My name is Laura and I approve this message

So a few weeks ago, I signed up on Google Alerts for the phrase "Felt Inspired". (For those of you who are unfamiliar, Google scans the internet for all mentions of the phrase and sends a daily email with the listings). I knew that I would receive findings that had nothing to do with my items and that I would have to scan the findings.

While I meant this as basic marketing research to see where my items were being mentioned, it has resulted in some very interesting findings. On any given day, I receive a list of about a half dozen mentions of the phrase "felt inspired". And every day, at least one of those mentions is in regard to Barack Obama and the Obama/Biden ticket. Not a single mention has been in regard to the McCain/Palin ticket.

People blogging about wanting to do more for their neighborhoods, their communities, to volunteer for a cause--all because of the vision that Obama is sharing and that people feel like they are being heard and included. People feeling a sense of empowerment and their own inportance in the future of our country. And the strong feeling that something better is on the horizon--for all of us.

Think about it--do you ever remember our electorate being this involved and empassioned over a candidate or campaign? We have one week left--do what you can. Talk with your friends, neighbors, co-workers. Visit a swing state--I plan to go to Indiana this weekend. And if you're undecided, dig deep into your soul.

Vote Obama/Biden!

Color My World

Here are the results of Day 1 of the dye workshop. Believe it or not, there are 21 colors in this pile. Some of the dye recipes I chose were pretty similar, so they are just a few shades different. I'm pretty happy with the results, even though some of the colors didn't turn out as expected.

Tomorrow I'll learn how to use a drum carder to blend the fleeces and come up with even more colors! I ended up bringing the wrong type of wool to the workshop (I brought merino roving), but a friend gave me some of her Border Leicester fleece that she bought this summer in Wisconsin and washed herself. The sheen of this wool is so pretty, and is it supposed to be a good felting wool. In return, I'm giving her some gorgeous Cheviot wool I bought last year that doesn't felt worth a darn. Im sure it will spin up nicely--friends keep telling me I need to learn to spin, but I'm almost afraid to get started on yet another fiber technique.

It's Official

This is the year of the Flamenco scarf (and maybe shawls, too!). They were flying off the rack and I wish I had made more! And to my joy, the taupe and black shawl sold before the show even opened!

The Uncommon Threads show was a lot of fun--the people at the Fine Line are such good folks. And the quality of pieces in the show were truly inspirational.

To keep up with my inspiration, I just signed up for a workshop this weekend with Deb Menz at the Fine Line, to learn color theory, fiber dying and carding. I can't wait! As an added plus, I'm carpooling with Dagmar Klos, who is an expert dyer herself, and a very cool person to boot.

In other news, I have a Halloween party to go to this weekend--any costume suggestions?

Runway Ready

A few more shawls--I'm really having fun with this! I love the idea that all of them are reversible--I'm so not into getting dressed up, so I think that this appeases my inner voice. This one was made right after the taupe/black one in the last post, with a little more shaping and a shirred silk collar. I also added ruffled edges like the flamenco scarves.

I love the feel of this one--the fiber is 80/20 merino silk and so, so soft. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the shawl has a subtle tone-on-tone swirl design.

I dropped off three wraps for the fashion show at the Fine Art of Fiber next month. This weekend is the Uncommon Threads show and I will be in the boutique, but not the runway (maybe next year I'll try!) I'm trying to get a few more wraps done for the boutique, so that I can get an idea of people's reactions to them.

New Directions

Sometimes I just need to be nudged. I've been shying away from larger pieces like shawls and wraps thinking that they would be too cumbersome to make, that I wouldn't be able to come up with any interesting designs, etc. Needing to make some for a fashion show was just the push that I needed. Yes, they are more cumbersome to make, but I'm getting the hang of it and really having fun. I've made 4 wraps and have many more designs marinating in my mind. Being the practical gal that I am, I have made them all to be reversible.

I was finally brave enough to use some gorgeous silk that I bought several years ago and I'm really happy with the result. This is the first wrap I made:

Now I just need a name for it--any suggestions?

Here is the second wrap:

I'm thinking of calling this the Honeycomb Wrap. Thoughts?

More photos tomorrow!

Feelin' the Love

Over the past week, I've been fortunate to have been mentioned in several blogs. Hello to anyone who is visiting as a result! Most prominent was a feature in And Lily Makes Three (thank you Mary!). Her kids are waaaay more adorable than anything I could ever come up. The oh-so-creative Corinne and Bonne Marie also mentioned Felt Inspired prior to YarnCon--thanks gals! And just yesterday, I saw that one of my scarves was featured on the Kiss My Style blog.

On the studio front I'm shifting gears once again, trying my hand at felted shawls and wraps. There is a fashion show at the Fine Art of Fiber and they no longer accept scarves in their fashion show, only larger pieces. I've been wanting to try some larger pieces, so this has nudged me. It was slow going at first since my work space is not quite large enough, but I slogged through (quite literally making mess) and made two wraps yesterday. I need to finsh them up and take some photos.

Are you registered to vote????

We interrupt this blog for a VERY IMPORTANT public service announcement:

If you are from Illinois, you have until tomorrow at midnight!