Two Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Creatures I made while I was on vacation! |
Never heard of hyperbolic planes? I hadn’t either, until my math friend and wine expert, Landon, posted a link to hyperbolic beading on my Facebook profile and while I was trying to figure out what a hyperbolic plane was, I found HYPERBOLIC CROCHET! It’s super easy to learn how to crochet a hyperbolic plane, and it can result in an infinite variety of wooly, crochet coral reef creatures. Christine and Margaret Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring began a collaborative project using hyperbolic crochet to create giant, crocheted coral reefs that are currently on display at various museums around the world. The way that so many interesting sea creatures grow is in the form of a hyperbolic plane. Sea slugs are a great example, also lettuce, which is not a sea creature. Hyperbolic planes were only a theoretical, impossible to recreate shape to mathemeticians until one fabulous math lady discovered that it was quite easy to create a hyperbolic plane by crocheting it! I have fallen in love with crocheted hyperbolic planes and, using the above PDF instructions from the Institute for Figuring, taught myself how to make them while I was on vacation. I thought it could be fun to fill a used fish tank or a terrarium with them, easier to take care of than a real coral reef!