Mary Stowe, of Yarn’s Etc has always had an inclusive vision of fiber arts. That is how, four years ago, Three Waters Farm ended up with a pied-a-terre in Carrboro inside Mary’s store, teaching spinning and selling our homegrown-handspun and other handpainted yarns and fibers. We were happy there, next to Balloons and Tunes and across the street from the Carrboro Farmers’ Market. But last summer, Opportunity came knocking and so this past August we moved to the other side of the tracks,* into Chapel Hill, into a larger store.
Now Chapel Hill is a fine place. We are enjoying ourselves very much in our new location. We are now within stitching distance of Whole Foods, A Southern Season, and Trader Joes and so just about everybody who eats chocolate and drinks coffee comes in and visits at least once a month.
In the spirit of the Etc. in “Yarn’s Etc.,” Mary invited Nancy McGuffin of Chapel Hill Needlepoint to join us. I admit that I have harbored a small prejudice against needlepoint, mostly concerning the fact that needlepointers have to look down, whereas knitters can spend a lot of time looking up. (This may seem irrelevant to you, but my other hobby is recreational spying and I don’t like to miss anything.)
Well. Since August I have gone from having a small prejudice about needlepoint to having a serious concern about needlepoint. It was during the Fall, while looking up from my knitting, that I first had a hunch that needlepoint might be CONTAGIOUS. Since that time, I have confirmed the theory that you are likely to catch needlepoint if you have sufficient exposure, no matter how much you wash your hands and don’t touch your face, First it happened to me (I have a weak immune system when it comes to fiber arts,) then Vicky, then Mary, then Rebecca, then Hannah and the list goes on, getting ever longer with every passing day. I know that you may think that this is preposterous, perhaps the figment of a fevered imagination, and you would be right, but look at the evidence.
*a local joke playing on the difference between the storied Town of Chapel Hill and it’s formally servile and downtrodden neighbor, the Town of Carrboro, told from the tongue-in-cheek (or maybe not) point of view of the residents of Carrboro
December 20th, 2008
Lynne has created another AMAZING color feast in a SPECTACULAR design with a combination of LV*LTD and Three Waters Farm colorways. The pattern is available from Lynne’s Etsy Shop and the fiber is available both at our website and our Etsy shop.
Don’t be put off by how gorgeous this is. (I mean, when I look Starry Nite, I start quaking in my knitting boots — “what, me, knit a fantabulous thing like THAT?!”) But from experience, I know that Lynne’s patterns are written to be used by Everyknitter — that means you, and me. With clear and concise instructions, Lynne puts the knitting of sumptuous designs within reach of all of us.
Enjoy!!
December 17th, 2008
These longer nights and cooler days that have been shadowing me have finally tiptoed close enough behind me to tap me on the shoulder, expecting acknowledgment. As I turn around and look, I realize, it’s true. It’s Fall.
No matter how hot the day gets, the nights are gaining on us. No matter how brilliant and clear the green of a newly hatched grasshopper, most of the grasshoppers now are a rough, dirty, green gold now. Everywhere I look, the colors have dirtied and deepened. I’ll adjust (after all, I LOVE dirty colors; it’s change I don’t like.) But before I march forward, I want to present my memories of an early summer day swimming in a pool, surrounded by a garden full of blooming flowers under a clear blue sky. Enjoy that day with me and the Lounge Lizard.
September 22nd, 2008
Miss Violet and Miss Lime of the famous Lime&Violet saluted our Etsy Web shop September 15th in the Daily Chum. We are blushing with pride here in our little corner of the Universe. Thank you Lime&Violet!
September 17th, 2008
April 15th, 2008
Boy
Girl
April 15th, 2008
At the moment, there is a broody hen in our chicken coop. She began sitting on her nest the week before we left for Maryland. It is terrific fun anticipating the tiny “peep peep peeps” of newly hatched chicks. But there is (not surprisingly) a wide gulf between a hen’s intentions to hatch a clutch and the manifestation of chicks. The saying goes like this: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Laying the diurnal egg is typical hen behaviour. Some hens are satisfied with the ready-made nest in the chicken coop; other hens find a secret spot somewhere else; but most youthful hens (dare I call them “spring chickens”?) make it their business to deposit an egg somewhere just about every day. And so our story begins: One day in the nesting box, our protagonist, (let’s curtsy to cliche and call our everyhen “Henrietta”) gets an idea. Her idea becomes an indefatigable urge; for inexplicable reasons she has decided to hatch out some biddies. She keeps her idea a secret, but prepares for her adventure by continuing to lay an egg every day in the hopes of accumulating a nice little pile of eggs to hatch. Once she builds up a treasury, she will commence setting for approximately 21 days. This ought to be easy but she is already encountering a problem.
