The Gaucho Weave Pattern

In this article we will consider the Gaucho weave to be comprised of a series of overlapping V,s in which the points of the V's point around the cylinder of the knot. Thus it is a multi pass braid structure.
This structure can be formed in many permutations with one or more strings. In the two and four string versions, the color pattern can be a series of zig-zag color bands across the cylinder of the knot from edge to edge. In the single color knots the braid pattern is the same form, zig-zags of V's (or W's) across the the length of the knot.

Single String Gauchos

The coding requirements

9X7 The classic gaucho with true gaucho edges requires a coding of an even number of alternate sets of under and over crossings.Look at the alternate UU-OO-UU-OO of the first half cycle in the template of the 9 part X 7 bight knot at the right.
The only constraint on the number of bights is the "common divisor rule for a single string knot and the approximate desired diameter of the knot.
I have changed my usual vertical orientation of the knot cylinder to horizontal to comply with the semantics of the work of Georg Schaake and Tom Hall for this example. What we have here is column coding of the weave pattern. That is all the coding in each column of the template is identical.Reduced to the simplest terms, the gaucho weave pattern is a totally symetric column coded knot.
Since the number of code columns is one less than the number of parts,we are limited to knots of 5 - 9 - 13 --in increments of 4 parts for a two pass structure. It is 7 - 13--increments of 6 parts for a three pass code.

from left pin 1 to right pin 5
from right pin 5 O1 to left ptd>
from left pin 3 O1 to right pin 7
from right pin 7 U1 O1 to left pin 5
from left pin 5 U1 O1 to right pin 2
from right pin 2 O1 U1 O1 to left pin 7
from left pin 7 O1 U1 O1 to right pin 4
from right pin 4 U1 O1 U1 O2 to left pin 2
from left pin 2 U1 O1 U1 O2 to right pin 6
from right pin 6 U1 O1 U2 O2 to left pin 4
from left pin 4 U1 O1 U2 O2 to right pin 1
from right pin 1 U1 O2 U2 O2 to left pin 6
from left pin 6 U1 O2 U2 O2 to right pin 3
from right pin 3 U2 O2 U2 O2 to left pin 1

13part X 6bight 2pass

13 X 6 On the left is a 13 part X 6 bight version . This gives us three V's across the knot instead of the two above. Since we always use an odd number of parts, we can use almost any even number of bights and many of the odd numbers.

from left pin 1 to right pin 1

from right pin 1 U1 O1 to left pin 2

from left pin 2 U1 O1 to right pin 2

from right pin 2 U2 O2 to left pin 3

from left pin 3 U2 O2 to right pin 3

from right pin 3 O1 U3 O2 to left pin 4

from left pin 4 O1 U3 O2 to right pin 4

from right pin 4 O2 U4 O2 to left pin 5

from left pin 5 O2 U4 O2 to right pin 5

from right pin 5 U1 O2 U2 O1 U2 O2 to left pin 6

from left pin 6 U1 O2 U2 O1 U2 O2 to right pin 6

from right pin 6 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 to left pin 1

13part X 6bight 3pass

knot This is a three pass knot of the same 13 parts X 6 bights.
These forms are the only ones a true purist would probably call a gaucho knot, but there are several permutations that are close enough in my opinion and we will explore them one at a time.

rom left pin 1 to right pin 1

from right pin 1 O2 to left pin 2

from left pin 2 O2 to right pin 2

from right pin 2 O4 to left pin 3

from left pin 3 O4 to right pin 3

from right pin 3 O6 to left pin 4

from left pin 4 O6 to right pin 4

from right pin 4 U1 O3 U1 O3 to left pin 5

from left pin 5 U1 O3 U1 O3 to right pin 5

from right pin 5 U2 O3 U2 O3 to left pin 6

from left pin 6 U2 O3 U2 O3 to right pin 6

from right pin 6 U3 O3 U3 O3 to left pin 1

Locking the Edges

knot First observe that I have rotated the grid 90 degrees for a vertical orientation of the knot cylinder.This causes the coded columns to be percieved as rows on the grid.
When tightening and dressing the knots with two or three passes at the edges, they tend to pull under an adjacent bight if you are not careful. Since I like a knot to be as tight as practical on strap work and such, I add a single crossing at each edge to the coding to "lock the edges". This is a simple O-3 U-3 ring knot with the extra coding to be U-1 O-3 U-3 O-1.

