It's like the whole 2007 zeitgeist rolled into one. Last month, Kelli Cain and Brian Crabtree, who are part of the collective who created the awesome and now-sold-out Monome, ran a four week workshop in LA called 'Felt Circuits'. They started by making vegetable dyes, then used them to dye wool which was then hand-rubbed into felt. Then they designed, etched and populated noise-making circuit boards which were then put into the felt creatures. Lots of Flickr pics of the process here. Kelli writes: "Here's the creature I made during the class to show each step... a roughly 8"x 6" calculator. it plugs into the usb port [for power] and makes a bunch of noise when you touch the metal contacts sewn on the bottom." There are not immediate plans for more Felt+Circuits workshops, although a NYC run could be possible.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. 