Her first problem is that some industrious robber (in this case human, but the robber is not always human) comes along behind her every day, stealing her egg. It isn’t easy, in a chicken coop, to fill a nest with eggs to hatch even with all the other hens helping out. But robbers fail, especially two legged robbers, and one evening, or two evenings in a row, or perhaps even more evenings in a row than that (like when they are getting ready for some big human endeavor,) these two legged robbers may in fact ‘forget’ to pick up the eggs. (Actually, they see the eggs and say, “later,” knowing full well that no egg pick up is in the works. From afar, I know that it looks just really really easy to pick up eggs once a day, but I tell you, sometimes it is not as easy as it looks.) So, finally, due to reasons beyond her capacity to contemplate, a little nest of eggs appears for Henrietta to sit on.
We can imagine her great sigh of relief when she sees this accumulated pile of eggs; her efforts have been rewarded. She proceeds to climb onto the nest, fans out all those lovely feathers, and sits. And Sits. And SITS. She is perfectly suited to keeping those eggs at 99 degrees for three weeks. She capably provides the appropriate humidity, around 55 percent. Without this relatively constant heat and humidity, the eggs won’t make it. (She is even able to increase the humidity as the eggs get close to hatching; this makes the shells easier for the chicks to peck through.) The whole process is yet another small miracle of Nature. It is so magical it seems kind of foolproof; even accounting for the robber and the constant temperature requirement and the one or two dud eggs that might be in any nest.
By now, you probably have a question. With all that sitting, you want to know, how does Henrietta manage to eat and to drink and to take that nice little dust bath that keeps her free of parasites? This is indeed a problem, how not to die of hunger and thirst and parasites while sitting on this nest. Like all mothers, Henrietta denies herself all manner of comforts, but finally she just can’t take it any more and she gets up from her precious nest to see to her own needs. There goes the constant temperature. Hopefully she won’t take too long.
As Henrietta hops down from her warm nest, another hen appears, looking for a place in which to lay an egg. Hens are notorious for wanting to lay only in nests that already have eggs in them and Henrietta is leaving behind a lovely full nest of eggs that is perfectly warm. This really seems opportune; after all the eggs must remain at a constant temperature. The interloper hops onto Henrietta’s nest, and commences laying her egg. This can take a long time. Could this be a problem? But the eggs are staying warm without Henrietta! What great luck! Is it?
Meanwhile, Henrietta, now finished with her restorations, comes back. Her nest has been stolen! What a hen-ous crime! Oh my. What will Henrietta do? Will she get her nest back? Oh, what anguish for Henrietta!
But our Henrietta is determined; she is not going to be defeated. She WILL continue setting on a nest. Demonstrating great pluck, she finds another nest to sit on. (There are, after all, ten nests to choose from.) Henrietta makes herself comfortable. Meanwhile, the interloper who has tricked Henrietta into sitting on another nest is not in a maternal mood. She finishes laying her egg and hops off. Goodbye constant temperature. Goodbye appropriate humidity.
Henrietta seems oblivious to this fiasco. Her determination to set, no matter where, amounts to a failure of imagination. She is now brooding on another nest. There are fatal consequences.
Really it is not a nice story. YOU know what happens to Henrietta’s eggs; girls and boys, all Henrietta’s nice eggs die when they get cold. Poor Henrietta. Does SHE know? Who can tell?
I will tell you one more thing. When you look up ‘broody’ you find that it comes from the Old English, bro (long e), to keep warm. ‘Broody,’ however, doesn’t just mean “to sit on eggs,” but also, “persistent morbid meditation on a problem.” (Wordwebonline.com)
What do you think?
May 20th, 2007
The usual timekeeping conventions of AM and PM stand for different things at our house. PM means “pre-Maryland” and AM means “after-Maryland.” AM time is much more expansive than PM time; it moves slower and lasts longer.
A big thing on the AM list is “garden,” which means lots of things, but yesterday meant this:
I did not take a ‘before’ photo. (I do have SOME pride.) But I will show you some of our peonies, most especially my favorite pink peony. The peonies (emphasis on the second syllable, “pe-O-nies” in our neck of the woods) really took a hit this year with a late major freeze, but the reds and pinks bloom later and so were not as affected.
Satisfying, yes?
May 14th, 2007
Species Number One
It has taken 10 days for our school chicks (hatched in a kindergarden class) to begin thinking outside the coop. They have finally realized that there is a great edible world of bugs and grass out there. They just haven’t yet agreed on which direction to take.
Species Number Two
Now, which one of these kids is real and which kid is the reflection?! Or are these two kids acting in unison?
They aren’t identical, they just act that way!
photographs by Liliana
May 11th, 2007
What a wonderful time we had at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show! The people! The animals! The fiber! The yarn! It is always terrific to see old friends and make new ones! If you have never paid homage to MSW, mark your calendar now for the first weekend in May, 2008. There is simply nothing like it. Come and see us next year!
Monday was a long ride home for us two tired people. Soon after pulling in the driveway, I went down to the barn to check on things. Look what I found!
How lucky is that? A few days early, two perfect little does, on the ground, dry, and full of colostrum when I got there! Absentee barn midwifery doesn’t get any better than that! They are tiny — six pounders — but strong and lively and smart! Think up some names for us, May flower names please. We are still too tired to do it ourselves!
May 10th, 2007
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