Eternal interlacing

Here George Bain shows that a continuous interlace border can be drawn differently. The circles illustrate this well. Count the number of spaces across the width of each band. When it is always an odd number the interlace is one continuous line (red). However, an odd and even number of spaces reflects the use of two strands without ends (red and green).

Bain’s handwritten note tries to explain this. In this drawing the single strand design always has 3 spaces across its width, though for some reason Bain counts the spaces around the band – 39. The double interlace border has both 4 and 5 spaces across it. How he drew the designs is another matter.

The rectangle of interlacing follows another rule that is easier to count out. To create a design with only one strand of interlace the two long sides must have a different number of loops. Here the left side has 14 and the right has 15. Bain explores this principle in another poster that we’ve named Single strand interlace. The space down the centre on this rectangle means that the design can be made longer