Handdyed, Handspun for the Guys

Inspired by football team colors....yea...I finally found something useful out of football teams!!:)...I'm going to be knitting up some basic watchcaps.  These caps are unisex in design so if I fail to put some color on the heads of some guys, I know the gals will like them.  But...I'm rooting for the guys on this one.

So..the color inspirations from left to right...

Saints, Ravens, Cowboys, Vikings....the green...hey..St. Patricks Day is coming...and the fiber behind....I think I may want to Howl that if I get enough support on the design.

The Howl Survey

It's a hat, it's a cowl...it's two accessories in one!!!...Here's my prototype for my new cowl out of handdyed, handspun yarn. 

The only modification I need to do is make the length a little shorter overall because there's plenty of fabric for the cowl now...for the hat, I personally find it a little baggy at the end so making it a little shorter in length will give it more of a shaped fit when converted to the hat.

This will be great for those who have long hair...just slip up from the neck, tug on the ties and go.  Ties are crocheted out of the handspun and the leaves (which could change on future designs) are hand felted out of the same fiber the yarn was spun from.

I need a model with long hair for this one :)

So...check below your thoughts...  Cool.....Not Cool....or Re-Think This.....thanks for your feedback!!!

A peak at some Artyarn

Artyarn that I spun for those "vessels" Dottie is working on.

I Finally got to play with my new serger!!

I've been wanting to do some home decor sewing for a while...problem is I really wanted to serge the edges and use a surged blind hem. Well Santa Roger got me a Brother Serger for Christmas so the 1st project was to redo the fabric seating on the old directors’ chair.

By old directors’ chair, I mean the 1st piece of furniture I ever purchased. I was living in Florida, saw this cover and just had to have the chair.

Over the years, I've made covers out of coordinated fabric to match the bedroom. This was a velvet stripe from our old bedroom set in plums and greens.


With the help of my new serger, (after a few hours of figuring out how to thread the darn thing), I was able to take a $4.00 remnant of upholstery fabric and make a new cover that coordinates with the current blue/tan bedroom color theme.

Next project...a new duvet cover...I scored this sheet set at Ross for $22.00.  Stay tuned :)

Sometimes...things kinda work out.....

Today in the dyepot...my attempt to hip up some sports fans with kettle dyed rovings.

Cowboys, Saints, hmm...pink, orange, black, Vikings, and the yarn is overdyed handspun that came out a rich burgandy...now this looks like Redskins.

About the pink, orange, black....that was my attempt at Redskins.  Sometimes you never know what's going to happen with the dye colors and I was a bit afraid of the burgandy gold combo anyhow. Horrific as this color story may seem, there is a cheerleading group in MD, CAS Cheer whose colors are pink, orange, black and white.  I think maybe I need to draft in some sparkle, spin it up and knit some wristwarmers. :)

What's Spinning.....

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Hand painted merino rovings

From roving braids to pre-drafted balls, to spun single of yarn. The spun single will be Navahoe plyed to a nice worsted weight 3 ply yarn.

Here are the 3 singles....ready to be 3 plyed into yarn

and here is the a spun single...a 3 ply yarn on bobbin, and a 3 ply hyarn off the bobbin...ready to have the twist set....(yes...I need to soak yarn and let dry...then it's ready to use!)

New Texture....New Colors

Felt pebbles surround felted vessel to be sneak previewed here on my blog.


Handdyed merino rovings. Looks like I may have nailed something here for Ravens fans. New mens hats coming soon!!!

Taste of The Bay Gifts

Taste of the Bay's Top 20 Gifts...the magazines are in circulation. Soaps will be available anytime at my online 1000 Markets Shop.

I was selected for Taste of The Bay Magazine "2009 Holiday Editors Choice"

I'm really excited about this!!! Now to felt up some soaps!!!


Dear Business Owner,

Congratulations! Every November, Taste of the Bay Magazine publishes our very popular Editors’ Picks Gift List, a selection of unique items found right here in the Bay area. Starting in August, the TOTB editorial staff frequents numerous festivals, shops and areas to preview hundreds of items that peak our interest. From there, we narrow the list down to 15 – 20 select items. We have selected the item below from your store or business to be included in this year’s list.


Wool-Covered Soaps

Fiber artist Elise Miller takes handmade shea butter soap (made locally by Karen Danella of Cedarwood Soaps) and covers it in her own, hand-spun merino wools. The wool acts as a natural loofah and felts as you use it, shrinking as the soap wears away. Choose from scents such as grapefruit bergamot, sunflower marigold, clove, and tangerine spice. Three for $24.

To purchase, go to TrulyUniqueByElise.blogspot.com and follow the link on the right hand side to her 1000 Markets store or email elisecmiller@gmail.com.

About those hanging tomatoes I started in June...

I would have continued taking pictures of them, but it started to look like a failure from early on. We did get one tomato. It was the size of a cherry tomato. So, failure in those nice looking hanging planters. I do wonder, but I'm not going to purse it, that I may have had better success by just planting the tomato in the planter and not planting 4 herb plants in the top. Just a thought......