You now have absolutely no excuse for not learning how to do a French Knot. After years of refining my explanation of one of the most challenging stitches to explain (not 'do') I think I've finally nailed it for you. All the little details that elude understanding and make stitchers disparage this lovely little knot have been (hopefully) brought to light. So, if you've given up on the French Knot, or have just been improvising with small stitches, I implore you to try it one more time: Now-I-Understand-It: French Knot. (Yes! There's a version for lefties too!)
Thanks so much for the free french knot instruction. I’m reasonably competent in embroidery but for 20+ years I’ve never been able to master that stitch (leading me to avoid many patterns unless attached seed beads could be subbed.) Somehow the part about holding the thread taut in my left hand never sunk in from the (many) other sets of instructions I tried to follow. And I’m old enough to remember the candlewicking fad…how people could do that was always a mystery. No more!