Bumpy Baskets and Geodesics

I participated in the SCULPT Show&Tell earlier this month, with a talk connecting the topic of bumpy baskets to geodesics and, rather slightly, to the interesting topic of closed photon orbits. Thanks to Negar Kalantar and the other organizers for the event and making it available as a YouTube recording. Much cool stuff was presented, my own talk starts at 52 minutes in.

Bumpy Basket files for Cricut

If you want to make your own bumpy basket strips these svg files will be a useful starting point.

A-b training strips, these are about 2 feet long, useful for teaching the basics. These print 7-up on 12" x 24" cardstock.

A-k weavers, these are about 6 feet long, a practical length for beginners to work with. These print 4-up on 12" x 24" cardstock. Each weaver needs two splices using 3/4" Scotch tape 44mm in length, run the tape straight across, wrapping around the back of the strip.

These files were created in Inkscape, and Cricut Design Space does not allow sharing imported files, so you will have to follow this procedure to get the svg files imported into your Cricut Design Space:

In Cricut Design Space:
+New Project
Upload
Upload Image
Drag the svg file into the window
Continue
Upload
If necessary, scale with lock-on to H = 23.386"
Arrange: Ungroup
The character paths should now be be selectable as a group
Change the grouped character paths from Basic Cut to Pen
Select All
Attach
Make

I find the 65-lb cardstock commonly found in craft stores near other Cricut supplies cuts well at the Medium-weight Cardstock setting. Both gel pens and marker-type pens work well, but gel pens need occasional cleaning between prints, while Cricut-brand markers will smear if the cardstock ever gets wet. I use 12" x 24" standard grip Cricut Adhesive Cutting Mats, and you will find it very time efficient to have two. Contrary to folklore, do not need to anchor the corners of the cardstock with blue tape. What you need is the rolling pin in your kitchen drawer. Just lightly roll the the cardstock from every direction. Use more pressure if your mat is losing its grippiness.

More Bumpy Baskets!

Reload or drag downward for a new basket.

There are 3 rules:

“What time is it?”
Each strip is a timeline that you travel along starting at Big A. At each crossing you are meeting with a moment in the past. So, “What time is it now?” at Aa? at Ba? at Hj? Always know the time.

“Big dale!” (said like "Big deal!”)
Hills are easy, saddles are easy, but dales are hard. When the time is big, so are your responsibilities. When the time is big, a completed opening is going to be a dale (you'll find it on your left: completed openings behind you are just saddles) and needs to be forced to bend inward while you are making the crossing.

“Big A rules!”
Big A is the only exception to the 'geology rule' that the present goes on top of the past. Big A has a double, namely the letter in the doubled alphabet that comes right after the last letter in the code. In the final move, Big A Jr. goes directly on top of Big A and makes a dale.