Using the octal computer codes, I translated the word HOPE into a weaving pattern, and this is the result. I was using a sunrise as the source for the colors, which are a red and orange warp and a gray weft. The pattern is a 64 thread repeat. Treddling is "tromp as writ." I played with about a dozen twill tie-ups before settling on the one I used. The pattern is very subtle, so I did it in a cotton yarn that I guess was about 20/2 (it wasn't marked, and I don't remember where I got it) with a sett of 30/inch. With a few extra threads for a floating selvage and to double up threads at the selvage, I had about 906 ends in total. After washing the width was 27.5"
About the octal computer codes - A is 101, B is 102, etc. up to Z as 132. That's a lot of 1s, so I first subtracted 100 from all the codes. Then, because octal numbers are 0 to 7 and my weaving program numbers the harnesses 1 to 8, I added 1 to each individual digit. That resulted in representing A by 12, B by 13, etc. to Z as 43. So the whole word of 4 letters is represented by 8 threads. From there I turned it into a twill, resulting in a 64 thread pattern.
Treddling this was a real pain in the neck, but having 18 treddles helped a lot because I could rearrange things to make it more convenient. This would have been almost impossible without weaving software - or it would have taken MUCH, MUCH longer to figure out!
Comments