The Braids on your Blanket

Abstract

In this expositional essay, we introduce some elements of the study of groups by analysing the braid pattern on a knitted blanket. We determine that the blanket features pure braids with a minimal number of crossings. Moreover, we determine polynomial invariants associated to the links obtained by closing the braid patterns of the blanket.Comment: Expositional article for a general readership. 32 pages, several figure