A METHOD OF GENERATING PATTERNS FOR THE ABEL ILOCO

Lawrence A. Eclarin
Assistant Professor II
Mariano Marcos State University
October 25, 2015
The following method results to

n n

tile patterns for the Abel Iloco, like the

pattern shown in Figure 1. In particular, these patterns can be used for pick-up or
brocade weaving, in local terms, insukit or sinukitan.

Figure 1
The patterns can be woven as separate patches like accents to a plain woven cloth,
as borders, or side by side to create an intricate design.
First, a few mathematical elements needs to be defined.
A square matrix or a

x1
y1

2 2

matrix is an array of numbers, written in the form

x2
.
y2

The determinant of a square matrix is given by

x 1 y 2x 2 y1

A square matrix written as

[ ]
a b
0 c

where

a,b,c

are integers,

is said to be in canonical form.

1

a>b 0

and

c >0

The net generated by a matrix in canonical form is a subset of a square grid

generated by the two linearly independent column vectors

[]
a
0

and

[]
b
c

The following steps outline the technique employed in generating a tile pattern.
1. Set the value for the determinant
number.
2. Enumerate all

2 2

n . The determinant must be a whole

matrices of determinant equal to

form.
Remark: The number of such matrices is given by
positive integers that divide

d
d|n

in canonical

, i.e., the sum of all

n .

3. Generate the nets defined by each matrix. One can observe that the
reflection of a net generated by a matrix is similar to a net generated by
another matrix.
4. Superpose the nets with their corresponding reflections.
5. A tile pattern is generated by superposing the nets generated in #4.
As an illustration, consider

n=7 . The number of square matrices of determinant

equal to 7 is

d =1+ 7=8 ,
d| 7

since the only numbers that divide 7, being prime, is 1 and itself. The matrices in
canonical form of determinant 7 are

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

7 6 , 7 5 , 7 4 , 7 3 , 7 2 , 7 1 , 7 0 , 1 0 .
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 7

The net generated by

generated by

[ ]
7 1
0 1

[ ]
7 6
0 1

is shown in Figure 2.a. The net reflection is

and shown in Figure 2.b.

superposed, the resulting net is shown in Figure 2.c.

When these two nets are

Figure 2
Similarly, the other union of nets are generated (Figure 3).

Figure 3

A tile pattern generated by superposing the nets

{[ ] [ ]}
7 5 , 7 2
0 1 0 1

{[ ] [ ]}
7 6 , 7 1
0 1 0 1

and

is given in Figure 4.

Figure 4
By translating the tile generated, the intricate pattern shown in Figure 5 is formed.

Figure 5

Signed:
LAWRENCE A. ECLARIN
Project Principal Investigator