So, what do the two coordinated items featured in the picture below have in common? Well…

They will soon belong to one lucky winner!  Yep, both of them!

The batt: 4oz 56’s Falkland Wool batt from Into The Whirled
The bag: Crafted  by the fabulous Stitched by JessaLu

Why?

There are so many reasons why, but the most important of them all is simply because I wanted to give something back. Starting this venture has been one of the most exciting and rewarding things I have done to date and it is my turn to show my appreciation for the people who make it what it is. And lets be honest, I get something here too. Your feedback and word of mouth are by far the best advertisement I could ever ask for!

So, how does one get a chance at winning this fabulous coordinated give away?! Most importantly – No purchase is required, and you can have multiple chances to win! Here is the breakdown on how to gain those entries:

1) Visit the shops and find something that strikes your fancy (new or sold) and comment on this post before Midnight on Friday October the 2nd.

2) Blog about the giveaway and send your friends; just be sure they name you as their source – each time someone mentions your name in their comment – both of you gain another entry.

3) Tweet a link to this post or the shop and include #itw or #intothewhirled. Two tweets per day are permitted.

4) Help spread the word on Ravelry – just be sure to come back here and let me know!

5) Join the Into The Whirled group on Ravelry. Every memeber of the ITW group will be counted as an entry.

6) Join the Stiched by JessaLu group on Ravelry. Every member of the SbJL group will be counted as an entry.

So there you have it!

Using a random number generator I will pick the winning name and announce the the winner on Monday October the 5th.

ETA: Comments are now closed!!

Time to tally all comments, tweets, blog posts, face-book entries, Ravelry comments and group memberships. See you Monday!!

It is official! A new group has been added to the thousands of user created groups on Ravelry – Into The Whirled Fiber Arts

I must admit, it took a few tries to gain the courage to click that big ole ‘Create Group’ button; Insecurity can indeed be a powerful foe. I mean really, how crazy am I to think that people will actually want to join the group, let alone settle in and share their creativity, their photos, and their random conversational ideas? Apparently crazy enough to believe all those people who planted the idea in my head in the first place!

Strange how sometimes the more that is on the To-Do list the quicker things get done. Yet sometimes the more items there are on the To-Do list, the slower things get done; it is like you get stuck and don’t really know where to start. Yea, if that made any sense to anyone else but me – you know what I am talking about. So in an effort to cut to the chase and get the ball rolling here we go…

1) I just started a Facebook Fan Page HERE. Feel free to take this moment to click the link and become an ITW fan, then come back and finish reading what is in store. I am new to the whole Facebook thing so I may be a little slow it getting that going, but I will!

2) Thanks to the encouragement of some fabulous people I am going start a Ravelry ITW forum group – that will be done sometime this week! I will be sure to let everyone know when it is open and ready for members!

3) Creat a plan for the ITW fiber club and formally announce it. Just an FYI – I am looking at a late fall announcement on this.

4) Finalize details on blog giveaway to be announced in a couple weeks. Stay tuned, you will not want to miss this one…

5) Create a newsletter format for upcoming shop updates. If your interested in being on the mailing list please take a moment to subscribe to the ITW newsletter. I promise not to spam you, or share your information.

6) Spend every waking moment in the studio preparing for Etsy updates and the upcoming fiber festivals!!

So there you have it, some, but not all of the To-Do list. This morning I decided rather then keep it locked away in an endless brain loop I would share it with each and everyone of you. Now, it is no longer a list of ideas – it is a list of commitments!!

Family photo of two pounds of 64’s merino wool top in the ‘Minotaur’ colourway to be released in September along with the release of the Phat Fiber Sampler!

Some may recall this POST, however I suspect that most do not as it was written one month before I officially opened my shop.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised (well, not really “surprised” – anyone who has an Etsy shop will admit to the  fact that the “Hearts” section of their shop is perhaps one of their most viewed pages) to find that three hundred people have declared their love for my shop. Crazy huh?

So much has happened since I opened the shop – I am so thankful to each and every person who took a chance on me!

Individual pictures are available for viewing on Flickr. Or feel free to check the ‘Photos’ page for the slide show – that is if you want to – it is your choice really.

I am just so excited about this batch because it is the largest batch of painted fiber to date. Plus I figured out how to effectively and efficiently dye up a full pound of the same colourway at a time !! Think phrases like “a sweaters worth of fiber” or perhaps “Phat Fiber Sampler”  or my personal favorite: “ITW (Into The Whirled) Fiber club” …

I am off from work today! Well, sorta.

The summer has been a whirlwind of way too much work. So I decided that I needed a day off to play catch up. I wanted a three day weekend, but a co-worker beat me to the punch.

At this point in the summer – a day off is a day off!!

So what does one do when they take the day off from work ? Work some more of course! Well, I am not sure if I can call dyeing “work”. Granted I loose way more sleep to dyeing then I do my 9-5 but I assure you – I am not complaining!!

Here is a picture of what I spent my entire night “working” on:

Now I am off to run some errands

…because that is what you do when you have the day “off”

Drive-by blog ‘dye-candy’ post this afternoon…

I present for your viewing pleasure 50/50 Merino/Tencel:

Now, back to the studio, I have 5lbs of fiber prepped and waiting for me to get my act together this evening!

Only 5 more days until the Clermont Sheep & Wool festival!!

Things have been hectic around here to say the least! Figured I should stop in and let you that things are going really well. I still have pounds of fiber to send through the drumcarder, plus a couple pounds of beautiful Border Leicester locks to dye up. But I will share those tidbits later…

Today, I share my new business cards/sample tags!

My hope is that the card will ultimately act as a spinners sample card and perhaps bring an extra value to a small piece of paper.