mathematical knitting

knitting patterns have a certain mathematical quality to them. knitting is basically a binary system - knit & purl stitches. so it's possible to knit binary sequences, letters eg convert the letters to ascii hex, then binary - some people knit their names as signatures in their work.

people knit in fibonacci sequences and end up with patterns and colours / stripes that somehow seem natural, just as the fibonacci sequences showing up so much in nature.

so I'm keeping a list of patterns and urls for sites on logical / mathematical knitting.

there's also the crocheting - such as the hyperbolic plane crocheted recently by Daina Taimina as a way to describe it physically. I need to practice crocheting though, so will stick to knitting for a while

another crochet project is the hyperbolic crochet coral reef project using patterns based on the hyperbolic plane by Daina Taimina. her website also lists an excellent collection of mathematical links

also the crotcheted Lorenz manifold based on the strange attractor in chaos theory.

Knitted Mobius bands by dr. sarah-marie belcastro

Ada Deitz polynomials - In 1946, Ada learned to weave and figured out how to use solutions to multivariant polynomials to design patterns. These were featured in magazines at the time.

eg: the solution to (a + b) ^2
(^2 = squared)

Algebraic Expressions of Handwoven Textiles article by Lana Schneider

thomasina's Guide to Geeky Knitting lists all sorts of mathematical and biological knitting, using the following categories :
Geology and Paleontology; Biology : Microscale: Genetics and Microbiology, Macroscale: Anatomy and Ecology; Mathematics : General, Topology, Probability, Chaos, and Fractals, Sequences and Geometry, Tessellation; Computer Science; History; Linguistics.

she also mentions String, and Knot, Theory of Inca Writing, an article on khipu, an Incan method of writing / encrypting / encoding information using cryptic knotted strings

Eleanor Kent's knitted textile art

Radical Knitting Circle - an activist based knitting group

Critical Pixels quote

Quote:

Knitting is, in itself, a remarkably rich metaphor when considering issues of gender and power; hitch this up to a discussion of computer viruses and things really start to blossom. Kirsty, for example, took the binary code from an existing virus called Code Red and converted it into a piece of knitting (in red wool, of course). Rather than rendering the virus harmless, this act was actually a form of re-encoding; one could imagine it being carried invisibly (ie worn as a garment) until the wearer decided to decode it.

There's also a certain kind of circularity at play: the earliest programmable computers were based on the Jacquard Loom's innovative use of punchcards. The Loom itself marks a key moment in the industrialization of craft skills (cf knitting).

Reference List: Mathematical Articles on Fiber Arts

knitlist.com has an article on binary knitting

fuzzy logic knits is another blog with links on mathematical knitting

Home of Mathematical Knitting has links to other resources.

knitting in mobius stitch & more instructions