After the PENELOPE project, Alex McLean explored 8-shaft weaving with a second-hand table loom for the Alpaca project. Visiting the Wearable Senses lab in Eindhoven sparked interest in traditional weaving methods, contrasting with previous experience on computer-controlled looms like the TC/2. The transition from full thread control to lifting threads in eight groups revealed how constraints can drive creativity.

Setting up the loom proved challenging, with expert weaver Seiko Kinoshita demonstrating the art of warping. Creating a striped warp required careful attention to thread order and tension, as losing the cross pattern would ruin the entire project. The process highlighted how weaving decisions are grounded in physical ergonomics, with thousands of repetitive movements shaping both the cloth and the loom's design.

McLean developed a shaft loom simulator for the TC/2, enabling live multi-user interaction where collaborators could adjust threading, tie-ups, and treadling patterns in real-time. This digital interface revealed weaving's binary logic as matrix multiplication, offering endless pattern possibilities. The project bridged traditional craftsmanship with live coding concepts, showing how weaving's inherent symmetry emerges from the loom's logical constraints rather than purely aesthetic choices.