One of these kids...

is not like the others.

Yup. She's a goat. And she currently resides in my dining room. And plays on my stairs.

Other reasons she's not like the other kids:

-She'll soon be living outside.

-She won't grow out of her shoes.

-She'll never ask for the keys to my truck.

Anyway... this little girl is the first of our "hobby herd" of Pygmy goats. She'll be joined by a few more over the next few weeks. She's not a week old yet and we are bottle feeding her. Luckily we have a friend that runs a goat dairy so we have fresh goat milk for her.

She's a great excuse for taking wandering laps around the side yarn about a million times a day. And just incase you are wondering how having a goat in the house could possibly work... she hasn't puddled on the floor once which is more than I can say for somebody else we know when he was at that stage...

I'd go on and on about how happy I am here on the hill with spring around the corner, the (human) kids wearing shit-kickers boots, and a baby goat scampering around the yard pasture. I'd tell you all about how this was the driving force behind all the stress and moving. I'd explain that this is what I was missing. Fresh air, a beautiful view, small town life, and livestock.

I'd go further and get all analytical and come to the conclusion that before we moved I narrowly missed an all out not-quite-to-mid-life-crisis one morning when I woke up to the sound of heavy road equipment in front of my house and realized I was entirely too close the city and thought about what my life would be like if I was stuck there til I died. I'd try to give you a clear picture of the moment that my brain popped and yelled "Run! Run back to the country! Run before its too late!"

I'd attempt to give you a sense of what it feels like here. How the tension has drained away from not only me but the (human) kids too. I'd tell you how relieved we are. I'd tell you that truthfully, I feel like we narrowly escaped some stuffy existence and that I just can't imagine not being where we are now.

I'd tell you a about how Mac Daddy sat at the dining rom table on a Sunday morning reading the Sunday paper looking in the sales section for a decent used Farmall. And how Tater has been drawing pictures of chickens and the older kids are trying to come up with good names for goose eggs. (Our neighbor has ornery old geese that lay eggs every spring but won't set them. We're going to put them in our incubator.)

I'd tell you all that fluffy stuff but I'm afraid you've had enough of my fluffy stuff and are really here for the knitting. So here ya go...

I know its just a peek but its all you get for today. I will tell you its a hooded jacket, slightly long in length, and sized for kids from 2 to 14. Its totally cute, totally warm, and totally seamless!

And just incase the little goat melts your heart as much as she does mine I wanted to let you know... her name is Pearl Purl.

Comments

[Maria]

Purl is so cute and such a clever name. I can just imagine when you have a little herd of them with knitty names - cable, stitch, moss, yo (yarn over!)... Great fun.

Also I agree with Katinka when she said you should go for a book with your designs. I just love them.

[Sarah]

OOohhh! Baby goat!

She's adorable.

And, she looks a lot like our little baby goat!

Goats are super fun, so are chicks and chickens! Enjoy!

[jennu]

I just have to tell you that as a city girl, I understand completely how you feel about living in the city. I'd feel the same way about living in the country. But I do love to visit the country and don't get to do it very often. (I love my carless existence, but then having to rent one to go out of town is such a hassle and expense that we just don't do it.) Anyway, it's so great reading about how happy you are and how right your current location feels to you. And it's like a mini-vacation seeing all the nature you're surrounded with.

And now I totally want a pygmy goat too, but I don't think Purl's brethren would enjoy living in my 7th floor apartment. But how cool would it be to take a pygmy goat on the subway on a trip to Central Park?

[Wendy]

Purl is fantastic.

[Wendi]

Oh the torture! Did you really have to tell us how wonderful it is? It's been my yearning for about a year now to get out of the city. (And we're smack dab in the middle of the city.) Unfortunately, there are two strikes against me:
1. There isn't any place outside of town that we'd really want to live around here, so it would mean a BIG change of location, and a change of job.
2. The housing market here is in a slump, so we wouldn't make nearly what we should on the house if we were to sell now. (Not to mention the taxes we would pay for moving in less than two years.)
It's just been occurring to me though, that I only have one chance to raise these children, and even though we live in a very nice, safe area, I'd like for them to have a slower, simpler life.
Next, you need to share about how you actually got up the guts to do it!
PS, you should really think about skipping the whole Knitty idea, and go for a book. Your designs are charming and original, and warrant your name on a spine at the book store.

[Katinka]

I'm not quite as rural as you, but I love the quiet of where I live -- I mean Costco is only five minutes away, but I'm still surrounded by meadows, mountains, and pastures.

The hoodie looks so cute -- thanks for designing for this demographic!

Did you noticed that you typed "side yarn" for "side yard"? ;)

[stefaneener]

I can literally almost not read this. Envy isn't good for anyone. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

[kt]

Sighing a happy, contented sigh for you. Sounds SO wonderful.

Yay!

[Meredith]

NO WAY.

[bezzie]

You know, I saw that first picture and thought the human kids were playing pin the ears on the kitty!

I hear you--someday that Canadian Potato Farm will be mine...oh yes, someday!

[elizabeth m]

AWW! too cute. And love that hooded jacket. Well, what I can see of it.

[Dani]

Love you new kid! I daydream about running away to the country far more than I care to admit. Good for you for actually doing it!

[clarabelle]

Good for you! Glad country life is suiting you (how can it not?). Everything slows down, but in a positive way...

Can't wait to see the new hoodie - another one to add to the pile!

[KM]

I often have that feeling that I'm too locked into the city. We had a field trip to a great farm a few weeks back and the kiddos all got to bottle feed a calf. So fun. I remember my summers at my grandparent's. They had pygmy goats. My favorite 2 were Cocoa and Coconut (brother and sister...she was brown he was white). I don't mind the fluff. Maybe there's just a soft place in my heart for a more earthy life.