Well, first in 30 years anyhow, probably.

And just for comparison purposes because it’s fun, here it is without the back stitching and french knots.

It’s so cool how the project can go from soft and water color like to defined with just back stitching and embellishments.

30 years ago there was no youtube. As such, french knots were the bane of my existence. My mom tried to teach me over and over and I am pretty sure they’d put me in tears of frustration. And I’d just beg her to do them for me. Now, with youtube, it’s so simple. There are a ton of tutorials and they are very specific. “Wrap like this, slide the thread down the needle, hold tension precisely here until the very last moment” and just by following along I got beautiful french knots right from the start.

Of course now I have to figure out what the heck to do with this thing I just created. So, I’ve taken to youtube again and learned how to tension a project on a foam board using thread. And I’ve ordered foam board. So, it seems like I very well may be able to fully finish this and even hang it on the wall of my craft room.

I have already begun another project, it’s in a far different color palette than the one I just finished. That feels refreshing. My main goal with the new project is to work hard on all the techniques I learned in the first project. I am hoping that stopping and starting my thread will go far better than before, as I have learned all sorts of new ways to do so. And, I am hoping to keep all my stitches more even. Of course I’ve only got about 25 stitches in it, so it’s going great so far!