Mathematic
Manflesh showed me an article published a number of months ago by Discover about mathematical "knitting" titled Knit Theory. What they really meant was crochet, but I'll forgive them since the writer was obviously a stupid waste of skin given the sexist over-tones of the article (he describes Daina Taimina, a female Cornell math professor, as an "ebullient blond", among other descriptors that make it hard for the reader to take her seriously). Despite the sexism, the article is worth a read as it dips into the history of hyperbolic geometry, which forms the foundation Taimina's pretty nifty sculptural fiber creations.
Before Discover ran this article, Taimina and her husband, David Henderson (also a math professor at Cornell), have been well-received by the Crafty Clan of Smartypants. By this, I am referring to that group of people who are really intelligent and have channeled that intelligence into crafts. Yeah, like you and me.
There's a much older interview with Taimina and her husband online at Cabinet, a quarterly arts magazine. It's not written as well as the Discover article (even after factoring in the sexism), but it goes into more details about hyperbolic geometry and how that relates to Taimina's crocheted creations.
So, what kind of craft blog would this be without resources on how to make those cool hyperbolic shapes?
- Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane, by Taimina and Henderson
- Taking Crochet to a Higher Plane, Interweave Crochet, Special Issue 2005
- Build Your Own Hyperbolic Plane, The Institute for Figuring
And while not really hyperbolic knitting/crocheting, here's some patterns for higher-level beginners and intermediate knitters and crocheters to make a möbius scarf:
