The Tour de France is over for another year and I didn’t realize the serendipity of the tangle I’d planned for today until I looked at the name again.
Kitl is a tangle pattern from the UK’s Jem Miller. And the cyclist who won yesterday’s final Stage of the Tour on the Champs-Élysées in Paris?? Germany’s Marcel Kittel. Life’s a little strange at times.
Easy to tangle, Kitl has a pretty, soft puffy aspect to it and the basis for its construction is simply an assemblage of “unbalanced” figure 8’s. Kitl is more flexible than you might imagine, as Jem writes, “let the loops push you around bends.” And as you’ll see below she’s shown several ways to vary her tangle.
Jem shared her fun and unusual Snag with us a while ago — another “loopy” tangle — and for today’s pattern she writes,
“I was recently drawing Looby Loo and it reminded me that some months back I’d started working on a new tangle. I dusted off my original ideas and got to Kitl. I think it has nods to Eke, Echoism and other loopy tangles, while hopefully offering something new.
Kitl began with me just allowing my pen to roam about on the page and seeing what shapes it felt good to draw. Figure 8’s felt good and then I started seeing ways to unbalance the 8 and noted how with one half larger than the other, when placed next to each other, they naturally formed curves. These could be put together in different ways to form a fair variety of patterns. They remind me a bit of those Spirograph loops. But I named my tangle Kitl, because one on its own looks like a skittle!“
Here are Jem’s step-by-step instructions for drawing Kitl and she features it in a beautiful Zentangle® along with Looby Loo and the official tangles Crescent Moon, Tipple, Jetties … did I get them all? I really like Jem’s use of white space in the Zentangle, very nicely balanced.
Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing pattern deconstructions in any form is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner.
Check out the tag jemm for more of Jem’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com. And you can find more of her Zentangle art on her blog where she goes by Ragged Ray.
Related Links
- Looking for tangles by Artist or Type? For details visit the ABOUT > HOW TO FIND TANGLES BY ARTIST OR TYPE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site.
- What is a Zentangle? — if you are new to the Zentangle Method, start here for the fundamentals.
- Zentangle terminology — a glossary of terms used in this art form.
- How to use the site — an excellent free video tutorial showing how to use the site as well as pointing out lots of useful features you might have missed.
- Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.
- "A Zentangle has no up or down and is not a picture of something, so you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand, or a duck. You always succeed in creating a Zentangle." Thus patterns that are drawings of a recognizable naturalistic or actual object, figure, or scene, are not tangles. A pattern is not always a tangle — here's what makes a tangle. TIP: tangles never start with pencil planning.
- Un motif n’est pas toujours un tangle — Qu’est-ce qu’un tangle ?
- Un diseño no es siempre un tangle — ¿Qué es un tangle?
- How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns
- For lots of great FREE tutorials on TanglePatterns, click on the TUTORIALS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page.
- Strings! Have we got STRINGS! Click on the STRINGS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page for 250 different (free) Zentangle-starters. More than enough for any lifetime!
- Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the SUBSCRIBE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.
- If you have questions about the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab on the top menu bar of any page on the site for COMPLETE details!
|
.oOo. |
|
Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns: |
|
CURRENT EDITION! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition |
|
 |
The 13th Edition of the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE is an instant-download 109-page interactive digital eBook/PDF containing approximately 2,000 tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2023. It's a great resource and a must-have digital tool for using the site. Visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page and help keep TanglePatterns.com going by getting your copy now! |
|
"Linda, Thank you! I was relying on too few and getting stuck after 3 years of daily working with Zentangle. This has inspired me to ‘begin again’ with renewed excitement." ~ Barbara R. |
|
| See the BOOK REVIEWS page for more details on its features and view a sample page. Note: this is a digital product you download immediately when you place your order, nothing will be physically mailed to you. | |
| GIFT ORDERS FOR ANOTHER PERSON: To give the TANGLE GUIDE as a gift, visit this page to place your gift order. | |
| If you're new to Zentangle® and tangling, my TanglePatterns.com BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ZENTANGLE is just what you need to get started. Also available en Français and en Español. | |
|
|
|
 |
This is the only Zentangle book you'll ever need: the fabulous Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1. It's your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle®. Visit the STORE tab on the top menu bar or click on the image. For more about the content and to read the rave reviews, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab. |
| NEW! Now available in KINDLE format for $9.99. Spanish Edition here. Japanese Edition here. | |
| "Absolutely the best Zentangle Book yet! As an accomplished artist I used to think I did not need instruction on this art form. How wrong I was! My tangling improved by leaps and bounds after reading this book. If you think you have Zentangle down then you need this book more than ever!" ~ Kris H | |
|
|
|
|
.oOo. |
|
July 28, 2014 | 
More like this: 
Kitl looks a bit like Kittel’s hairdo too! At least a tangled version. It was an awesome tour this year. I have to thank you Linda for turning me on to the tour through your web page last year.
That’s great Jeni, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it!
this looks very interesting, lots of uses. well done I’m having fun. thank you Sara
This has really taken me back this morning. I used to draw this pattern obsessively as a child on everything I could get my hands on!!! It will be an exercise in nostalgia for me ??