| Mahjong Variant | Value |
|---|---|
| Chinese Classical | Never |
| New Style | Never |
| Japanese Classical | Never |
| HK Old Style | Never |
| Guangdong Style | Uncommon |
| Taiwanese | Never |
| Chinese Official MCR | See Below |
| Guangdong MCR | N/A |
| Japanese Riichi | N/A |
| Let's Mahjong! | N/A |
| Zung Jung | N/A |
In Asian Mahjong variants, Knitted Tiles are tiles of a single suit that belong to a "knitted sequence".
The numbers of a knitted sequence can be either 147, 258, or 369.
Wang Yishi (ηδΈε) refers to Knitted Tiles as "Great Chaos"…
"Great Chaos" is essentially anti-Mahjong.
A key characteristic of Mahjong is its continuity, with three tiles making the basic unit. "Great Chaos," however, requires breaks; demanding that tiles like 147, 258, and 369 be isolated and far apart. It doesn't even have to be a three-tile unit; one or two tiles are sufficient. It's most chaotic and disorderly.
"Great Chaos" replaces continuity with irregularity, order with chaos, harmony with contrast, and curation with sparsity. This rebellious spirit of breaking convention is somewhat like modern art, and this state of dissolving the center and embracing extreme marginalization is quintessential "postmodernism."
By Mahjong Variant
Chinese Official MCR
Although there are unrelated Western Mahjong references to "Knitted", there don't appear to be any Eastern references prior to MCR.
MCR has three different "Knitted" patterns…
Knitted Straight (12 "Fan")
A Knitted Straight is made of sequences of 147, 258, and 369 in each suit. Knitted sequences must be self-drawn.
An example of Knitted Straight. The blue tiles represent any cluster of three and a pair.
Lesser Honors & Knitted Tiles (12 "Fan")
This is formed with single honor tiles and single suit tiles from "knitted" sequences. The first 13 tiles will be self-drawn.
This Lesser Honors & Knitted Tiles is waiting on a 4 Bam, West, or North.
As Wang Yishi said, "It doesn't even have to be a three-tile unit; one or two tiles are sufficient. It's most chaotic and disorderly."
Greater Honors & Knitted Tiles (24 "Fan")
This is formed with one of each honor tile and single suit tiles from "knitted" sequences. The first 13 tiles will be self-drawn.
This Greater Honors & Knitted Tiles is waiting on a 4 Bam, 2 Dot, or 9 Crak.
Guangdong Style Mahjong
It seems only Guangdong Style rulesets contemporary to Chinese Official MCR ever use patterns with Knitted Tiles.
Those that do use Knitted Tiles only use some or all of the three patterns found in Chinese Official MCR.