I bought a book of bargello needlework patterns for cheap from the library's clear-out bin. Bargello seems to be a bit like needlepoint except the stitches are longer and go up and down on the canvas instead of diagonally. There were some good ideas in there. One, called Diamond Panes, was easily adaptable to drawing although step two is a little tricky. Here's how it goes:
Here are a couple of tiles using Diamond Panes.
In the first one the tangle ends up on its side.
 |
| Diamond Panes, Betweed, Florz, Flux, Umble |
 |
| Diamond Panes, Cubine, Flux, Tipple, Xyp |