The crocheted tree with hearts hanging from it was entered into the Chapter Challenge of the NIC. It came in a close second. I called it Cardiologists Dream! The three hearts trimmed with white picots have tiny button music boxes within them. Just squeeze and a song plays. I worked on it a long time - about 6 months or so. It was a creative challenge all the way to the last stitch, and I enjoyed every minute and every stitch. Hearts were crocheted with thread, ribbon, wire, light weight yarn, and then hung from the extended branches - all 3-d.
If you haven't crocheted before, or maybe in a long time, try it. You can take your crochet to any level of skill. Keep it simple - just crochet simple scarves and hats and pot holders. They make great gifts. Wanna little more - grab a pattern with a stitch you've never tried before, or a garment you really really want. One of the greatest motivations is making a gift for someone else. One of my students, who turned out to crochet beautiful work when she put her mind to it, didn't do much crocheting outside of our little class, that is, until she wanted to crochet a baby blanket for a gift. Then she got the hang of crocheting at home and with a purpose. Her baby blanket is beatiful. Like most beginners, she didn't count the stitches in a row as she went along, so the blanket got narrower and narrower, and then wider and wider!!! It was so beatiful with a perfect gauge, so I taught her her first lesson in "fudging." I don't know where the term came from but it means to be creative about covering your mistakes or fixing them to incorporate them into the design. I told her to crochet around the edges, and when she came to the uneven edges to change to a higher stitch to compenstate for the shortened length. She had to use the same color as the main color for this part of the edging so as not to call attention to this little difference in stitching. She did this and evened out the eneven ends. Then she trimmed it all in a different color, and added a dood-dad in the corner. It results in a very special and unique baby gift. One of a kind.
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