Cross stitch and more washcloths

So I just barely finished my secret cross stitch project in time. I made a wedding sampler for our friends who got married on Sunday. Absolutely everything about the whole event was gorgeous. I would have had (just barely) enough time to snap a quick picture of the finished and framed project, except that when Pat borrowed my camera for his Independence Day weekend trip, both sets of batteries got worn out, and they hadn't been recharged yet. So I'll have to wait until T&B get back from their honeymoon and open presents before I can get a picture of it. It was quite a push Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to get it done, but I made it. I've been cross stitching MUCH longer than I've been knitting, having started when I was six years old. I love it, but knitting is so much more portable and versatile.

I made more lunch hour washcloths:

The rest of the super size ball of Summer Splash Sugar 'n Cream in hmm... what's it called... a trellis pattern. There was just enough, although I'm still defying this "square" concept.


Zigzag Eyelet pattern in Key Lime Pie color, still Sugar 'n Cream.

After this year's cross stitch binge was over, I spent all of Monday's Knit Night choosing and buying yarn for my next THREE big projects: (1) This year's Mystery Christmas Project, (2) a guitar strap for my brother (probably also a Christmas present, but he knows about it, so no mystery), and (3) socks for ME! I needed to buy all this at once because for the next week I'll be at my church's Leadership School. Eight full days of driving to Wisconsin and back (carpooling = extra knitting time), and sitting in seminars and services and group meetings. Very excited for all of the learning and knitting I'll be doing. There will be some internet access there, so hopefully I'll post in more detail about each of these projects and yarns soon, but for now, here's a teaser snapshot of my knitting bag from Thursday:

Now I'm off to pack. Will I have more clothes or more yarn in my suitcase? It's a toss-up.