Hyperbolic Crochet

Needle, thread ... chemistry?

by Lauren Fleming

Science isn't all bubbling test tubes and esoteric formulas. At the Chemical Heritage Foundation, it's something that inspires crochet, too. This First Friday, visitors will be able to make coral reefs, chemical structures and single-celled organisms — all out of yarn.

"Participants will have the chance to learn different types of crocheting techniques, while also learning how those techniques expand to scientific models that chemists use in their research methods," says Gigi Naglak, CHF's outreach coordinator. "It's a way of creating hands-on science so that people can see and understand how chemistry works in everyday life."

And, in case your hands get cramped and you need a break from crocheting, two of CHF's exhibits will be up during the event — "sLowlife" contains time-lapse videos of plants growing, and "Making Modernity" holds rare books and scientific papers that show how chemistry affects our daily lives. As if we wouldn't already know from making a blown-up atom out of yarn.

Fri., May 1, 5-8 p.m., free, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut St., 215-629-5138, chemheritage.org.