Sew I See!

Back in July, I started crocheting my first sampler (as you may recall).  In an effort to use up a surplus of pink and purple stash yarn, I decided to make that my color scheme, and I used the square recommendations from a CAL on Ravelry.  Well, yesterday I wove in the last loose ends and tossed it into the washer. In the beginning, the CAL was supposed to last for twelve squares.  It turns out that they're extending it until November, but by the time they'd decided, I was too impatient to wait for the next suggestion.  Instead, I turned to a couple of crochet books I own and found three more squares to add to the mix.  Then came the joining.  I'd been dreading that part since the beginning.  I knew my stitch-counts wouldn't match from square to square, but when I counted them, I was shocked by how much variance there was.  Most of the squares fell close to 42, but there were also a few 45+ and a few others in the mid-to-upper 30s. I looked online for tips