creative mathematics

If hyperbolic geometry was as easy to understand as hyperbolic crochet is as easy to do I wouldn’t have failed math. I enjoyed arithmetic as a kid. I got that, the theories were easy to understand 2+2=4. The higher maths I never enjoyed. What I did enjoy was a workshop last weekend on hyperbolic crochet hosted by The Little Knittery in my neighborhood, Atwater Village.

Taught by David Orozco (of That Yarn Store fame) in a way that made me think I could understand it, in fact made me want to understand it. Though I have to admit once I started to crochet I lost myself to the meditative nature of repetitive actions; thoughts of how to incorporate these forms into my current designs and of a past design… the very first piece for the Knit 1 store window. For the display I placed this simple collar on a vintage dress form, that was it. I was surprised at how many people responded to it, it seemed almost too simple of a thing to me. But I'm sure what captured their attention was the natural sculptural quality of the hyperbolic form.

They're simple to create and beautiful to see... what can you do with them? For a vivid peek at the potential of hyperbolic crochet: http://crochetcoralreef.org/

If you're looking for a more dry " it is impossible to isometrically embed the hyperbolic plane as a closed subset of the Euclidean 3-space" exploration look to Cornell University

Thanks to TStone of Sknitter to turning me on to this workshop. Go to her listing where you'll find these and other links to hyperbolic creativity.

the Collar

My sample from the workshop.

David showing one of his many samples. The section he's holding between his fingers took him at least a movies length to complete!