from bottom pin 1 to top pin 5

from top pin 5 U1 to bottom pin 3

from bottom pin 3 U1 to top pin 7

from top pin 7 U2 to bottom pin 5

from bottom pin 5 U2 to top pin 2

from top pin 2 O1 U2 to bottom pin 7

from bottom pin 7 O1 U2 to top pin 4

from top pin 4 U1 O1 U2 O1 to bottom pin 2

from bottom pin 2 U1 O1 U2 O1 to top pin 6

from top pin 6 U1 O1 U3 O1 to bottom pin 4

from bottom pin 4 U1 O1 U3 O1 to top pin 1

from top pin 1 U1 O2 U3 O1 to bottom pin 6

from bottom pin 6 U1 O2 U3 O1 to top pin 3

from top pin 3 U1 O3 U3 O1 to bottom pin 1

A long knot

knot This is a 33 part X 8 bight gaucho with locked edges. The first cycle (string run) is highlighted in red so you can see each of the multiple sections in the weave pattern.

from bottom pin 1 to top pin 1

from top pin 1 O4 to bottom pin 2

from bottom pin 2 U4 to top pin 2

from top pin 2 U1 O1 U1 O1 U1 O1 U1 O1 to bottom pin 3

from bottom pin 3 O1 U1 O1 U1 O1 U1 O1 U1 to top pin 3

from top pin 3 U2 O1 U2 O1 U2 O1 U2 O1 to bottom pin 4

from bottom pin 4 O2 U1 O2 U1 O2 U1 O2 U1 to top pin 4

from top pin 4 O1 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O1 to bottom pin 5

from bottom pin 5 U1 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U1 to top pin 5

from top pin 5 O2 U2 O3 U2 O3 U2 O3 U2 O1 to bottom pin 6

from bottom pin 6 U2 O2 U3 O2 U3 O2 U3 O2 U1 to top pin 6

from top pin 6 U1 O2 U2 O1 U1 O2 U2 O1 U1 O2 U2 O1 U1 O2 U2 O1 to bottom pin 7

from bottom pin 7 O1 U2 O2 U1 O1 U2 O2 U1 O1 U2 O2 U1 O1 U2 O2 U1 to top pin 7

from top pin 7 U2 O2 U2 O1 U2 O2 U2 O1 U2 O2 U2 O1 U2 O2 U2 O1 to bottom pin 8

from bottom pin 8 O2 U2 O2 U1 O2 U2 O2 U1 O2 U2 O2 U1 O2 U2 O2 U1 to top pin 8

from top pin 8 O1 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O2 U2 O1 to bottom pin 1

Cook up your own

If you have Tim Allwine's Grid Maker you can use it to generate any of these single string grids and run lists by entering the parameters in the program. They are all column coded structures which is what the current version of The Grid Maker does perfectly.

Two String Gauchos

Now lets consider some two string versions of the Gaucho interweave.

The two pass interweave

knot Since any two string column coded knot is essentially an interweave of two knots with an equal number of parts so it can have a parts to bights ratio with a greatest common divisor of 2, we are limited to a knot with an even number of parts. This leaves us with an odd number of code columns. Therefor there will be a slight difference in the edges of the finished knot.
The template at the left is an interweave of two 4 part X 5 bight turkshead produced by paralleling the first or foundation knot exactly with the running end of the interweave and splitting the parallel pairs as they occur.
When selecting a foundation knot for this process, just make sure that twice its parts and bights still have a greatest common divisor of 2. They all have the characteristic zig-zag color pattern of the gaucho interweave, but not its perfect symmetry.

Three passes

knot knot We can use the 8 part X 5 bight knot at the lleft to create a 16 part X 10 bight Gaucho interweave. Because the 15 code columns in the final knot will hold 5 sets of three passes, it will be exhibit an unbalanced number of passes but have the characteristic color pattern of the gaucho.We begin by placing the base knot on alternate pins of a 10 pin mandrel to leave interstices for the interweave.
Please notice that this foundation is not a casa coded turkshead. It is coded U1-O2-U1-O2-U1 in the odd half cycles and the inverse in the even half cycles. This was found from the first half of the algorithm-diagrsm from the 16 X 10 final knot. ( see the run list table below.)

