when I was little, named Marcel. Stubborn thing he was, but we kids loved him. Goats are the greatest!
Eileen says
Oh Ginny, such beautiful pictures. As I type, I have about 750gms of yarn simmering in a mordant bath! The book says to dye 1 week after the mordant bath? Have you tried this? Do you reuse your mordant baths and your dye baths? Sorry for all the questions, but looking at your beautiful yarn, you know what you are doing!
Fall has arrived by the calendar but not the fall temps. Almost 90 here today..ugh!
Ginny says
I’m usually not patient enough to wait that long after mordanting! I do reuse mordant baths once, adding 50% of the mordant to the solution for the second go. As for dye baths, it depends on the dye! Some you can stretch more than others!
ElizabethClare says
I just love those teeny tiny baby knits. I was blessed to have a friend knit for my children as they were born. They are treasured by me and will held onto for (hopefully) future grandchildren.
TarynKaeWilson @ WoolyMossRoots says
Goat walks are the best! And thanks for more baby knit ideas, I have quite a few baby gifts I need to be knitting right now!
P.S. I was confused as to when fall was this year too. I wrote on my blog that Saturday was a beautiful fall day and then later realized it wasn’t actually fall yet. 🙂
Pom Pom says
Oh, the baby knits are darling! I really like the color you chose.
Nubby eared goats are adorable. I like their nimble ways.
I long for that yarn. You have a good eye for colors.
Have a happy Friday, good Ginny.
Sandy says
I was noticing how pretty your yarn is in that last picture and was hoping if I got to the bottom of your post that you would tell us where you got it. I’m disappointed for selfish reasons that I can’t get it but know that you will have a lot of fun knitting it up knowing that you dyed it your self
Ginny says
It will all be listed for sale in my Etsy shop soon!
Carla says
The goats are just too cute the way they jump around. Lovely knits again, and your yarn looks luscious!
Kellie says
Love the sweet sight of Goldenrod. (one of my very favorite flowers)
Tracey says
I do love seeing your goat photos! I miss my goat Olive, but know she is happy at her new home.
The baby knits are adorable and I may have to knit a pair of Mary Jane’s just because they are
so cute.
fawn says
Those goats have such personality!!! Love your pictures and stories as always.
Rosie says
Ah, here I was staunchly opposed to goats and the more I see your pictures and read your stories, the more fun they seem!
Liuba says
I love all these picture and those tiny things for babies 🙂 Well done!
MotherOwl says
The sun bonnet look of the yellow hat in the picture with the booties are very pleasing. Is this Aibhies Hat? I can’t see the string in the pictures at Ravelry.
Wonderful yarn dye colours. I envy you the ready access to such dye materials. Almost all plants my place give some kind of yellow.
nicole says
I want to be where you are! Our weather actually jumped back up on the 1st day of fall and we all came down with head colds. I am so looking forward to the cool air. I love your goat stories so. They make me miss for the goats I used to care for at the Gentle Barn. Have you tried giving your goats a sturdy kickball/soccerball or anything like that? Our goats used to play their own goat kickball every evening at sunset. It was so much fun to watch!
Wendy says
The colors in so many of these photos are so striking–very fall-y 🙂 I can never remember the dates the seasons change either. And the little Mary Janes are just perfect!