Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef comes to Adelaide!

I checked out the INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING a while ago, while doing a little obsessive research on unit origami (I haven't given up on that project!) and saw their work on using crochet to model mathematical principles - hence the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. (Please click the link, it's just too cool to miss!)

This is the blurb for the institute, and if I could clone or split myself so I had more time to do anything and everything, I think I'd be here, making stuff!

The Institute’s interests are twofold: the manifestation of figures in the world around us and the figurative technologies that humans have developed through the ages. From the physics of snowflakes and the hyperbolic geometry of sea slugs, to the mathematics of paper folding, the tiling patterns of Islamic mosaics and graphical models of the human mind, the Institute takes as its purview a complex ecology of figuring.

So when I found out that RiAus (Royal Institute Of Australia, bringing science to people and people to science) was doing a satellite reef, I wanted to be part of it. I feel that it's time I actually acted on events, rather than just reading about them, thinking that'd be fun, and never actually getting there.

So I rode down to Craftsouth last Wednesday (first time riding into the city from the new house, pretty safe and easy ride), meant to stay for ONE hour only, and join in and do a piece.

It was a drop in crochet day, and was pretty fun, people were busy making corals, anemones, mathematical models, and altogether weird squiggly things.

I hadn't crocheted in a while, and sat next to a woman who's been doing it for 62 years. I kept up as best I could, needless to say, I didn't chat much, and had sore fingers by the end of it!

This is my contribution, it's actually larger than it looks, but it twists back in on itself, there's actually a whole section of plain red up to the top, then I trimmed it with the red/green weird bobble yarn I'd op-shopped. So there you go, hyperbolic's at work (I don't even know if that makes grammatical or practical sense!)

And as fun as it was, here's the predicament:

Do I have time for a massive project that can take over your life?

..........no

I already have too many projects, plans and deadlines. So, I'm happy that I did some, but I'm going to leave the making of it to others...................probably, mostly!

the top two photos are from the IFF site, hopefully Adelaide's will look similar!

New Directions / Mailbox Fashion

It's hard to believe that we first did the letterbox in 2006. Here's DC demonstrating it's function. It had lovely scroll work flocking, and astroturf landscaping complete with animals enjoying the pasture, and then had a dinosaurific re-haul last year but was starting to look shabby.

The astroturf had almost disintegrated, and things were just getting kaka. So a new direction. Paired back, minimal, with a fuscia base and metallic purple spray paint. It's hard to see, but it's pretty sparkly. But it's had mixed reviews.

I put an extra platform on, so as to have more space for my ultra supercool dinosaur skeletons. I just wanted them not to be too crowded. Like an old school museum exhibit. And really, in my head I was making little velvet ropes, but in reality, I'd already used a bucket for a mailbox for two weeks, and I just needed to get it up there.
The glorious shininess is not really captured in the photo..

I am waiting on getting a tiny terracotta pot to put next to the Tyrannosaurus skeleton, and some Tillandsias for the scrolls.

*sigh* It's hard to be the new thing after astroturf....

I thought it was obvious

I thought that my no junk mail sign on the letterbox was adequate enough that I wouldn't receive junk mail.  I thought that was the point of the signs, but lately I've been getting heaps of catalogues, and that makes me mad (as in the angry goat in that old sesame street cartoon, who sings an angry song and jumps about with a red face)

 Even though this doesn't seem like such a big deal as I just recycle them - it's not the point.  They shouldn't just be made to be chucked away.  Reduce before recycle!  

I've even chased delivery people down the street waving junk mail and exclaiming 'i've got a sign!!!'.  Last week I chased a guy who looked truly freaked out (I am getting to be quite a heavily pregnant lady at the moment and I think I was wearing a funny hat) who protested his innocence and said that he was just the community newspaper delivery guy... (mind you, I don't want that either, can you have a sign that says 'no free newspapers'?)

It has been pointed out to me that possibly advertisers don't think that their catalogues are junk mail and it is actually welcomed in some places, and maybe the delivery people were so captivated by my dinosaurs that they missed the plaque, so I made some new signs.  Out of highly reflective shiny shiny lovely stuff courtesy of JF who works at a sign shop. 

 I think it's pretty obvious now.
Also the front garden only looks good in winter when the nasturtiums come out.  So I'm happy they're back again.  It's a weird spot, it's got an almond and a walnut tree within the bed, but both are overshadowed by a tree on the footpath which stunts their growth, and anything in the garden AND drops leaves everywhere including on the car (cause it's the only place we have to park)

So that's my rant about junk mail, and I'm off to do something for my husbands birthday......hopefully it'll be up here soon!