05 May Shearing Day at Martha’s Farm & A Prize for All
Shearing Day Arrives
Ben Hearne shearing Skeeter
Freshly Sworn Wool
Lots of Names to Consider
The Lambs Are Named
Wynkin and Blynkin, the newly named black lambs from the naming contest.
Nod, the newly named white lamb from the naming contest.
What is the Prize to Be?
- How long have you had goats?
- Are sheep hard to take care of?
- Will you sing me a song that has a sheep in it?
- Where can I learn to spin and how to raise sheep? ( Martha is schedule to teach Sheep to Shawl October 4-10, 2020 and February 7-13, 2021)
- Do you have a book to recommend for children about sheep and wool?
- What does Sleeping Beauty and the Industrial Revolution have to do with each other?
- Do sheep like to eat pumpkins?
About Martha Owen
Martha is the Folk School’s Resident Artist in Spinning, Knitting & Crochet, Feltmaking, Dyeing, and Surface Design. Her adventure in spinning began at this very school in 1978. Since then, her extended family has included sheep (mostly Corriedale, Shetland, Romney) and Angora rabbits (French).
A banjo player known to tell a story or two, Martha’s interest in sheep and wool, music and dance has carried her quite literally and joyfully around the world. She reads historical fiction for knitting references and rewinds movies to see the shape of a hat or to draw a color repeat. She is a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and was co-owner of Yarn Circle in Murphy, North Carolina, until deciding to close in 2016. Find her on Facebook and Instagram at Martha Owen Woolens.
For wool, pattern inquiries, or any other questions, send Martha an email using the contact page on the subject pages.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
by American writer and poet Eugene Field (1889)
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
the old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
that live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
as they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
that lived in that beautiful sea —
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish —
never afraid are we”;
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
to the stars in the twinkling foam —
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
bringing the fishermen home;
‘Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
as if it could not be,
And some folks thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
of sailing that beautiful sea —
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
and Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
is a wee one’s trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
as you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.