peace, love, and crafts

the knitting lady

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:59:49 +0000

so i feel like i have neglected my blog. sad day. i kind of stress out when i don’t post something. lol. is that normal?? well since i didn’t have my machine for a few days, i knitted! i felt like the knitting lady. literally taking my yarn with me everywhere…i loved it. here are a couple of lovelies i made!

i pretty much just knitted the entire band….and knitted and knitted. 15 stitches across. :) for beginners like me it takes some time, especially with lots of distractions.

when i felt it was snug enough, i sewed the edges together.

the “flower” is just a braided strand that i wrapped around and sewed it on the band. easy!!

my first attempt at a knitted bow! *smiles*

i just knitted the band…again to fit my head and sewed the edges together. this one was only 3 stitches across.

i busted out with the knit and purl action on the bow! 25 across and 10 rows. that took more concentration on my part. i caught myself knitting one or two when i was on a purl row. lol. need to work on that. then knitted another small strand to wrap around and hand stitched that on since it was too thick to put through my machine.

these are perfect for bad hair days….or lazy days. been wearing one all day today. :)

peace and love
xox

a little makeover.

Kristen McAshan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:08:26 +0000

change is good. :) since i didn’t have my machine for a couple of days i figured i would give my blog a little love. played with illustrator and a little guidance from the hubby as to how to add it in and poof! i hope you all like it! i also made little widgets for you to use it on your blog as well! and if i ever feature another blogger then grab my “featured on” button! i am so excited about this. i have been wanting to make one for quite some time. if anyone else wants me to feature their buttons on my site then i’d be glad to!!! smiles!

[source]

peace and love
xox

happy thursday

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:01:21 +0000

happy thursday!!! hope all is well with you. not sure when i will get my sewing machine back. that thing has been through a lot with me. many, many, MANY hours of sewing for school. all my fashion girls know what i mean…aww i miss those girls. maybe one day i will get a new machine, but that one….which my parents gave me about 6ish years ago is still going strong. besides the minor injury. :) in the mean time, working on a knitting project AND fun stuff for my friend’s baby shower! helping out with decorations. exciting! on another note…here’s some lovelies for ya.

miss this

like this

love this

want this
[sources: 1, 2, 3, 4]

<——-also…added some links on the left side for y’all. email, facebook, and twitter! just started a twitter. never thought i would, but why not. so mine looks really puny. so if you have a twitter…find me! and i’ll follow you too! :) i’d love to know those random things about you. have a great one! be blessed.

peace and love
xox

cute news….and sad news.

Kristen McAshan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:48:06 +0000

sad news first…my machine is broke. sigh. going to the shop tomorrow morning. sigh. i was working on a really cute project too! there might have been a tear…or two :( guess i just realized how much it is a part of my life.

(pretty sad pic of me…lol)
cute news…the hubby tried to fix it for about an hour. it was cute. lol. i love him. maybe God is trying to tell me to do something else. it would have been nice to not break my machine, but whatever has to be done. ;) just wanted to write to anything of my readers or browsers out there…who are frustrated or sad….not to give up and to praise God anyways. this reminded me of my favorite poem/quote/saying…

happy moments, praise God.
difficult moments, seek God.
quiet moments, worship God.
painful moments, trust God.
every moment, thank God.

so now im going to go cook some food. food always helps. vegan chili tonight…who’s down?! :)

peace and love
xox

plaid pillow partners.

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:06:15 +0000

hi everyone!!! hope y’all had a great weekend! we had a dinner and movie night with the youth, got to hang out with one of my oldest friends, cooked lots and lots of homemade vegan meals, had a fabulous time at church and gospel lunch, listened to one of the best times i’ve heard my hubs play his songs there, celebrated father in law’s 60th bday, and lots of laughs! whew. i thought i’d start the week off with a super easy BUT super fun project.

i had these two lovies that i got for only $2 bucks. both with POCKETS. heart pockets. these were xl men’s so clearly couldn’t fit, and i didn’t feel like tailoring sooo cut out 2 matching pieces (i chose 15 x 12 inches. random but fun) on both shirts….and literally just sewed the whole thing with 1/4 in seam allowance. then threw in some stuffing. and….

these were soo easy. no hand sewing involved since you have the lovely buttons down the middle. just sew inside out…and then turn it right side out, stuff it, and then button! :) probably took me 30 minutes total to do both of them from start to finish.

i am pondering what i want to stitch/embroider on the front. i’m thinking a fun saying that i can put on both…not sure what though! need some creative suggestions please!!! :)

for now they will live here.

peace and love
xox

embroidery love.

