Crafty Coral

Look closely at this stunning display of coral. Notice anything unusual? Everything you see here is actually made out of yarn. It's part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project. Twin Australian sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim started this project to raise awareness of world's disappearing reefs.






With Australia's Great Barrier Reef for inspiration, the sisters only needed a method to translate the unique forms into yarn. There's actually a lot of mathematics behind these reefs.







Their technique? The hyperbolic crochet discovered by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina.


With this method they have made several different themed reefs including: the Blue Reef, the Red Reef, the Bleached Reef. Then of course, my favorite, the Toxic Reef which is crochet from trash.

Read more about the reef and how to create your own anemones here.

All pictures courtesy of The Institute for Figuring.