Monday 29 March 2010

Crocheting and Math?

The elbow saga continues, so still no knitting. However, I did run across this today: "Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes" by mathematician Daina Taimina.

She won a prize for the oddest title. I think she was pretty ingenious myself. Of course, I think it might take a crafter, or maybe a crafter who understands math, to understand the book, but it’s an ingenious connection all the same. Crafts isn’t just crafts and math can be used everywhere.

Having said that, I use as little math as possible myself. The only mathematical principle I ever understood well enough to actually use in daily life is proportion. If I can turn it into a proportion, I can figure it out. I turn stitch counts into proportions all the time. Ok, so they don’t always turn out so well, but the math is usually right, even if the practical knitting is not. Theoretical Knitting is so much easier, don’t you think?

Still, even if I’m never going to understand hyperbolic planes (and frankly haven’t got the slightest desire to even try because when you’ve lived this long ), this is one math book I’d actually look at if I passed by it in the shop.

2 comments:

  1. That is a great title. I have just the person in mind for it. My husband says that I live in math hell. It's true, and I always worry that my weekly math volunteer tutoring (9 year olds) will expose me.

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  2. Hyperbolic planes?? Yikes, I'm way too comfortable with my math ignorance. I guess I'm O.K. with fractions when I use them in cooking. But, that important, food is involved.

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