Last year, I had an idea for an article that I want to write about loop-manipulation braiding or loop-braiding. I found out that loop-manipulation braiding generates a particularly nice subgroup of the mathematical braid group. The point of the article is to explain this particular subgroup and offer a textile-artist friendly introduction to braid group theory. Also, I hope to draw a bit of mathematical attention to loop-braiding.
And so for months, I was kicking the article around in my head for months, writing various outlines, structures, looking for venues for it, and hadn’t written a word of it. Eventually, I realized that I needed to do more hands-on loop-braiding. And so, today I got out my copy of Loop-Manipulation Braiding: Basic Instructions by Noémi Speiser, and tried it out again. The result was this lovely five loop braid.
(Click to enlarge. Look at those cosmic diagrams!)
Published: Sep 12, 2024
Last Modified: Sep 12, 2024
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