--- title: "Knitting Contest Entry" id: 71931 type: "computer_media" slug: "knitting-contest-entry" url: "http://localhost/computer_media/knitting-contest-entry/" markdown_url: "http://localhost/computer_media/knitting-contest-entry.md" published_at: "2026-10-20T14:29:23+00:00" modified_at: "2026-10-20T14:29:23+00:00" author: "David Anderson" featured_image: url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Dottie-scaled.jpg" excerpt: "Knitting utilities that calculate stitch and row gauge from a swatch, print a metric gauge chart and draw a sweater back, along with UDG flower graphics." category: - name: "Archived Media" slug: "archived-media" taxonomy: "category" url: "http://localhost/category/archived-media/" post_tag: - name: "Downloadable" slug: "downloadable" taxonomy: "post_tag" url: "http://localhost/tag/downloadable/" - name: "TS 2068" slug: "ts2068" taxonomy: "post_tag" url: "http://localhost/tag/ts2068/" model: - name: "Timex/Sinclair 2068" slug: "ts-2068" taxonomy: "model" url: "http://localhost/model/ts-2068/" indiv: - name: "Dorothea Bundy" slug: "dorothea-bundy" taxonomy: "indiv" url: "http://localhost/indiv/dorothea-bundy/" genre: - name: "Hobby" slug: "hobby" taxonomy: "genre" url: "http://localhost/type/hobby/" media_type: "Cassette" programmers: - name: "Dorothea Bundy" slug: "dorothea-bundy" taxonomy: "indiv" url: "http://localhost/indiv/dorothea-bundy/" download_url: "https://archive.org/download/timex-sinclair-software-archive/Knitting%20Contest%20Entry%20%281986%29%28Bundy%2C%20Dorothea%29%28TS2068%29%28US%29%28Cassette%29.zip" tsrun_member: "Knitting Contest Entry (1986)(Bundy, Dorothea)(TS2068)(US)(Cassette)/1_CONTEST.tap" mediadate: "1986" images: - url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Dottie-scaled.jpg" article_media: - id: 39170 title: "The Fame & The Glory" type: "article" url: "http://localhost/article/the-fame-the-glory/" media_type_tags: "Hobby" --- # Knitting Contest Entry A set of short knitting programs. GAUGE asks how many centimeters a swatch of 40 stitches by 60 rows measures and reports stitches and rows per inch. GAUGECHART prints a table of swatch widths from 10 to 22 cm with the inch equivalent and the stitch and row gauge for each. PTRNBACK draws the outline of a sweater back with `PLOT` and `DRAW`, including curved armholes. Two display pieces complete the tape: FLOWERS builds a potted flower from user-defined graphics, and THEANSWER flashes a block-letter message through four color schemes. The loader screen reads “* CONTEST ENTRY * By DOROTHEA BUNDY” with an address in Ventura, California. It was an entry in the SyncWare News programming contest, whose results appeared in SyncWare News volume 3, number 4 (March–April 1986). ## Program Analysis ### Program Structure The tape holds six separate BASIC programs, each saved with `LINE 0` so that it runs when loaded: - `CONTEST`: a title screen in several ink colors with a flashing LOADING prompt, which then loads `GAUGECHART` - `GAUGECHART`: a `FOR` loop that steps the swatch width `CM` by 0.1 and prints `CM*0.4` inches, `40/CM*2.54` stitches and `60/CM*2.54` rows per inch - `GAUGE`: two `INPUT`s and the same formulas, rounded to two decimal places - `PTRNBACK`: a closed outline of seven `DRAW` segments, with arcs of `.4*PI` for the armholes - `FLOWERS`: defines 20 UDGs (`A`–`T`) from `DATA` and prints 17 of them in a picture four rows high and five characters wide - `THEANSWER`: draws the message in eight rows of solid and blank block graphics, cycling white, magenta, blue and green paper five times each ### Notable Techniques - In THEANSWER the letters are formed by the gaps left between solid blocks, and spell JESUS. - FLOWERS uses `POKE USR "A"+x,n` in a separate loop for each UDG. - The loader prints each part of the address in a different ink color in one `PRINT` statement, using embedded `AT`, `INK`, `PAPER` and `FLASH` items. ### Potential Issues - Only `CONTEST` loads another program; the other four have to be loaded by hand after `GAUGECHART`. - `GAUGECHART` rounds with `+0.05` instead of `+0.5`, so its figures are effectively truncated, and its 121 lines of output stop at the `scroll?` prompt. The loop variable `C` is never used. - In `PTRNBACK`, the first line reads `DRAW 50,0*.3*PI`. That evaluates to a straight `DRAW 50,0` and may be a typo for `DRAW 50,0,.3*PI`. - `FLOWERS` opens a `FOR X=2 TO 16` loop that has no `NEXT`, so the picture is printed only once. UDGs A, D, E, S and T are defined as blank. - `THEANSWER` sets `FLASH 1` in its first color pass and never clears it. ## Source Code ``` 300 CLS : PRINT TAB 6;"STITCH AND ROW GAUGE": PRINT 310 PRINT TAB 2;" OUR STITCH AND ROW GAUGE IS";TAB 6;"BASED ON A SWATCH OF";TAB 4;" 40 STITCHES BY 60 ROWS": PRINT 320 REM 40 STITCHES/C * 2.54=STITCHES PER 1" 325 REM 60 ROWS/CM * 2.54=ROWS PER 1" 330 PRINT "40 STITCHES MEASURES HOW MANY CENTIMETERS?" 340 INPUT C: PRINT C: PRINT 350 PRINT "60 ROWS MEASURES HOW MANY CENTIMETERS?" 360 INPUT CM: PRINT CM: PRINT 370 LET ST=40/C*2.54: LET R=60/CM*2.54 380 PRINT TAB 2;"STS PER INCH","ROWS PER INCH": PRINT 390 PRINT TAB 6;INT (ST*100+0.5)/100,TAB 21;INT (R*100+0.5)/100 8999 STOP 9000 SAVE "GAUGE" LINE 0 ```