Most of the time, I am pretty much a hard core Zentangle® purist. I love the 3.5″ tile, I love the place I can get to in my head relatively quickly working in that format, and I have quite a long list problems solved while working on a tile. It always amazes me how the answer is waiting for me if I can just get rid of the clutter in my head by focusing on creating something for a few moments.
It is an entirely different experience to work using the same format in a representational format. I set out with an attempt to draw an object in tangles, and along the journey it became some what an obsession to just get the project finished. It took weeks.
The project was inspired by a doily that has been passed down to me through a few generations. We have several dozens, as must many people who can’t bear to part with hand made heritage from their grandmothers and great grandmothers. I am pretty sure these were originally used under vases to keep from scratching wood tables, though I also have versions intended to keep oils off the arms and headrest of easy chairs. Now they don’t quite fit in with our modern furniture and lifestyle.
I love to find new uses for old things, and occasionally will put one of these lovely, utilitarian protectors to work, but mostly they stay in the closet. It was in the desire to find a bridge between the practicality of old world crafts and today’s lifestyle that I decided to try to create the pattern into a tangle. The doily fit perfectly on the opus tile. (The Opus tile is 9 times larger than the original tile, and measures 10.5″). I used a compass to create the outer edge, points of the petals and the circles within them to serve as my string. I used a ruler to create the points of the crochet on the outer edge.
As with the more structured string that this required, finding tangles to use to accurately capture the airy feel of the crochet was tricky and I very easily got tired of the same tangle. I branched out a bit and modernized the “stitches” with a variety of tangles instead of being true to a consistent tangle for all the rows. It was certainly an accomplishment to finish, I think my grandmother would love the completed project, though I am certain she would have had the patience to complete a million little strokes exactly even in size as her stitches are. Maybe someday I’ll have as much patience as she did and try again. 