making a Maf-ghan

Last Monday, I mentioned that I've been working on a secret project. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can tell you what I've been up to.

I've been making an afghan for the Mafia. A Maf-ghan, if you will. It's not done yet, but here's the 'ghan as of Friday:

(Thanks to our friendly LYS-owner, Lucy, for helping with the photo shoot.)

As many of you know, Ms. Mafia is going through a pretty crappy divorce. I know that it's been hard for her to not blog about it. (Because the Mafia ... not so good with the self-restraint.) So, I thought that it would be a nice idea to make an afghan with squares contributed by some of her fibery buddies, so that she feels the love even when she can't blog and hear back from people.

I stalked her commenters for a couple of weeks sent some emails to her friends and commenters and asked them to knit up some squares. I got about 75 squares back. Wow!! I never expected this much of a response, although I guess I should have.

(Some of the squares and seaming/bordering yarn.)

So, thank you to everyone who mailed me a square. Or shared some "good karma yarn" that I've been using for borders and seaming. Or taught me new ways of seaming an afghan. Or invited me to your knitting group and helped lay out the squares. Or sent me nice emails (nearly 500 of them!), and notes for Ms. Mafia.

Rest assured that each contribution has, or will have, a place in the afghan. The big photo above shows 48 of the squares -- the rest are still being seamed! The final blanket will be 10 rows long - the first 6 rows are shown above. Oh, and I have room for a couple more squares if there is anyone who wants to make a square but wasn't able to earlier or didn't know about the project. Just email me (aswiminknits AT yahoo DOT com). (ETA: Thank you all! We now have plenty of squares!)

I told Ms. Mafia that I learned a lot from making this afghan...

1. As you may know, I am a wee bit obsessive. Yes, there was a detailed spreadsheet created to track your squares, and each is tagged on the back side with the name and blog of the sender. Yes, there will be a labelled schematic when the afghan is complete. Yes, I am a bit of a perfectionist. Some would also allege that I have some control-freak tendancies (I'm not arguing...) So, for me to ask for squares made with the vague guidelines of "knit an 8"x8" square. Worsted weight wool, wool blends, etc would be best. Anywhere between DK and Aran weight. Any brand, color, stitch pattern, etc." ... well, let's just call it "a personal growth experience" for me :)
2. Gauge. And measuring tapes. I own many, many measuring devices (see above, "obsessive", "perfectionist", and "control freak"). I'm not so sure about the rest of you. Apparently, knitting an 8" x 8" square is harder than it looks. Only about half of the Maf-ghan squares actually measure 8" square. But that's OK!! Really, it is!!! With some creative seaming techniques, all of the squares fit together (I think there is a metaphor in here somewhere). And, you have given me the opportunity to experience tremendous personal growth because of this. But, people? I'm just curious - how do you actually knit garments that fit??
   
3. Most importantly, I have learned how truly, deeply, caring our fiber community is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I feel blessed to have been able to "meet" so many of you this way and to have the opportunity to bring some happiness to a friend. I could not have done this without all of you.
   

And if you didn't read the Mafia's own description of the Maf-ghan please do. It's much better than anything I could write.