Desert Sunsets: The Great American Afghan

Scripture Reading: Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:1-7:77

Num 6:23 "Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you bless the children of Yisra’ĕl. Say to them:
Num 6:24 "יהוה bless you and guard you;
Num 6:25 יהוה make His face shine upon you, and show favour to you;
Num 6:26 יהוה lift up His face upon you, and give you peace." ’
Num 6:27 "Thus they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and I Myself shall bless them."

Steak Diane (http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/taste-of-home/114773/steak-diane) with Potato Latkes: This was pretty good, but then again, as long as you don't overcook them, it's difficult to ruin good steaks. We had some really nice tender top sirloin steaks, but the onions, lemon juice, etc., added some nice flavor. We also had latkes with sour cream, which we always love, no matter what the main course.

Pinwheel Sweater: I was so tired last night that I didn't knit much. I'm only on round 61, and

adding even more disappointment to the slowness is that I measured my stitches and rows per inch and refigured the final measurements, and now the projection is 176 rounds of knitting to get to the point of starting the outer crochet border (and that doesn't even factor in the sleeves!). Since the outer circumference grows so fast, I went ahead and ordered the 30, 40 and 52-inch cable cords to add to my Denise knitting needle set. I ordered them from Frugal Knitting Haus (http://www.frugalhaus.com/Scripts/default.asp). They have great prices on knitting and crochet supplies, pattern books, etc., and FREE SHIPPING within the USA! Plus, their customer service is outstanding.

Great American Afghan: Several years ago, I was a subscriber to Knitter's Magazine, and included in several consecutive issues were blocks by different designers, which, when all were sewn together made up the "Great American Afghan". My subscription didn't start until after this series had begun, so I was missing the instructions for some of the blocks and was looking for back issues at the time. Then, somewhere along the way, I discovered that they had published a book that included instructions for all the blocks. I then decided it was better to try to get the book with all the patterns in one place, but for some reason, I never accomplished that and ended up forgetting all about it.

Then, enter Ravelry to remind me! In browsing through the Ravelry groups, I came across a

Great American Afghan KAL (knit-a-long) group, and immediately I recognized the beautiful amazing afghan blocks, and my excitement about knitting these awesome blocks is instantly rekindled. And not only that, but in looking for the book, I discovered there are TWO MORE Great American Afghans (each with its own book) since the first one! I snagged the 'Great North American Afghan' book on eBay, and then ordered the 'Great American Afghan' and 'Great American Aran Afghan' books directly from the Knitter's Magazine website (http://www.knittinguniverse.com/flash/universe.php) . I can't wait until they get here so I can ogle all the pictures.

Most of the blocks in all three afghans look super challenging, definitely not mindless knitting and definitely not boring. I imagine I'll struggle through one block at a time when I'm up for a challenge, and then upon completion of one of those, I'll probably be ready to go back to more mundane stuff. In the meantime, I also found a KAL group on Ravelry for the Great American Aran Afghan, so I joined both groups, and I love looking at the blocks they're working on or have finished. There's a lot of talent and skill out there in Ravelry land!

Look at all the cables! I LOVE cables!

JourneyMan: Let the record show that Lisa Sheridan, the actress who plays Dr. Theresa Sanchez (Jack's girlfriend) on JourneyMan, is NOT the actress who plays Michelle Flaherty ("This one time...At band camp...") in the movie American Pie. That actress is Alyson Hannigan, who is also a regular on the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother. But they do look an awful lot like each other, don't they? Lisa Sheridan on the left, Alyson Hannigan on the right--