Knitting Is Coding
May 20, 2019 1:59 PM   Subscribe

 
One of the highlights of the Deutsches Museum in Munich was finally seeing a Jacquard loom in person. Glad this article mentions them... a really early example of programmable textiles!
posted by k8bot at 2:47 PM on May 20, 2019


“Knitted fabric is also a metamaterial.”

🙌🏾
posted by Fizz at 2:50 PM on May 20, 2019 [4 favorites]


My grandmother would have loved this.
posted by clavdivs at 3:05 PM on May 20, 2019


For a slightly different take on knitting and coding, see Mefi's Own web-goddess' talks Knit One Compute One, Granny Was A Hacker, etc.
posted by zamboni at 3:29 PM on May 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


Ctrl-F "Ada Lovelace" not found ... ???

"We may say most aptly that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves"
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Knitting is a series of nested loops. Fight me.
posted by um at 4:52 PM on May 20, 2019 [13 favorites]


Punch cards; talk about a durable idea. From looms in the 18th century to player pianos in the 19th, to Hollerith cards programming the early IBMs in the 20th. Amazing how people repurpose old tech for the machines of the day.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 5:06 PM on May 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing it
posted by Hermione Granger at 5:38 PM on May 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Yet Another Resource Negotiator? Came in here full of Hadoop... disappointed with arts and crafts... well... disappointed isn't the right word, but... sigh...
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:54 PM on May 20, 2019


Knitting is a series of nested loops. Fight me.

You think you're making a joke, but knitting with two needles is demonstrably a two-register counter machine, and two-register counter machines are provably Turing-complete.
posted by mhoye at 6:17 PM on May 20, 2019 [14 favorites]


I am much more used to thinking about weaving as computation (the interlacements themselves, not just the Jaquard programming or dobby encoding). And also twining, as on the radiation-robust early circuitry for space and spy planes. Nice for knitting to get its day in the mathy sun.
posted by janell at 6:59 PM on May 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


“Back in February, Mr. Markande (who started knitting only recently for the sake of science)….”
Oh, you sweet summer child!
posted by TrishaU at 7:10 PM on May 20, 2019


A former colleague of mine started a company called WOVNS that does custom jacquard weaving... she would agree with the FPP title.
posted by q*ben at 7:32 PM on May 20, 2019 [3 favorites]




The inevitable QI (Youtube) link to "Why Would Anyone Ban Knitting Patterns?"
posted by Zack_Replica at 1:58 PM on May 21, 2019


« Older unsuck Unsuck DC Metro   |   Teachers in crisis Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments