From https://www.flickr.com/photos/katemonkey/5665916936. Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence.
My husband went to a library conference this week, and as part of that, he visited The Edge (part of the State Library of Queensland). He and fellow conference participants had a tour of the facility, which he found really inspiring.
He’s just told me about the guy who was leading their tour saying something about teaching people crochet as a way into learning computer programming. This fellow said that there are similarities between crochet patterns and computer code.
So off I went to look into this, being a maths/science-y sort of brain, myself, and as I am currently knitting a pair of socks! (The Gymnast has also been exploring computer coding this year in her spare time.)
I found articles and blog posts relating to both knitting and crochet, and computer coding.
http://www.generativeart.com/on/cic/papersGA2008/4.pdf
https://www.codecademy.com/blog/70-how-knitters-are-human-computers
http://www.mcdaniel.edu/information/headlines/news-at-mcdaniel/archive/math-professors-express-complex-concepts-through-crochet
http://geekfeminism.org/2012/03/21/are-all-female-programmers-also-knitters/
Of particular interest to me was one of the comments on the “Geekfeminism” blog, from someone called “Slashy”:
I am a knitter, crochet-er, gardener, home brewer of alcoholic beverages and a web programmer. It is very evident to me that what gets me excited in my professional and hobby life is a specific flavour of making things that involves patience, repetition, iterative improvement and many small losses and victories on the path to a final product. I am not one for building big things- I’ve tried bike repair, furniture construction and so forth and just can’t get into larger pieces/bigger risks/bigger pay-offs style. Even when I succeed I find the pay-off unsatisfying. I’m into the process.
I LOVE lace knitting & crochet for their beautiful maths, and for the way that I-the-knitter build a relationship through my project with this algorithm presented to me by the pattern-writer, and this relationship is built on trust, suspense and revelation. I literally gasp out loud with delight and excitement as each successive row reveals to me what the trickery on the previous row was for. I find it SO EXCITING that I try to rave about it to my friends in bars (spoiler: nobody else thinks this is exciting).
Obviously I need to find more knitter-programmer friends to hang out with.
I thought that sounded just like me when I get excited about an embroidery stitch… 🙂
Is this something you can relate to? I think a lot of people who like Hardanger are mathematics type people. There’s counting, order, precision and pattern involved. Are you someone who has/has had a career in maths/science fields who loves creating? Does your creativity reflect your love of maths/science, particularly in the creative process itself, rather than the imagery of your creativity?
If you’re a school teacher, have you heard of this idea of using crochet and knitting as a way into computer coding? I’m wondering if I need to teach The Gymnast to crochet. She already loves loom bands, which use a hook, so I think she could take to it quite well. And you don’t get dropped stitches with crochet in the same way that you can in knitting! We have a whole long weekend ahead of us, before the new school term resumes…
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I love counted designs too just like you Yvette. At Uni I originally wanted to specialise in Maths, but then decided after a year that this only resulted in university type jobs, so I diversified into more scientific subjects. I felt jobs in Science were giving back more from what I learnt.
Have also read something recently about knitting and neuronal pathways too
cheers
Julie in Australia
And of course Ada Lovelace, who invented the use of punched cards for coding computer programs way back in the early 1800s (is anyone else out there old enough to remember punched cards?), adapted the cards used for programming jacquard looms. Computers and textiles go back a long, long way! I love counted work, too. I’m fairly new to it, but I particularly enjoy using holbein stitch / double running – tracing networks and paths.
That’s sounds like me 🙂 I’m a Software Engineer, and after graduating from University I started embroidery and learned how to crochet from a friend at work. I love the repetition of crochet and the complexity of embroidery. I find it very Zen and relaxing after a hard day at work. I recently started learning to knit and I’m finding I will probably like it just as much, once I figure out how to comfortably use the two needles ^_^
I offered to teach The Gymnast to crochet over the weekend, and she looked at me in horror and said, “What would I want to do that for?” “Well, it’s mathematical, and it’s a bit like loom bands, so I thought you might enjoy it.” “I’m happy with loom bands, thanks.” Ok! 🙂
Oops. I should check before I post anecdotes. Yes, the idea for computer punched cards came from the cards controlling jacquard looms, but rather later than Lovelace’s work – she wrote the first computer program.