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Mathematics holds the secret to ‘ladder-proof’ knitting

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A topological description of ‘knittability’ can be used to design yarn patterns that are resistant to unravelling.

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  1. Vishal P. Patil

    1. Vishal P. Patil is in the Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093, California, USA.

Unlike in a woven fabric, pulling on a single loose thread in a piece of knitting or crochet can cause it to unravel completely. This is because a swatch of knitting or crochet is typically made from a single yarn, and its construction does not involve any knots. Writing in Physical Review X, Shimamoto et al.1 report that knot theory — a branch of mathematics — can be used to classify whether a given textile pattern can be created through knitting or crochet, and whether the fabric will be unravelled by a defect. They show that this can be used to design knitted fabrics that are resistant to ‘laddering’.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-02466-9

References

  1. Shimamoto, D. S., Shimamoto, K., Mahmoudi, S. & Poincloux, S. Phys. Rev. X 16, 031006 (2026).

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  2. Singal, K. et al. Nature Commun. 15, 2622 (2024).

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  3. Spencer, D. J. Knitting Technology: A Comprehensive Handbook and Practical Guide 3rd edn (CRC Press, 2001).

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  4. Sanchez, V. et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 33, 2212541 (2023).

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  5. Poincloux, S., Adda-Bedia, M. & Lechenault, F. Phys. Rev. X 8, 021075 (2018).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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