The run list table

First use the table at the left to build the foundation
Then go to the right and do the interweave. Notice the new starting pin at bottom number 2.

From bottom pin 1 to top pin 9
from top pin 9 U1 to bottom pin 7
from bottom pin 7 O1 to top pin 5
from top pin 5 U2 O1 to bottom pin 3
from bottom pin 3 O2 U1 to top pin 1
from top pin 1 U1 O1 U1 O1 to bottom pin 9
from bottom pin 9 O1 U1 O1 U1 to top pin 7
from top pin 7 O1 U1 O1 U2 O1 to bottom pin 5
from bottom pin 5 U1 O1 U1 O2 U1 to top pin 3
from top pin 3 O1 U2 O1 U2 U2 O1 to bottom pin 1

from bottom pin 2 U2 O1 U2 O1 U2 to top pin 10
from top pin 10 O2 U1 O2 U2 O2 to bottom pin 8
from bottom pin 8 U2 O1 U2 O2 U2 to top pin 6
from top pin 6 O2 U2 O2 U2 O3 to bottom pin 4
from from bottom pin 4 U2 O2 U2 O2 U3 to top pin 2
from top pin 2 O2 U2 O3 U2 O3 to bottom pin 10
from bottom pin 10 U2 O2 U3 O2 U3 to top pin 8
from top pin 8 O3 U2 O3 U3 O3 to bottom pin 6
from bottom pin 6 U3 O2 U3 O3 U3 to top pin 4
from top pin 4 U3 O3 U3 O3 U3 to bottom pin 2

Three Strings

knot This is three 7 X 4 casa turksheads interwoven for a 21 X 12 gaucho with locked edges.
While the coding is gaucho, the use of two strings of one color and one string of a contrasting color produces a unique color pattern.

String one

from botom pin 1 free run to top pin 11

from top pin 11 - U1 - to bottom pin 10

from botom pin 10 - U1 - to top pin 8

from top pin 8 - O1 - U1 - O1 - to bottom pin 7

from botom pin 7 - O1 - U1 - O1 - to top pin 5

from top pin 5 - O1 - U2 - O1 - U1 - to bottom pin 4

from botom pin 4 - O1 - U2 - O1 - U1 - to top pin 2

from top pin 2 -O1-U1-O1-U1-O1-U1- to bottom pin 1

String two

from botom pin 2 -O1-U1-O1-U1-O1-U1-O1- to top pin 12

from top pin 12 -O1-U1-O1-U2-O1-U1-O1- to bottom pin 11

from botom pin 11-O1-U1-O1 -U2 - O1 - U1 - O1 - to top pin 9

from top pin 9 - O2 - U1 - O1 - U2 - O2 - U1 - O1 - to bottom pin 8

from botom pin 8 - O2 - U1 - O1 - U2 - O2 - U1 - O1 - to top pin 6

from top pin 6 - O2 - U2 - O1 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to bottom pin 5

from botom pin 5 - O2 - U2 - O1 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to top pin 3

from top pin 3 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to bottom pin 2

String three

from botom pin 3 - U1 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to top pin 1

from top pin 1 - U1 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U3 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to bottom pin 12

from botom pin 12 - U1 - O2 - U2 - O2 - U3 - O2 - U2 - O1 - to top pin10

from top pin 10 - U1 - O3 - U2 - O2 - U3 - O3 - U2 - O1 - to bottom pin 9

from botom pin 9 - U1 - O3 - U2 - O2 - U3 - O3 - U2 - O1 - to top pin 7

from top pin 7 - U1 - O3 - U3 - O2 - U3 - O3 - U3 - O1 - to bottom pin 6

from botom pin 6 - U1 - O3 - U3 - O2 - U3 - O3 - U3 - O1 - to top pin 4

from top pin 4 - U1 - O3 - U3 - O3 - U3 - O3 - U3 - O1 - to bottom pin 3

valid

Home
Lessons