I posted this in another thread, but I didn't get a reply. So I thought I'd try again....

I own a kilt because my wife, knowing that I've always wanted one, gave me one as a gift earlier this year. Even though I've always wanted a kilt, I'd never really thought much about tartans.

But since I received my kilt I have been fascinated by tartans. I got hooked on the House of Tartan's "Interactive Tartan Weaver". Very cool! Is there any other "loom simulation" software out there? It's amazing how just a few parameters can make such intricate patterns. I love the way the threads interact with each other.

I confess, I have only a basic idea of how a loom works. But I'd love to find out more. Time for me to start googling, or maybe head for the local library!

Are there any rules (or at least advice) in designing tartans? Maybe in the colours used, or the thread counts permitted. I'd love to try my hand at it. How does one ensure of not accidentally plagiarising (or maybe even caricaturing) another tartan?

I know that there are registers of tartans. But it would seem to me that it wouldn't be that hard to codify tartans. As complex as the end result is, they seem to have so few parameters; so therefore should be easy to codify. Has anyone every tried to do this?

But what I'm really asking is for assistance in creating my own tartan.