How Girls can Knit Their Way to a Math Career

Hyperbolic Plane

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You may not know it but knitting is very popular, especially among adult women. According to the Craft Yarn Council, 29 million, or nearly one-fifth of American women knit, and they make up 70 percent of all knitters.

According to Prof. Gresalfi, founder of KnitLab, knitting and its cousin crochet, are activities inherently filled with “rich mathematical thinking and problem solving.” One of the objectives of the KnitLab is to raise awareness that knitting is math.

How can knitting be similar to math?

A mathematician, artist and lecturer at the Cornell University, Daina Taimiņa, used a crochet hook, bright crochets and visualized very complicated mathematical concepts were only understood by highly experienced mathematicians. Using crochets, Daina has created a new way of understanding hyperbolic planes and has created a simpler way for the students to master it. ​Why do we care about hyperbolic plane?

It is rich and beautiful. It helps us to better understand Euclidean geometry. It also helps to understand shapes in nature, and helps us to think about the shape of our Universe, the problem that has puzzled people for thousands of years and still is an open question.

Or, you may not care about this at all! How about a shawl design? How is math useful? Take a look at these basic geometric shapes on the right picture. Did you know you can use such basic shapes to create shawls?

Triangles and Shawls 

How can triangle shawls be constructed? They can be knitted sideways, bottom up, top down, and eventually include center panels. 

An example is a triangle shawl worked sideways. In Germany, this shawl shape is often referred to as Josephinentuch, and it’s the perfect pattern if you want to knit an adjustable triangle shawl.

The picture on the right is a triangle shawl worked sideways. This pattern is perfect if you want to knit an adjustable triangle shawl. 

If you ever dreamed of being a shawl designer, you can use geometry to help you. Seriously! Take a look at the picture below. You will see various patterns that can be used for shawls. Check out this website for more information. ​So don't hesitate and use math to knit your way to success!