iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The Geogebra was my final attempt to get my head round the sum of squares formula, after playing around with Lego the other day. I feel like I have a sense of WHY now; when we proved it by induction at school years ago there was no insight

Six pyramids made out of Lego, assembled to make a cuboid

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Candle in the bathroom. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

A candle in a glass jar against a tiled wall. The room is dark except for the candlelight, and the light through the opening and through the green glass has projected a curved shape on the wall

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Me and my favourite (by which I mean 'most portable') knitting machine will be at MathsWorld in London on Tuesday, talking about The Hidden Maths of Knitting. If you're in the area, come along! Tickets: mathsworld.com/events/Knitt...

A Tomy Knitting Machine ('Happiness is hours of fun, making pretty things for everyone') in its bright pink box, sitting on a grey chair with a colourful knitted cushion behind it

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

This week, I'm at #BIGEvent25, sharing and learning all things STEM communication. Today is a long day so I'm sitting in the corner braiding for a bit - so nice to be at an event with a crafty corner. Really looking forward to watching some demos in the best demo competition later!

A braid made of blue, yellow, pink and purple yarn. In the background are more yarns and braiding instructions

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

What do you notice? What do you wonder? What mathematical questions could you explore?

A birds-eye view of the top of a green pen on a piece of squared paper. The pen top is a rounded triangular shape with a circle in the middle

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

I did a quick bit of modelling, and based on my assumptions I'm not convinced there are actually millions of possible meal deal combinations at my local petrol station. Change my mind!

Advertising poster for an M&S meal deal. At the top it says "Mmmillions of combinations". Underneath, it is divided into four areas, with a picture of a sandwich (main), crisps (snack), coke (drink) and then large text reading £6 Meal Deal.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Your post inspired me to dig this out of my desk drawer and put some batteries in. It still works! My first graphical/programmable calculator and the one that got me through A Levels (1997-1999)

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Shaded squares on a square grid. Above the line, eight reference pictures illustrating the rule that is being followed in the illustration below the line.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

What do you notice? What do you wonder? What mathematical questions occur to you?

A wall tiled with blue and black tiles. Each square tile is divided into thirds, either two black with a blue in the middle or two blue with a black in the middle. On the far left are the same tiles in yellow and black.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

The choice between paying $70 for an early check in at my hotel, and coming to the Miami Institute of Contemporary Art and enjoying this Rubem Valentim Sculpture for free, is the easiest decision I'll make today

A geometric sculpture with red, green and blue, curves and straight lines and holes. Another relief sculpture is in the background. There are interesting shadows

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

A decorative glass light fitting with dark and light rhombus shapes arranged in a six pointed star pattern

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

This is me, two years ago today. I couldn't post about how excited I was to visit the Blue Peter Garden, because I had to keep it a secret that @samholloway.bsky.social and I were in Salford to film Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, and didn't want to dodge a bunch of "why are you there?" questions.

Alison (a forty-something person wearing a blue t-shirt, black jeans and a green wax jacket, with long hair in a ponytail and glasses) poses next to the Blue Peter Garden sign.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

This is one of my favourite things about hexagons 😊 I will be sharing a picture of my crochet bag to demonstrate a real world application of the tiling of the plane.

A bag made from a patchwork of crocheted dark blue, lilac and pink hexagons

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

It can't be a coincidence that these bounty boxes have the same side length as chocolate oranges and approximately half the height... Tell me I shouldn't buy large quantities to make my favourite octagons and squares tessellation pattern!

A square Terry's chocolate orange box up against an octagonal Bounty box. The shapes have approximately equal length sides. There are toblerones in the background

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

My fidget toys arrived! What do you notice? What do you wonder? What mathematical questions could you explore?

Two fidget toys made up of green and blue sections bent round to form loops. One loop is a hexagon with two green and two blue sections on each side. The other loop is a square with three green and three blue sections on each side.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I just loved this pattern on the rug in the apartment I stayed in on a recent holiday. What shapes can you see? How would you draw the pattern? How would you write instructions for someone else to draw the pattern?

A bird's eye view of a red carpet with a pattern made from intersecting circles

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

When I'm not doing maths, I make things. Sometimes I do maths while I'm making things... What maths can you see in this picture? What mathematical questions spring to mind?

A knitted hat in yellow and black yarn. The main body of the hat has a pattern of rhombuses meeting to give the illusion of three dimensions, with these rhombuses being solid black, black and yellow alternating stitches, and solid yellow.

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Alison Kiddle @alisonkiddle.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

How many crayons? How did you count them? What other shapes and sizes of box could you use for this number of crayons?

A triangular prism box of crayons looking from above. The box is wide enough to hold six crayons, and the equilateral triangle is full except for one missing crayon in the top corner

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