summary of the 10 “simple” weaves
a (pick up near little finger string)
b (pick up far little finger string under near little finger string)
c (pick up far little finger string over near little finger string)
d (make near little finger string go under then over far little finger string, then pick up with thumb)
e (make near little finger string go over then under far little finger string, then pick up with thumb)
a’ (same as a except the thumb downflips the string)
b’ (do b with downflip)
c’ (do c with downflip)
d’ (do d with downflip)
e’ (do e with downflip)
At this point the students are encouraged to fill in the squares of a 10-by-10 matrix with sketches of each figure:
the first figure has the original five weaves in alphabetical order left to right and all ten weaves in the order a, b, c, d, e, a’, b’, c’, d’, and e’ down.
the second figure has the inverses in alphabetical order from left to right and the same order of the ten weaves down.
the line drawings in this article were prepared by scanning specimens mounted on sheets of paper. To facilitate mounting the upper index loops were released and the lower index loops untwisted so that the figure would lay flat. The central design was then arranged.
aa ab ac ad ae
a’a a’b a’c a’d a’e
ba bb bc bd be
b’a b’b b’c b’d b’d
ca cb cc cd ce
c’a c’b c’c c’d c’e
da db dc dd de
d’a d’b d’c d’d d’e
ea eb ec ed ee
e’a e’b e’c e’d e’e
aa’ ab’ ac’ ad’ ae’
a’a’ a’b’ a’c’ a’d’ a’e’
ba’ bb’ bc’ bd’ ed’
b’a’ b’b’ b’c’ b’d’ b’e’
ca’ cb’ cc’ cd’ ce’
c’a’ c’b’ c’c’ c’d’ c’e’
da’ db’ dc’ dd’ de’
d’a’ d’b’ d’c’ d’d’ d’e’
ea’ eb’ ec’ ed’ ee’
e’a’ e’b’ e’c’ e’d’ e’e’
things to consider
Again a little math will serve to illuminate the sheer number of possible variants.
Neglecting the simplifications caused by individual inverse weaves finished and reset in order:
10 squared makes 100 two weave patterns.
10 cubed makes 1000 three weave patterns
10 to the fourth power makes 10,000 four weave patterns, etc.