Mathematics of crocheting an Islamic geometric design

Abstract

A common feature of Islamic art is the covering of surfaces with geometric patterns that originate from a circle and involve many different polygons. Sometimes such geometric patterns lead to fun and challenging crochet projects. Here, we work on a design after Paul Marchant, which is based on elements of medieval designs typically found in Cairo. The pattern consists of underlying polygons such as hexagons, triangles, squares, dodecagons. In crocheting the different polygons involved, specific number of stitches are assigned to represent the measure of the central angle segments of the polygons. The process of crocheting each polygon and construction of the final design is explained.