After 2 tests with hexagonal cards in Sulawesi style, I can conclude that it works, but it’s a pain to weave. Is it worth it to get that extra colour? I will show you and let you decide wether to try it for yourselves.
My first attempt, where I used the rest of an old warp. 12 motif cards (3×4). More explanations below.
I also tried to cut out 3 threads (blue and red) out of the 6, to try 3 thread weaving (1 white and 2 brown). Result below:
I decided to set up a larger weave with 24 cards (3×8). I actually made some cardboard paper cards, since the wood cards were quite bulky. This is the result of Sulawesi weaving with more background colours.
So how is it done??
With hexagonal weaving, 3 cards make a “pair”, instead of 2 cards (in regular Sulawesi). If you see the setup below, you have 3 cards with the same orientation (S or Z), they need to be turned together always for 3 picks. So, when you weave, you do 3 picks instead of 2, before you change your cards between front/back pack. You need to test weave 6 picks to see where your starting position is. For me it was when 3 or 6 was towards me. (note the 6 dots around the hole towards me in the photo above).
To make the background repeat I started with hole 6 towards me, 3 picks forward -> hole 5 -> hole 4 -> hole 3 -> 3 picks backward -> hole 4 -> hole 5 -> hole 6.
Now with 24 motif cards, I have 8 pairs (3×8=24), which means I can use the designs for 16 cards (8 pairs x2 =16). I used a truncated version of the below to make my weave above. Each square in my weaving diagram then represents 3 cards and 3 picks (white forward and dark backwards).
To use the designs for “24 cards” (12 pairs), you actually need 36 hexagonal cards (12×3=36).
Good luck!
