New Textiles 2011

The structure which I created is the result of experimenting with the sample pattern given by Prof. Buechley as the first part of the assignment. My goal was to create a curved seam rather than a right-angle seam. My approach was to write a simple Python script which generates sequences of needle positions to approximate an arc. Inputs to the script are the # of needles and the sweep angle of the arc.

The program is shown here:

import math

max_angle = 55 #30 degrees
stitches = 26
pins = range(stitches)
cosines = range(stitches)

for i in pins:
angle = math.radians(float(max_angle)/float(stitches)*i)
cosines[i] = (1.0 - round(math.cos(angle),3)) * stitches

for i in pins:
print "PIN: " + str(i) + ": " + str(round(cosines[i]))

And the resulting terminal output:

The pattern is centered on both “Pin 1″s,  and occupies a total of 52 needles. The script output says to keep the listed pins out of the pattern for the specified number of shuttle strokes. One stroke is both left to right and right to left (or vise-versa depending on when the needle is brought out of the knit). Otherwise the instructions are identical to those of the sample instructions for the first part of the assignment.