Extreme Crochet Championships

Overview

You wouldn't usually think of crochet as an extreme sport. Then again, you wouldn't think of it as a solid metaphor explaining the other-dimensional structure of complex, non-Cartesian hyperbolic plane geometry, either. But it does that too. The Sydney Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project has been making crochet cool for years, showing off its cerebellum-like mathematical knit-wear at the Powerhouse and the Carriageworks. Now a local cider-maker has gotten in on the action, sponsoring an evening of World Extreme Crochet Championships taking place at Lo Fi's Darlinghurst digs.

While drinks are served to the crowd, entrants in the championship will loop eye-catching wools over their hooks for to gratify your granny-chic aesthetic at what are, for crochet, breakneck speeds. While there may not be the same level of risk to life and limb offered by other extreme sports — neither the illegality of base-jumping, nor the threat of the plumber's crack that comes with bungee — getting out old-fashioned beanie-making skills live on stage, in front of an audience of strangers hungry for entertainment, does take its own particular style of courage.

Image by Rhiannon Hart.