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The World of Illusion Knitting

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PICKING UP THREADS

This was written in
2007
so is now very dated

At Oxford there had been a great deal of interest in ‘things that move’, especially from people we had met before who were looking to see what we had that was new. Over the next few weeks we received pictures and descriptions of more flexagons and other odd items of interest. Most of these arrived by email, which was now becoming a very commonplace way of corresponding and allowed for very fast transference of ideas around the world.

One of these was a photograph of (unmoving) ‘street furniture’, sent to us by John Sharp, who had provided us with so many other inspiring ideas. The amazing shapes had been designed by another friend of his. Until now I hadn’t really thought that someone, somewhere designs such items as litter bins and that they don’t have to be cylindrical and boring. These pictures were amazing. I knew there was no way we could accurately recreate the designs but there were ideas to be investigated. Tony Wills, the architect-designer had joined a circle to a square of equal perimeter. In a rigid material it produces a striking shape. In knitting, or crochet, it flops. I moved on to making many different shapes of equal perimeter and joining them together just to see what the outcomes would be. Crochet shapes were much easier to make, at the necessary sizes and they could be joined stitch for stitch. I felt as though I had been along this path before. I had made similar shapes, in knitting and crochet, for no reason other than to see what could easily be created. Now the shapes had a reason to exist.

Much as I expected, there wasn’t a great deal to be gained from making intricate shapes as there is too much flexibility in the fabric and the details are lost as the shapes pull against each other. Alternating squares and circles gave reasonable results but an afghan consisting entirely of squares worked just as well, if not better, and it was staggering to realise that there was a way of joining squares that we had not already explored.

These were crochet squares, worked outwards from the centre, with a line of small lacy holes defining the diagonals. The pattern of holes made it more obvious that the squares were not all in the same orientation. Straight squares alternated with squares standing on their points. They were of identical sizes. Instead of being joined edge-to-edge or corner-to-corner, the corners of one were joined to the centres of the sides of adjacent squares. It gave an undulating surface which is quite noticeable if the shapes have been pulled forwards in the appropriate places but they soon squash back if they are touched so Surface Tension is not always as interesting as it ought to be.

Click here to see more about Surface Tension

24c. SECRET MESSAGES continued