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how i spent my friday
crocheting. finally got around to experimenting with this. first model in a series.
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hyperbolic plane http://www.theiff.org/oexhibits/oe1e.html single crochet stitch increasing in every stitch in one row, double crochet stitch without increases the following row. |
i might felt this. it's great fun to play with as is though.
and i fixed the white balance. mostly. still a little off, but not as hideously as before.
p.s. femme: nice ruffles. butch: those aren't ruffles, that's a hyperbolic plane!
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I always get a bit annoyed at the Institute for Figuring stuff. I've been making hyperbolic planes since well before they first did, and I'm sure other people did too. If they could get over themselves in terms of "we made this fabulous new discovery" I'd deal a lot better.
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I gonna use
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Well, firstly, the really practical stuff. Because I like quite a firm surface, and I think it's better for showing off the curliness, I crochet rather firmly, and most of my shapes only use single crochet. This is quite hard on my hands and I find I have to pace myself - no more than 15 minutes twice a day to start with, increasing gradually.
Secondly, I agree with
Nearly everything I've made has been circular, starting from a small loop (six single crochets over a doubled loop of the end of the yarn, and then carefully pulling the doubled loop tight). I like the flower/coral appearance of circular, and the simplicity of continuing around in a spiral without ever having to turn (I also like the appearance of that kind of crochet).
The "pattern" I use is just single crochet stitches in a consistent repeat: ranging from two stitches in every stitch (very curly, small diameter); through things like three stitches then two in the next (so four stitches becomes five every row); up to I think my maximum was 17 stitches then two stitches in the next (18 becomes 19 - this is a large diameter). For the large-diameter shapes, I do start with a small actual ring of chain, with about ten stitches on it - you get a long narrow tube, which is quite fiddly to work, and then suddenly it flares out into flat, and then it starts to flute at the edges.
(So, you have ten stitches in a ring, you go around the ring, single crochet in each, but that's still only ten stitches, so you go most of the way around the ring again, until you get to 18, which you then crochet into twice. Then you continue around your tube, ignoring what row you're on, just counting how many stitches since your last increase. To start with, the tube only widens by one stitch every two rows or so, but as it widens, the increases happen more often in terms of rows. You get a bit of a lump when you reach the row with 18 stitches, because your increases are now happening right near each other on each row, and not on the other side of the tube, but no-one else will notice it, and soon there are more than 18 stitches and the increases become spread around the tube again.
I think to start, you need to pick a consistent rule, such as
I also like playing around with colour (as you can see): rings, and sectioning the circle into wedges (I carry the other colour inside the current colour), and using variegated yarn, as long as you don't mind weird blobs, as your stitch count comes into synch with the colour repeat, and then goes out of synch.
I have no idea if that's the kind of stuff you wanted to know.
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As far as crocheting firmly, I don't think I'm capable of that at this point - but maybe as I get better at it I'll be able to make tighter, more even stitches.
I'm having some trouble with my turning stitches at the moment, so maybe I will start with a circular pattern instead. It's just been so long since I've done any crocheting that, for all intents and purposes, I'm having to relearn everything.
The 17 then increase pattern sounds like it would end up looking like one of those trumpet flowers - those are very pretty. I could also imagine turning something similar to that into a hat.
When you suggest making a "small diameter" and a "large diameter", do you mean make one with, for example, two stitches in every stitch and then make another with, for example, 17 stitches then two stitches in the next - that is what will change the diameter?
I think, at this point, I'm more interested in 1) getting down the basic crochet stitches and 2) learning about constant curvature.
I have some varigated, cotton yarn that I'm using. It seems to be working best for me as far as clearly seeing the stitches that I'm making. The varigation goes from white through several shade of pink. I figure, I can use a solid, dark pink as the final few row, like you've done in your icon with the green.
Do you have any other pictures of your work posted? I'd love to see the different variations that you've worked on!
Thank you again for the reply - I really appreciate it!
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Again, yes, small diameter = frequent increases = very curly, and opposite for large diameter. It's hard to explain but very obvious when you're doing it, which is why I recommend making them to see.
I don't have many pictures. Most of my hyperbolic crochet was done in the late eighties and early nineties - I don't think I had a camera, and certainly, no-one took pictures of everything the way you can now. I gave a lot away. I think one of the things I resent about the recent fuss is that now they've become "valuable" and learning experiences and I really liked just making them and giving them to people who were intrigued by them. (So they were learning experiences, but much more subtly).
So I fished out the pictures I have of the two most recent ones (they're in my craft gallery - I haven't used LJ's picture facility before so I may have stuffed something). The purple one is increase in every stitch, I think, and the yellow-green is something like two or three stitches between increases. I haven't made any trumpets while I've had the digital camera.
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Next time I'll do a cirle and I'll probably make a gravity well, just because that sounds awesome. Providing, of course, that I survive making this initial effort.
As for your philosophy on making these, I get it. I have this loom-thingee on which I make these really nice scarves. I'm sure I could probably sell them at a craft fair, but I'm totally fine just handing them out to people I know. I gave one to this girl I work with. Later, someone said to me, "I didn't know you knew her that well," and, the truth is, I don't, but the color suited her and she wanted it and I was very happy to give it to her.
So, I think it's cool that you gave them away to people who wanted them and found them useful. I can see how it would be instructive to make one yourself, especially if you're studying something that pertains to hyperbolic planes, but not everyone is crafty or would enjoy the process.
Me, I just like how they curl and I want to practice some basic crochet stitches and I really needed something to do on my lunch break each day.
Up to this point, I've been starting and stopping and pulling out stitches, but tonight I made a go at it under some good light and I think I finally am getting the hang of it. I have a nice, flat plane that's already splaying out at the sides - it was just a matter of really looking at the stitches and paying attention to what I was doing! The varigated yarn is actually helping me figure out my stitches, too, much more easily than the solid color I was working with initially. I'll save the solid color for the end - by that time, I ought to be able to work these single crochet stitches in my sleep!
Thanks again for helping me with this. I'll keep you posted on my progress, if you want.
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