Sandra's Designing Blog

Zentangled Knitting - is that possible?

Posted on 2:00am Tuesday 6th Feb 2024

At the beginning of the year I promised myself that I was going to take care of me this year.

I have taken time out to embark on mindful activities, thinking these may help my mental health (well they couldn't harm me). My local village Slaithwaite is great for delivering crafty workshops and finding those that I could throw myself into was easy.

So earlier on this week I tried my hand at Zentangle.

Find out how to create Zentangles here

So what is Zentangling? I think of it a form of doodling but a bit more structured and yet it isn't. An abstract art form of repetitive patterns drawn on paper usually with a black marker pen. The patterns can be various forms of hash lines, circles, triangles, squares, flowers, spirals, paisleys, etc. The overall image can be something familiar like a bird or a flower, or any geometric or abstract shape.

So I started by drawing round my hand, outlining finger tips, drawing on patterns, connecting the fingertips with swirly lines to other parts of the hand, adding in knuckles and colouring in shapes. I started simple and then went deeper without really thinking about it, without really thinking about anything.

Today, I wondered whether it was possible to create Zentangled knitting, some mindless knitting that was more abstractly creative than the knitting you do in front of the TV.
I thought about the different knitting techniques and how I would use them in Zentangle designs, for example with Fair Isle patterns I could use simple repeating motifs and geometric shapes working in 2 contrasting colours (ie black and white); lace patterns could be used to incorporate repeating shapes and intricate details. With cables and travelling stitches I could take my knitting off in different directions and the duplicate stitch technique could be used to add Zentangle-inspired motifs directly onto the surface of the fabric.

I also considered the full project and how I would have to plan the design in advance and consider how the patterns would fit together within the structure of the knitted fabric. I could experiment with different stitch patterns, color combinations, and techniques to achieve the desired effect.

For me, it seemed creating Zentangled knitting, whilst possible, it would take away the mindfullness I felt when I created the zentangled hand. Too much planning up front!

As freeform crochet is a more intuitive and improvisational approach to crochet where you create shapes and textures without following a specific pattern. I'm thinking that you can incorporate Zentangle-inspired motifs into your freeform crochet by working different stitches and shapes in a structured and repetitive manner.

I think I need to have a serious zentangle crochet play one day soon.