Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Charlotte's Crocheting Printer

doily-y
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Instead of ink and paper, each page is crocheted from a single unbroken piece of string, twine, or lace, in the manner of a complex spiderweb, Inuit ayahowsit or Hawaiian hei (string figures).

One size/length of string is used for each equivalent page size (A4, A3 etc): the shorter the message or graphics, the more ornate the border and ornamentation containing it.

To recycle, simply feed the page backwards into one of the printers: the machine will unravel and store the string for reuse.

FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2014

Title Reference http://s4.hubimg.com/u/1488879_f520.jpg
the pig is optional. [FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2014]

String figures. https://www.google....?q=string%20figures
[FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2014]

[link]






       I was going to post some crotchety anno..but that's kind of handy for spy types, look like getting caught, just put on the yarn in the code book.   

       PS expect one million "that's one way to tell a yarn" puns.
not_morrison_rm, Jun 24 2014
  

       I'm waiting for some early-morning groggy h'baker to parse it as "Charlotte's Crotchless Panties"; not that that possibility affected the title choice in any way, you understand.
FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2014
  

       Beautiful. If only it came in bacon scented, I'd be in heaven. Wonderful and so very useful. A huge white lacy +
blissmiss, Jun 24 2014
  

       [+] (raises hand) Still blurry eyed, I read Crotcheting Printer! Nice idea though!
xandram, Jun 24 2014
  

       I can't get the tapestry pun to work...
not_morrison_rm, Jun 24 2014
  

       I suspect that crochet is going to be topologically difficult to implement. How about embroidery? It should be easy make a multi-head sewing machine which could embroid.
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 24 2014
  

       Embroiding however requires a substrate (and there are plenty of t-shirt makers which will automatically stitch a logo or something into a shirt... I'm wearing one: "<something>(I'm reading it upside-down, it's in cursive and I'm half blind) Landscaping" with a logo that looks like a sideways jellyfish with legs. But I digress.   

       For this, it's a vector-driven page mechanism that produces page-sized "doilies".   

       There are 3 types of printing, corresponding to the amount of printer vs. host-computer interaction.   

       Generic: the host computer just sends a standard printfile over. The printer reverse-engineers the file to work out the vectors, then calculates how to string everything together.   

       Native: the host computer sends a (proprietary type) vector language file over (think Postscript), from which the machine calculates the best stringing steps.   

       High Definition: the computer does all the work via a software program, sending over a low-level printer language file, telling the machine every step. This of course is the most precise and can produce the most artistic results.   

       The end result is like a doily, or like the link. All in black & white or, to be more exact, string-colour and hole.   

       Absolutely no clue of the fine details of the physical mechanism, since I don't embroid, knit, crochet or weave, personally. Given that string figures (which I do do) can require all the fingers and thumbs in use and occasionally some doubled up - and this is potentially much more complex - there'd probably be at least a dozen crochet hooks standing by to pull, twist or hold, not counting auxiliary clamps and feeders and such.
FlyingToaster, Jun 24 2014
  

       ^I bet you weave on occasion. Just a guess.
AusCan531, Jun 24 2014
  

       Only when wearing high-heels...   

       But seriously, er er er there is some reference to binary embroidery in the Baroque Cycle, Eliza encoded her diary onto a bit of cloth...but that's just fiction and done manually.
not_morrison_rm, Jun 25 2014
  

       CNC knitting machines exist, for instance images are often knitted into socks. It may be difficult to have large gaps and using two colours of string may be unavoidable.   

       I'm imagining a nice length of kevlar would be the most reusable printing medium.
mitxela, Jun 25 2014
  

       I realize most of the crochet pics are of rather densely packed thread, but the idea is more towards the string-figures type of thing. Though, of course, densely packed is an option.   

       After "printing", a fixative could be applied to the "page", to glue the strings together where they cross and generally stiffen the page up, so it could be snail-mailed or even filed if necessary.
FlyingToaster, Jun 25 2014
  
      
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