French vs Colonial Knots Tutorial...

My finished bunny candlemat

Thank you to everyone who commented on my bunny candlemat yesterday. So many of you wanted to know the difference between a Colonial knot and a French knot that I decided to show you today!

All the knots I made for the candlemat were created using three strands of floss. The first thing I always do is "strand" the cotton. That means I separate all the strands of floss and then lay them back together. It really makes them lie nicely and looks better - whether you're doing cross stitch, embroidery or simply making knots.

I'm going to show you the French knot first...
I put a knot in the end of the strands of floss and then bring the needle up from the back of the fabric to the front.

You probably all know how to do this, but I do two twists of the floss around the needle and hold a little tension on it as I place the needle back into the fabric close to where I first came up.

Maintain a gentle tension on the thread until you've pulled it all the way through to the back.

When you're finished pulling the thread through, you'll have one completed French knot.

Now I'll show you the Colonial knot...
Likewise, you'll bring your thread from the back to the front of your fabric...

but instead of wrapping around the needle, you'll simply hold the needle so that the thread goes over the needle on the right side and comes out underneath on the left side...

 and then take the thread back over the end of the needle to form a loose figure eight.

 

Once you can see the figure eight, you'll put the needle down into the fabric near where you originally came up through the fabric, and pull the figure eight down the needle until it rests on the fabric. Again, maintain tension as you pull the needle and the extra thread down through the fabric.

French knot on top. Colonial knot on bottom.

The result is a knot that's a little larger and it almost resembles a tiny rose. One of the benefits for me in making a Colonial knot over a French knot is that many times, my French knot follows the thread right through the hole when I make it and I have to redo it. (grrrr!) That never has happened when I make the Colonial knot. Ever. Reason enough for me to choose the Colonial over the French.

My finished candlemat using Colonial knots for the buds.

I hope you'll be able to create your own Colonial knots now. If you have any questions, please ask and I'll answer them in the comments section. **I'll add this tutorial to the "Free BW Patterns & Tutorials" link on my menu bar, so if you want to use it again in the future, you'll know where to find it.

I love the added touch that you get from the embroidery on this piece. It's all finished now, so on to my next little project!