In this lecture, Shiying will discuss the basic idea behind topological crochet, a technique she developed, which represents a novel approach to creating abstract forms. Traditionally, crochet, a very versatile craft, is used to create functional items and amigurumi, among other things. Topological crochet has unlocked another dimension of crochet’s creative potential by combining concepts from graduate-level mathematics with the craft of crochet to build novel forms.

The lecture consists of motivation and the main idea, followed by various examples to illustrate how it works. Among the examples are a simple Möbius band, which some may be familiar with, a project called a Seifert surface of the trefoil knot, and a few others. I’ll also briefly mention how to design your own projects. We’ll conclude by pointing to online paper and video resources that are available to help people make their own after the lecture.