Crochet and the Gentle Art of Hyperbolic Geometry

I first encountered the crocheted hyperbolic plane in an article from the 2005 Special Crochet Issue of Interweave Knits, "Taking Crochet to a Higher Plane", which told of the work of a mathematics researcher at Cornell, Dr. Dania Taimina. An avid crocheter, Dr. Taimina realized that not only could you generate a hyperbolic plane by means of making the appropriate number of increases as you worked, but that if you used cheap acrylic yarn and a hook several sizes too small you could make it sturdy enough to be picked up and fondled by entranced geometry students. ( Read more... )

The 2005 Crochet issue also had a pattern for a pillbox hat decorated with flowers and leaves that I also decided I wanted one of. It's most-of-the-way done, and it will be wonderful when it's finshed, but I'm now wondering if maybe I should make a second one and decorate it with small hyperbolic planes. Or maybe I should just lie down and see if the feeling passes.