Some years ago we were introduced to D-Forms and spent a long time investigating their possibilities for knitting and crochet. In the linked article it says:
a D-Form should be made of material that does not stretch or shear
Obviously all knitting and crochet will stretch, unless it is set in some way, so the ideas that seemed so good in theory just didn’t work in practice. However, an interesting afghan evolved. The photographs do not do justice to the undulating surface.
121 crochet squares are stitched or crocheted together.
CROCHET INFORMATION
The design requires a background colour and five other colours. It is most effective if toning colours are used.
Any type of yarn can be used.
More squares can be added to change the overall size of the afghan.
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larger pictures
The inspiration for Surface Tension came from the work of a product designer named Tony Wills. Some of his designs are known as D-Forms and consist of various geometric shapes joined together so that they distort each other.
The photograph which produced the original inspiration was of a 3D structure where a square had been joined to a circle. The square rose up to a point in the centre and the circle curved to follow the four sides of the square.
We experimented with joining circles, and other shapes, to squares to make an afghan rather than a 3D shape. Eventually the design was simplified to its most basic form and all of the shapes became squares. Joining the squares in any way other than side-by-side in straight rows means that they are automatically deformed.
Many of the squares have to stay in the normal edge-to-edge arrangement, to provide a ‘background’ which can be distorted.