Meet Featured Artisan Lori of Alfabette Zoope

I'm Lori, founder of and girl with the frequently dye-stained hands behind Alfabette Zoope. AZ has served as a wonderful place and way to recapture and rekindle my love for doing crafty things that had gotten lost in the shuffle of work, kids, houses, and all that good (but not always creative) stuff. I have two children who keep me hopping—a 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl, and a very understanding hubby (I deal with his beer-brewing smells coming up from the basement, he deals with my yarn-dyeing smells wafting out of the kitchen). I specialize in creating batiked and handdyed clothing and fabric as well as handdyed yarns and have been selling my creations online since 2006. 

Jasper & Millie, July 2010

What is your favorite aspect of your business? 
There's nothing quite so cool as seeing pictures that customers send in of their children wearing something I made and/or dyed. 

"On Fire" Shirt

Where do you find artistic inspiration for your products?
A lot of my inspiration comes from what my own kiddos are into at any given time, or their friends. Also I do a lot of thinking back to what things and colors I liked as a child. I also love working with themes, because they often get me thinking outside of my usual box and that always spurs some new designs or color ideas. 

What is your purpose behind your creations? (ie. your business philosophy)
My philosophy is really pretty simple -- make cute, beautiful or fun stuff that I am proud to sell and hopefully others are proud to buy and wear or have their children wear. And if it's not feeding my soul or making someone smile, it's time to take a step back and figure out how to make it work better.

"Four Seasons" Scrappy Yarn Set

How long does the average shirt take to make from start/finish? 
This varies greatly from design to design and also depends on the dye technique being used, but the process includes drawing, waxing, soaking, dyeing, boiling, washing, and drying before a shirt is done and is often done over a few days. From start to finish I'd say the average shirt involves around an hour of active work (drawing, waxing, stirring dye) plus several hours of additional time when I can be doing other things in parallel (soaking, boiling, washing, drying).

Do you have a favorite design?
I love my Heartfeet design, which was originally inspired by a beach-themed stocking (the original shirt was sand-colored like footprints in the sand) and is now my most-requested design. I also love some of the multicolor designs like the rainbow, mosaic turtle, kawaii kitty and fire designs... but they are very time-intensive and persnickety, so as much as I love them, I only offer them on occasion. 

"Heartfeet" Shirt

What is your favorite yarn colorway?
Frolic was my favorite colorway to create. I first dyed it for a yarn for knitting swap and really did let myself play with color with no boundaries to see what would happen. It was a huge bonus that I adored the results when it was worked up into shorties for my daughter. 

"Frolic" Colorway and "Flower Kamon" Shirt

Alfabette Zoope Giveaway: Yaaaaaaaarn!
This is a superwash skein of Merino/Nylon blend fingering-weight yarn (approximately 3.5 oz / 424 yds) that has been naturally-dyed with plants found around my yard and a food-safe mordant. This skein has been space-dyed, with subtle transitions of color from soft tan to natural. This yarn would be perfect for a pair of socks or a shawl (or check out ravelry.com for more pattern ideas).

To enter, go to Alfabette Zoope and comment here about your favorite item. 

Additional entries:
* Follow the team blog and leave a separate comment telling us you are a follower
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Please make sure to leave each comment in a separate post, and be sure to give us a way to get in touch with you in case you win! Winner will be picked using random.org on Wednesday, August 11th  - good luck! 

Aug 11: CONGRATS Shairbearg for winning the Giveaway with comment #5!