I happen to really like French knots. I think they’re fun to make and I’ve written a lot about how to make French knots, how they look different depending on how many strands of thread you use and how many times you wrap the needle, and how to use them in projects.
But some people struggle with French knots or just don’t like the look. Lately I’ve tried using French knots in a couple of projects and didn’t love the result because I felt like they were just too big for what I was trying to do, like they stood out too much.
So what’s a stitcher who doesn’t love French knots (or doesn’t love them for a particular application) to do?
Sirious Stitches has a great post about how to make French knots and alternatives to French knots you might know about or might not.
One thing that is great about this post is it has multiple links to tutorials, both photo and video, for French knots and colonial knots. If you don’t know about colonial knots, they’re basically like making a figure 8 around the needle instead of straight wrapping.
And of course there are other options if you don’t like either of these. One thing they suggest is using beads instead of knots, which is probably just the solution I needed for the project where I wasn’t loving the look of a knot.
You can use any size and finish of bead you like to give your project a different look, and I think something plain without a lot of sparkle would have been a great addition to my project (the knot was the dot on a semicolon).
Do you like to use French knots or do you try to avoid them? Check out the post at Sirious Stitches to see all your options and let me know if you’re going to try a different way in your next cross stitch project.
[Photo: Sirious Stitches]
