Alison Kiddle

I had a lot of fun writing this one! Although I think some cellular automata rules fall into the category 'maddening' rather than 'mindful'...
Watch out for more 15 minute maths activities in the next couple of months - the lovely @steckl.es and I have some exciting plans in the works!

Very nice! Thank you for sharing

Houses for Visiting Mathematicians - Wikipedia

5) Best bit was being able to hang out with the coolest folks in maths comm though. I got to stay in a Maths House en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houses_... with @steckl.es and @mscroggs.co.uk (and seemingly infinitely many spiders...)

4a I'm proud of myself too, for asking for help. It's not easy for me to do that, but I managed to say "hey, I'm overwhelmed, I need space, can someone cover for me so I can get my head right?"

4) The community, and the culture. TMiP people are my friends, and mean the world to me. I was not well this week, and Friday in particular was a challenging day for me from a mental health perspective. People made space for me to decompress, and I'm so very grateful for that.

3a) doing hybrid well takes a lot of effort - the incredible @samsighs.bsky.social seemed to be able to be in multiple places at once both on the building and in cyberspace, and just did an incredible job of keeping everything ticking over.

3) the hybrid nature of the conference! As an organiser, there were times when I was staffing the registration desk and couldn't be in the room; having a fully hybrid conference means I could still listen in!

2) the excellent thought provoking discussions, both within sessions and in between. The TMiP community are thoughtful and intelligent, and provide a great place for me to think hard about how I communicate mathematics and how I can grow as a maths communicators.

1) the art. We had an Art Exhibition and a Tiny Art Exhibition, and both were stunning. The older I get, the more I want to explore maths through art, and vice versa. It was inspirational seeing what other people are doing in this area.

I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked lately - it turns out that being part of the @tmip.bsky.social committee becomes very full on and intense in the run up to and during the biennial conference. But #tmip25 is now done and dusted, so allow me to share a couple of highlights...

Young at heart! Although we're all closer to senior rates now 👴👵

Up early this morning to walk πkm as the first in a list of amazing Saturday Morning Activities at #Tmip25

Hope everyone else is having a great time at #tmip25. One thing I love is how much of the discussion on the hashtag is about the mathematical music last night, and the mathematical art on display - proof if it were needed that creativity and mathematics go hand in hand

Also, there are people who learned that "too much stuff per slide" is BAD so they pivot to "too many slides" which is ALSO BAD

Stay safe out there!

Hope everyone's coping with the heatwave better than my fridge is! Here's a Real World Maths Question: if a fridge thermostat has no numbers and just has a sliding scale marked Max at one end end Min at the other, which way do I turn it to make the fridge get colder?

Good idea. I'll keep acquiring them just in case I find someone to give one away to!

I try to buy things like this secondhand - if I find myself actually needing an overlocker for a project I would consider buying a new one.
Three of my knitting machines are vintage, as is one of my sewing machines 😊

Good point, I should not be disappointed about missing out on buying my fifth knitting machine, because it means I still have room for an overlocker should one become available.

What's a normal sensible number of knitting machines to own? And how many is too many?

This evening I've knitted the heels of my two-at-a-time socks which means the hard part is done and all I have to do is knit until they're long enough and then decrease for the toe shaping and graft the toes 😊

A wooden floor with a spiral pattern

What do you notice?
What do you wonder?

Last day of #BigEvent25 today 😢 It's been lovely hanging out with my friends and the Royal Institution is such a great place to reflect on being a STEM communicator.
Best bit? Seeing the amazing @steckl.es receive the Beetlestone Award - so good to see my fave mathematician be publicly recognised!

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

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!

Yes there must be some camera trickery to make it look so much bigger on the telly! It feels lovely and intimate in real life doesn't it?

I award this an A, team!

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

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

I saw an unethical life pro tip the other day that suggested avoiding jury service by getting a criminal record...

An enamel fern pin in the colours of the trans pride flag. It's on a backing card that says Trans Fern by Canopy Robin. Glow in the dark. Did you know that most ferns are homosporous? This means they produce onlye one type of spore which germinates to be both male and female during the plant's reproductive phase.

An enamel pin in the shape of a flower in a pot with rainbow petals. It's on a card that says "Blooming Pride by canopy robin. Take me outside. Did you know that lots of flowers feature ultraviolet patterns that humans can't see but which pollinators use to navigate and select food sources? This pins true colours are only revealed when exposed to ultraviolet light, so take it outdoors and watch it bloom! Like the hidden colours of flowers, LGBTQ+ identities might not always be immediately visible."

an enamel pin badge in the shape of a tree in progress pride flag colours. It's on a backing card that says "LGBTreeQ+ by canopy robin. Did you know that only % of flowering plants are of a binary sex? Most plants have either multiple sexes of flowers on the same individual plant, or multiple sexes within a single flower!"

I love all the pins I've made but my Botanic Pride #SciArt collection will always be my favourites. Each pin comes with its own scientific fact, highlighting the real queerness that exists in plants 🌿 If you know someone who'd enjoy them then please share! canopyrobin.etsy.com?etsrc=sdt&se...

In Exeter today, talking about number theory with some year 9 students. We'll be making some conjectures and trying to prove them... And learning about the Twin Primes conjecture too... Will one of these students go on to work on it someday?