A wild and curly scarf

Crocheting things for my daughters this Christmas reminded me how much I enjoy making things with a hook and yarn. I made Alison a spiral scarf using a beautiful soft white wool/silk blend; I thought it turned out pretty well (although shorter than I would have liked), so I decided to make something similar with bold, bright colors. Unlike Alison's scarf, it's not subtle:

In fact, Alison said it reminded her of a sea slug. I've decided to take that as a compliment, as sea slugs are very interesting creatures. It's made out of 100% cotton yarn, which means that it's stiffer and holds the curl better than the silk/wool blend. Of course, the stiffness also means that it's less comfy and the fact that it's cotton makes it less warm.

In writing-related news, I'm wondering what the National Academy of Sciences report on the quality of forensic science as practiced in the nation's crime labs (hint: it's not good) will have on my upcoming forensic science books. It was a front-page article in the NYT.

Mathematical crochet

I'm itching to go see the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef Project, currently showing in Chicago until December 16. According to the Chicago Reader, it's a crocheted model of the Great Barrier Reef that doubles as a model of hyperbolic space.


Doesn't it just look so cool?! I'm working on an as-yet undisclosed crocheting project (Christmas is not too far away, you know) that I think will be very cool but nothing even remotely approaching this level of creativity.

Here's an interview with Daina Taimina, a mathematician who invented hyperbolic crochet as a way of illustrating certain mathematical concepts. Like this hyperbolic pseudosphere:


Here's how Taimina describes a hyperbolic space: "The easiest way of understanding it is that it's the geometric opposite of a sphere. On a sphere, the surface curves in on itself and is closed. But on a hyperbolic plane, the surface is space that curves away from itself at every point."

I love it when art meets science.