logoalt Hacker News

acomjeanyesterday at 2:38 AM2 repliesview on HN

Is knitting a really long knot?


Replies

dahartyesterday at 3:31 PM

At least some people say yes, but it could be useful or interesting to talk about why you ask and what difference you see between knits and knots. Perhaps it depends on how one defines “knot”, but it seems like most definitions I can find work for a knit sweater.

These first two links talks about a knit being a series of knots - slip knots specifically. The other two suggest a knit is a very long knot.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190519004510/https://www.nytim...

https://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~rlg131/topology_and_knitting...

https://mathemalchemy.org/2021/03/04/knots-trivial-and-other...

https://iwoolknit.com.au/blogs/news/the-science-of-knitting-...

esquivalienceyesterday at 11:33 AM

As an avid knitter, I can confirm it really is. In practice there might be multiple knots as you change balls of yarn for example but topologically each sweater is just a very fancy knot.

In fact, the words are etymologically linked, they’re really just the same word! See https://www.etymonline.com/word/knit

> knit(v.)

> Old English cnyttan "to tie with a knot, bind together, fasten by tying," related to Old Norse knytja "bind together, form into a knot," Middle Low German knütten "to tie, knot," Old English cnotta "a knot," from Proto-Germanic knuttjan, from stem knutt-. Of brows, late 14c. Intransitive meaning "do knitting, weave by looping or knotting a continuous thread" (especially in reference to plain stitch) is from 1520s.