Continuous Snuggle

Since I was about 10, afghans have never quite been big enough. They would stretch from your toes to your chest or your knees to your neck or if you put them at a diagonal and stretched them you could sometimes get all of you under them, but it was work. Taking a nap on the couch in winter was always an exercise in tucking the scant edges under you so you wouldn't be woken up with cold toes or elbows or an icy butt. If there were two people on the couch you were forced to snuggle or fight for warmth. Snuggling is ok, except for when you're 12 and your sister is 10 and punching her and stealing the afghan and leaving her to freeze seems much reasonable than sitting next to her. If there were more than two people, forget it, someone was going to be cold.
Since I didn't knit as a kid, this was something I couldn't fix, afghans were just too short. It was like wishing for a bigger bedroom, or a bigger back yard, or a turbocharged go-kart. You knew all of those things were theoretically possible, and when you were a grown up, you'd have them, but for now it was all just wishing. Well, I'm a grown up now. I have the biggest bedroom in the house, because I built it. My backyard in Texas isn't so big, but the one in Michigan is big enough that I need to carry a compass so I don't get lost. I don't have a turbocharged go-kart, yet, but plans are in place. As for the Afghan, I've fixed that problem too.

Warmth for all.

I first learned to crochet simple stitches when I was 8 or 9. I made a few washcloths and left it at that. It was fun but washcloths are small and afghans are big and my attention span was much closer to washcloth size than afghan size. It wasn't until a few years ago that I decided to dust off the hooks and get back to work. I didn't start with the intention of making a huge afghan, it just turned out that way. I searched on youtube for videos on how to crochet and learned a bunch of different stitches. The one I liked best is the tunisian stitch. The stitch is very repetitive and very orderly and really appealed to my engineer brain. I learned the stitch and made a doll afghan, it was fun. Working the tunisian stitch for a hour was like meditation, very calming. I also learned to knit and made a few test panels in the hope that I could knit an afghan and socks and a sweater and possibly a car cover. Sadly I  found out that my non functional index finger (long story) made knitting difficult. I pulled out my tunisian hook and decided that I was going to solve my long running afghan problem once and for all. No longer would I be a slave to old ladies and their tiny afghans. I would make a giant manly afghan.
It took me 13 skeins of yarn. It's seven feet by five and a half feet. It will cover the whole family at one time when you cram us all on the couch for a massive continuous snuggle. You can take a nap under it and have so much extra warmth around you that nothing gets cold. Nothing. It took me somewhere around 120 hours of crocheting to finish. This time was spread out over a year and a half. I could have done it in much less time but it's hard to convince yourself that you want to flop an ever growing afghan on your lap and get some work done when it's hot out, and it's hot out a lot in Texas. Which begs the question, do I really need a super awesome afghan in Texas? Yes, because now that I'm the dad I control the thermostat in winter. In true dad fashion I grumble and turn it down and tell everyone to put on a sweater. The cold season may be short, but in our house,  I make sure that it is felt by all.
I might have made the greatest afghan ever. Serously, ever.
Come and visit and snuggle under that sucker and tell me I'm wrong.