This week I decided to try weaving for the first time. I tried to notice some mathematical processes/concepts while I was weaving. Below are 3 ‘stops’ I had while weaving. There were more stop moments, but I selected these for my post.
1: Number sense and visualizing numbers in a different way
While I was weaving, I knew that because my pattern at the end of the row was ending with the second color (not the one I started with), I knew I had an even number of rows without even counting them. Then, on the third row, when I was experimenting with a different pattern, I ended my row with 2 pink. But I knew that this was impossible following the pattern I was following because I had an even number of rows. In my mind, I was able to visualize the pattern I should have (1 pink, 2 black, 2 pink, 2 black, 1 pink), thus indirectly giving me the numbers of rows I had (8).
When I thought about it, I found my prediction interesting and decided to count the rows to see if my prediction was right, and it was! When I stopped knowing I had made a mistake somewhere, my brain was actually counting in a different way than I usually count (one, two, three, four, etc.) Now, I wonder if expert weavers have a different way of visualizing counting and numbers. I also wonder if having this visualization of numbers/number sense impacts how they see the world in general.
2: Very big number and length of a thread
I noticed that my sewing teacher is much better than I am at approximating the length of thread I need for how much I need to sew. I have not mastered this skill yet, so when I cut my thread, I usually get three times the amount of thread I think I need because I tend to underestimate this quantity. To do my weaving, I used some old shoelaces that I keep as a toy for my cats. At first, it seemed like long threads would be more than enough to cover the cardboard, but I underestimated again. Although, I think that the more I practice this skill (approximation of thread I need for bigger quantities) the better I get to visualize the length of the thread when weaved/braided/sewn. In the last course, we saw that the human’s inability to feel large numbers is a problem when we think about our relationships with the living things and the Earth (Renert, 2011). I believe that weaving/sewing/breading could help us feel and visualize large numbers better by seeing and feeling those long threads becoming a more manageable size. I also believe that practicing the skill of visualizing how much thread needed for a certain work can help develop an ability to understand large numbers better.
3: Retroaction from the art and what it can teach
Maria Letsiou explains that doing ceramic work creates a meaningful environment to learn, because while someone is creating a ceramic sculpture, the sculpture speaks back to the artist, offering opportunities for lucky discoveries (Chronaki et al., 2025). When I was weaving, I had many moments where I was able to tell myself: “Wow, I finally experienced what it means to have an artwork speaking back to me!” The first example is when I knew I made mistakes; the piece did not look ‘right’. Another example is that the more I was weaving, the more I felt how sturdy the artwork was becoming. I felt how sturdy it would become the more I continued the artwork. I also felt how flexible the piece was even though it was becoming sturdier. The piece taught me the physics of weaving and how useful weaved objects can be since they are certainly sturdy, while keeping a good flexibility, avoiding them to break easily. In this case, this would have been my serendipitous discovery.
References:
Chronaki, A., Gerofsky, S., Nemirovsky, R., Ryan, U., Lazaridour, E., Letsiou, M., Torretta, N. B. & Hillgren, P. (2025). Circular movements of healing with maths, arts and craft: Reimagining disciplinary transversals for learning. In Proceedings of MACAS 2025, University of Moncton, NB.
Renert, M. (2011). Mathematics for life: Sustainable mathematics education. For the Learning of Mathematics, 31(1), 20-29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41319547
I enjoyed hearing what you noticed and learned through the process of weaving. What you said about visualizing large numbers was quite interesting. I immediately thought about how difficult I find it to estimate the size of a crowd, but if I want to I will group people and then come up with an estimation of the number of groups and multiply. I was reminded of that when you said the threads were becoming a more manageable size. I like the idea of using fibre arts to practice the skill of visualizing and estimating.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about your serendipitous discovery! I also tried weaving this week and noticed how the artwork revealed my mistakes to me. I thought about how I tell my students that mistakes are a learning opportunity, please don’t erase them but write a new solution beside. I want them to be able to look back and reflect on their work, letting the mistakes reveal something about the problem and their misunderstandings, much like the appearance of the weaving revealed where I had made an error.
Hi Noemi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your weaving journey and the mathematical “stop moments” you noticed along the way. What stood out to me was how naturally the math appeared, not because you were looking for it, but because it showed up through your hands, your focus, and the materials. This is the kind of noticing teachers hope for: math understood through experience, not just through steps and procedures.
Your first point about number sense was especially interesting. It made me think about how expert weavers might develop their own ways of seeing numbers, through patterns, rhythm, and structure rather than traditional counting. It suggests a kind of mathematical understanding that grows from practice, intuition, and sensory experience.
Your second insight about estimating thread length connects nicely to Renert’s idea of “feeling” large numbers. Our sense of scale is often abstract, but weaving makes length and quantity something you can see and feel. It makes me wonder how activities like weaving could help students build number sense in ways that go beyond counting or calculation. Watching a long thread become a small woven piece is such a powerful way to understand big or hard to grasp ideas.
It also raises a bigger question: what mathematical ideas become easier to understand when students use their senses, touch, sight, rhythm, instead of relying only on symbols and numbers?