Members of the PCMI community were invited to join Sabetta Matsumoto for an informal knitting circle. The goal being to learn more about Sabetta's scholarship on the nature of knitted fabrics as a material, and to get in some time on various Works in Progress. (WiP is an acronym widely used in crafting communities to describe the often numerous array of projects which one has started, but not yet completed.)
Dr. Matsumoto is an applied mathematician and physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently working on a research project he has entitled "What a Tangled Web We Weave," funded by the National Science Foundation, to investigate the mathematics and mechanics of "the ancient technology known as knitting."
A recent article in the New York Times highlights Dr. Matsumoto's work on this rigorous perspective on a traditional handicraft.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/science/math-physics-knitting-matsumoto.html
In addition to generously sharing some insights into her study of the nature of knitting, Sabetta brought along examples of her mathematical jewelry. There were Moebius ladder necklaces, along with linked 4,3 torus knot earrings. All available at the 3-D printing site, Shapeways.com.
click on each photo to view larger image
click on each photo to view larger image
|