It can sometimes be a long time before inspiration strikes and, when it does, often several ideas turn up at once. We still have the occasional idea for mathematically based designs but we have also become obsessed with illusion knitting. It is nice when the two coincide.

This representation of squares and circles appealed to our geometric nature. It is two illusions in one. The first illusion is created by using the illusion knitting technique so that you see squares when you look from a distance, stripes when you look closer, and circles when you look from an angle. What you see varies according to the lighting. At times you can also see circles that appear to be embossed on the background. It is very difficult to capture all these effects on camera. The hanging needs to be seen in real-life to appreciate how much it changes.

The second illusion comes from the perception of 25 different shades when the hanging only uses five different yarns. This effect is only seen when the piece is viewed from directly in front. This surprised us. We had expected to see 15 different shades, similar to the way Double Vision shows 55 different shades. Ten of these are on the diagonal and the other squares form two groups of 45 shades. We thought Squares That Look Round would show five on the diagonal and two groups of ten on each side of it. Due to the extra effects of the illusion knitting technique, it definitely has 25 shades.

Apologies to Roald Dahl for the title. He invented SQUARE SWEETS THAT LOOK ROUND in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

To read more about the illusion
Click here

To buy the pattern, read more about the afghan, and see more examples
Click here