I’ll admit there are a lot of things I don’t know when it comes to cross stitch techniques, but it’s not often that I come across a term I’ve never heard of before.
It happened recently when I found a post at Fab Reilly all about decorative knots, specifically comparing French knots to colonial knots.
Of course I know what a French knot is; I’ve made tons of them and even wrote a post about how to make French knots and comparing the look using different numbers of strands of thread and different numbers of turns around the needle.
The colonial knot has a similar look but it’s done in a different way, by twisting the thread around the needle in a figure 8 rather than just wrapping it around the needle. I don’t know why they are called colonial knots.
In their side by side comparison, French knots and colonial knots look pretty much the same, but the colonial knot maybe is a little nicer looking because the threads lie a little flatter. Once you get the hang of it you might find colonial knots easier to make, and you can use them interchangeably when a project calls for a decorative knot.
The Fab Reilly post has a step by step photo tutorial on how to do colonial knots, as well as a video if that helps you learn. Of course now that I know it exists there are tons of tutorials out there I just had never seen before.
This is definitely a technique I’m going to have to try and see if I like it better than standard French knots. (I actually think making French knots is kind of fun.)
Have you ever done this method of knot making before? Do you prefer French knots or colonial knots? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
[Photo: Fab Reilly]
