Late last June, I finished work on my rendition of Tracy St. John’s groovyghan, and I was at the point that I had to decide what to do concerning the question of crochet borders.

I routinely post status updates at Facebook of the projects I am working on, and as I neared the finish of the groovyghan, I posted a photo of my project as it appeared at that time and noted that all I had left to do was crochet the border. In response several friends objected to the whole notion of a border, so with their admonishments in mind, I did this instead:

Using hyperbolic curlicues to create a fringe, I was able to frame the finished piece without (in a very technical sense) adding a border.

Another way that crochet is without borders is the reach that each crocheter has through the “magic” of the internet.

One of my favorite crochet designers is the inimitable May Cheang (whose etsy shop you can find here).

I first “met” May Cheang at Ravelry, and without the internet, it is unlikely I would have every had the opportunity to meet her. According to the driving directions at Google maps, the trip from Raleigh, North Carolina, where I live, to May Cheang’s home in Australia is 16,150 miles and would take 56 days and 7 hours. The route (again, according to Google Maps) has tolls, includes a ferry, and crosses through Japan.

In November 2011 when I was in the throes of a stash down challenge (my goal being to limit myself to using yarn that I purchased from my son’s trumpet teacher), I made this scarf:

Roda Scarf designed by May Cheang.

Yesterday while browsing projects at Ravelry, I learned that Ms. Cheang has a new, equally lovely design she calls “Endless Love.” Composed of a string of hearts it is exactly the kind of thing my mother is always telling me I should design.

Well, I did the next best thing: using May Cheang’s design (which can be purchased at ravelry), some of my stash of Red Heart Super Saver yarn, and an 5.0mm hook, I made my first string of hearts using the color known as hot red:

Knowing my mother would want more than a single length of hot red hearts, I went on to make two more: one in Red Heart Super Saver pumpkin and the other in Red Heart Super Saver shocking pink. Here is a detail of the three strands of hearts:

and here they are arranged in a spiral:

Me being me, I had to see how the pattern would work if I changed colors every heart:

While I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked before the sun set, I love the effect and am going to continue to add hearts (and weave in ends).

One of the things I enjoy most about crochet is that the only real limits I face are these: the amount of time there is in a day and my imagination.