Kristen McAshan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:19:23 +0000

your embroidery by helen brooks. my mom gave me this book of hers awhile back and i haven’t read it yet…but i already love it.

1949….awesome.

there’s probably stuff in here we don’t see much anymore…i should learn. :)

having a good friday! getting stuff done. started a new school term: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing, and Nutrition Across the Human Life Cycle. super excited.

speaking of nutrition. made quinoa salad for lunch. pretty sure i could have eaten 5 more helpings of it. :) don’t worry…i had to look up what that was…AND where it would be located in the grocery store, because i had no idea where to look (and i’m too shy to ask anyone there..ha)

working hard the rest of the day. then youth dinner and movie night! have a great weekend!!!!

peace and love
xox

jumper love.

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:35:29 +0000

i don’t do many apparel projects but i want to get back into it! so i was motivated to create a lil jumper. this was one of those projects where i didn’t really know if it would work out. ha.

i used an old pair of cotton shorts (pretty sure the elastic was about to give out) some waist band elastic and a nice stretchy shirt (stretchy enough to step into and pullover)….and i’m pretty sure this is one of my bestie’s shirts that i have had for several years, but i didn’t think she would mind. hehe

step 1: measure your waist for the waist band. make sure it’s snug enough but not too tight…and then add an inch or whatever your liking for the seam allowance. i used a zigzag stitch. (i’m not an expert with elastic but that seemed to work).

step 2: i did the shorts next and i pinned it to the waistband. make sure you stretch the elastic to match the shorts. i went pin crazy again.

step 3: sew together! i used a stretch stitch on my machine and i did it in about 1/8 of an inch. i then cut the old elastic off. (saving it for another project??)

step 4: i then went pin crazy again and pinned the shirt to the other side of the waist band. if your shirt has gathers then make sure you spread them out evenly. :)

step 5: sew the shirt to the waist band…again with a stretch stitch.

now you have a jumper! :)

i wanted to add a little more so i sewed up some little patch pockets! i also took off the white bias stripping on the shorts. i wanted to take it off the sides too but that was too late. :)

super excited about this jumper. however it snowed the other day so i don’t see myself wearing this anytime soon. but who knows…this is texas so maybe it’ll be 80 degrees tomorrow. :) i have a bunch of other clothing articles that need some revamping. hmmm..what should i make next??? AND thanks Rachel for featuring another post of mine on her lovely One Pretty Thing!!!

peace and love
xox

i can wear my jacket again!

Kristen McAshan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:13:55 +0000

so i don’t know how i get all these random stains on my clothes. but i am glad i kept them for snowy days like this! :)
here’s the lovely jacket and the lovely stain. lame.

used some extra pedals i had laying around (tutorial) and some hand stitching with some yarn and yay!

i love it even more. stain and all.

on a side note. the snow is still sticking. :) and i ate capers with my lunch. getting crazy over here. haha. much love!!

peace and love
xox

snow day…or snow hour. :)

Kristen McAshan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:54:50 +0000

meet our new/temporary friend!!

that’s right…austin, texas got some snow today. woohoo

AND it’s even sticking…for now.

snow buddy.

let’s see how long she lasts!!

molly panda had her fill of snow for the morning…now warm and cozy on her pillow. :)

had the day off because of the weather…sooo i can work on some projects!! be back with a little one. have a great tuesday! stay warm!

peace and love
xox

winner!!

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:59:27 +0000

and the winner is….

yay!! i am excited for you!!! i’ll contact ya and get your address! i wish everyone could win! maybe i can be fancy and take orders??? i’d love to get into that but can’t start off big so this could be easy and fun for me to do! anyone interested maybe???

peace and love
xox