Making eyes at you

French knots are a very simple way of adding detail to your crocheted and knitted things. And what would Elijah do without his appealing wee eyes? So here's how to do a French knot in pictures. To start with, thread a tapestry or crewel needle with your chosen contrasty yarn or thread, and weave it in on the wrong side of your work (in fact, the start is exactly like the start in this button post). Then bring it through to the right side just where you want your French knot to be. With the tip of the needle, take a tiny little nibble of yarn: Don't quite pull the needle all the way out from under the nibble yet: Now, holding the end that's closest to the fabric (rather than the end that's through the needle), wrap the yarn a few times round the needle. How many wraps you give it depends on how plump you want your French knot to be, so you'll need to experiment a little here. We went for a buxom result, so we used six or seven wraps. Holding the wraps against the needle with finger and thumb, start to pull the needle out through them with the other hand... ...and hold them in place until you've got the yarn pulled away to its full extent. The wraps will tighten up around the strand, making a knot that sits against the surface of your fabric. Now all you have to do is anchor your little knot in place by bringing the yarn back through to the wrong side of the work right at the root of the knot: Weave in your end neatly on the wrong side, and that's it. For inspiration, you can see Lisa's darling little Elijah peeping out at the world here. Awww.