binaryscarf

binaryscarf generates double-knit patterns for some corpus of input text. The layout follows the same style as described here. Output is saved as a PNG image.

The characters are encoded as 7-bit binary (ASCII), where each binary digit represents the foreground or background color. The scarf will use a configurable number of columns.

The length of the pattern will be dependent on the number of selected columns, plus the length of the input text. The width depends on the number of columns and the configurable spacing between colums.

The words in the input text are layed out top-to-bottom, left-to-right. For instance, the phrase "Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.", with 2 colums will be drawn as follows:

===            ===============
M i            1001101 1101001
a s            1100001 1110011
c e            1100011 1100101
h              1101000
i w            1101001 1110111
n i            1101110 1101001
e t            1100101 1110100
s h            1110011 1101000
              
t g            1110100 1100111
a r            1100001 1110010
k e            1101011 1100101
e a     =>     1100101 1100001
  t                    1110100
m              1101101
e f            1100101 1100110
  r                    1110010
b e            1100010 1100101
y q            1111001 1110001
  u                    1110101
s e            1110011 1100101
u n            1110101 1101110
r c            1110010 1100011
p y            1110000 1111001
r .            1110010 0101110
===            ===============

The pattern does not assume any specific cast-on, bind-off or bordering. This will be up to the knitter to choose. However, for best results, I recommend the following:

• Two-colour alternating, invisible cast-on
• Double-sided knitting with slip-stitch edges
• One-needle Kitchener bind-off

Install

$ go get github.com/hexaflex/binaryscarf

Usage

usage: binaryscarf [options] <textfile>
   or: cat <textfile> | binaryscarf [options]

  -border int
    	Optional decorative n-row border at top and bottom of work: [0..n] (default 2)
  -color-a string
    	Foreground color in 24-bit hexadecimal notation. (default "0xffffff")
  -color-b string
    	Background color in 24-bit hexadecimal notation. (default "0x647384")
  -columns int
    	Number of 7-bit columns to generate: [1..n] (default 3)
  -out string
    	Filename for resulting PNG image. (default "out.png")
  -repeat int
    	Number of times to repeat the input text: [1..n] (default 1)
  -spacing int
    	Number of stitches to leave blank between columns: [0..n] (default 2)
  -stitch-height int
    	Height of a single stitch, in pixels: [1..n] (default 3)
  -stitch-width int
    	Width of a single stitch, in pixels: [1..n] (default 2)
  -version
    	Display version information.

Refer to testdata/Makefile for some invocation examples. And the images in testdata/ for output samples.

The stitch-width and stitch-height values are provided, so the resulting pattern may reflect the way real knit stitches are shaped. They are never perfectly square. Desiging a pattern with square stitches, will end up looking squashed in either width or height, when knitted. Adjusting the pattern to account for this property, will ensure the desired result is achieved. A stitch-width of 2 and stitch-height of 3 usually gives a reasonable approximation of the real thing.

license

Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this project are subject to a 1-clause BSD license. Its contents can be found in the enclosed LICENSE file.