Knotwork designs are found in artwork of many cultures both past and present, including ancient Greek and Roman art, Arabic art, and Russian art. Perhaps the cultures most associated with development and elaboration of the knotwork motif are the Celtic and Norse cultures. Elantu is noted for creating new knotwork designs that follow the traditional rules and incorporate both traditional and modern themes. She has won several awards in international competition for "Best Traditional Knotwork Design" because her work follows these rules.

The most important rule is the over-under rule. Each thread of the knot pattern is suppose to go over the first thread and under the next thread or vice versa. The thread is never suppose to cross over or cross under two or more threads at the same time. The illustration above gives you an idea of how the over-under rule is applied in a knotwork pattern.

Keywork is the process of filling the background of an image with patterned drawings. Many examples of older Celtic designs include keywork patterning in the design. Elantu usually includes keywork of various patterns in her knotwork designs. The illustration above provides an example of keywork patterning.

The Celts and Norse often used zoomorphic (animal form) designs in their artwork. Elantu builds her knotwork designs around zoomorphic and human figures. She has the knotwork threads weave in and out of the outlines of the zoomorphic and human figures. Elantu likes to work with odd numbers of figures in her designs. She particularly favors multiples of threes and fives. It is considered to be much more difficult to make an odd numbered knotwork design work out correctly without violating the over-under rule. It is much easier to work out even numbered knotwork designs.

The Celts and the earlier Picks used spirals as important design elements in their work. Elantu has incorporated this design feature into many of her knotwork designs using the spiral as a stand-alone feature (as pictured above) or y incorporating it into the interlacing aspect of the overall design.

The Celts often included dots around the design that served to delineate the knotwork as a whole. Elantu has incorporated this design feature into many of her knotwork designs.