Warp & Weave

The Fibonacci Gradients

When you select the Fibonacci gradient the drop-down list, stripes form that follow the Fibonacci sequence of numbers. The Fibonacci sequence is created by starting with the numbers 1,1 and then adding the two previous numbers to get the next number in the sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, etc. It is often used for creating stripes because the proportions between stripes in the Fibonacci sequence approximate the Golden Mean, creating pleasing proportions. We won’t discuss this topic further here, but Google “Fibonacci” and “Golden Mean” if you are curious!

Fibonacci 1 Gradient

 

When you select the Fibonacci 1 gradient the drop-down list, the sequence interleaves two Fibonacci sequences of Color 1 and Color 2, increasing the Fibonacci numbers of Color 1 from right to left and the Fibonacci numbers of Color 2 from right to left. If the sequence gets cut off (if there’s a partial number on the ends), it gets put on the right or left sides, equally, so the thread counts always cross in the center.

Here’s an example of how this works. The blue thread counts increase from right to left, and the red thread counts increase from left to right.

1 21 1 13 2 8 3 5 5 3 8 2 13 1 21 1

This all sounds complicated, but fear not: you don’t have to delve into the mathematical depths to take advantage of its beauty! Here’s an example of a finished Fibonacci 1 gradient:

Fibonacci 1 gradient

Once you’ve selected Fibonacci 1, these options become available:

Fibonacci 1 options

You can see that your Gradient is already happening in the draft.  From this point, you can change colors as described above, or play with how the gradient works.

Changing Scale

Scale for Fibonacci 1 expands the number of times each of the stripes is repeated. The default is one, as shown in the above example.

In the image below, the scale has been increased to 2:

Fibonacci 1 scale

If you are a numbers geek, here’s exactly how it works:

If the scale is 2, then each sequence of stripes is repeated twice (except the first two thin stripes, which are always 1 even at larger scales).

Here’s a numeric example where the scale is 2:

1 21 1 21 2 13 2 13 3 8 3 8 5 5 5 5 8 3 8 3 13 2 13 2 21 1 21 1

But again, you don’t need to know that unless you’re a numbers buff.

“Reversed” Check Box

Reversed swaps the order of Coor 1 and Color 2 in the Gradient.  Notice how the warp now starts with pink.

Fibonacci 1 reversed

Show Opposite Side

Show Opposite Side does just that. In twills or complex drafts, it’s always a good idea to look at the other side of the fabric.

show the opposite side

When you’re happy with your Gradient, click the Save Colors button to return to the regular Color Editor window, where your gradient is now loaded and ready for you to save or change as you like.