Makers of purposeful beauty
twining mythic with the mundane.
From wool and plant and wood and iron.
Felted, woven, carved, renewed.
New ways rooted in ancient remembering.
What’s stirring in 2026…
Wool to Wear:
Zan has worked up dozens of new hats. Come to the fair early - these always fly out of the shop!
In the Arbor Studio:
Melanie and Zan have expanded the wool work into making shoulder mantles - you’ll find many varieties to choose from at the fair!
In the Workshop:
Josh has been busy since winter working on new broom creations - from twisted hazel handles, to many limbed handles, to exciting new weaving materials - come see!
Brooms for sweeping away dirt and dust and that which no longer serves.
Felted hats to keep warm with remembering, wool from own seaside-raised sheep.
Hand-carved spoons and spatulas, to stir the soup and life, to flip eggs and complacency.
Refinished cast iron pans for cooking up dinner and rebellion.
Wool mantles to cloak selves in invisibility from spells of forgetting.
Handwoven altar cloths for centering focus in ways more potent than any algorithm.
Common Ground Fair
Find us next at Maine’s 50th annual Common Ground Fair, September 25-26, 2026, in the Farm & Homestead area (near the Pine Gate).
Josh, Melanie, Zan, and Tim:
4 craftspeople who have come together weekly for many years to create purposeful and beautiful elements of the everyday. Cackle & Stir grew out of this exploration of making that quickly generated an abundance of creations that were much more than the needs of our own households. As makers, we are inspired to create potent tools of integrity and intention and purpose, as useful as they are beautiful, as everyday as they are timeless.
We care deeply about the process and the sources of our materials. Wool for hats and mantles comes from our sheep who we graze on coastal lands in our community. The hats and mantles are made of 100% wool and embellished with found feathers, shells, stones, and bones. They are felted through the alchemy of wool and water and local soap, and nothing else. No chemicals. No dyes. The pans and cauldrons are seasoned in avocado oil - no toxic chemicals or sealants. The brooms are all handcrafted from broomcorn and agave fiber, each one unique. The spoons are hand-carved from a variety of wood respectfully harvested from our lands. Altar clothes and pouches are woven on a traditional loom with natural fibers in warp and weft.
