Embedded Knitter: Kate Samson

Knitting and crocheting are methods by which thread or yarn is used to create a cloth. Knitting uses two long needles as tools, while crocheting involves one hook. These processes eventually result in a fabric, often used for garments. The fabrics are created through intricate, repetitive looping actions that can often move in different directions through space (side to side, forward and backward).

Yarn craft objects are often created from bottom to top. This process of making requires the crafter to cognitively engage with materials through complex spatial reasoning and visualization. Further, geometrical concepts are integral to yarn crafts. For example, a hat can be conceptualized as a circular conical surface of yarn that winds from a wide base up to a much smaller radius at the top.

Embedded Crocheter: Naomi Thompson

Knitting and crocheting can transform one-dimensional yarn into two-dimensional fabrics and three-dimensional shapes, making them extremely interesting subjects for mathematical exploration. In fact, hyperbolic space was first physically modeled through crochet.

How Does Mathematics Manifest Itself?

• Measurement and estimation
• Algebraic equations
• Repetition and patterning
• Algorithms, coding and computation
• Modeling 2D and 3D shapes
• Modeling hyperbolic space