Upgrading my Technique: Waste Knots Awaaaaay!

As life would have it, I am constantly researching and learning about different ways to improve my art. Cross-stitch is no exception, especially when loking at other pieces of work and wondering "WOW, how do they get their backs so neat like that?" Which then leads me to ponder "How can I get my work to look like that? What am I missing? What do I need to do?"

Those questions are then answered by the lovely thing called the World Wide Web. After many questions and wondering, frustrations and longing, I finally looked up online on how to get a clean back on cross-stitch. It provided some very informative results, more specifically videos. I watched them in awed silence, taking notes in my notebook when needed.

Because a girls back be looking like-

And I'm starring at it like-

Because when you take a really close look at this-

You really end up feeling like-

So what exactly did I take away from this learning session?

My research produced to me something called the Waste Knot or Away Waste Knot. I looked at several videos and posts on the subject, and these down below were the ones I found the most helpful:

Advanced CrossStitch (this one has pictures and explains the steps)
Cutting the lose Ends (a video the shows the technique)

Looking at these, I thought to myself "There is so much information out there about cross-stitch. It's ri-donk-cu-lous! And some of these techniques have been tweeked and twerked too!"

.....though I'm pretty sure not everyone twerks their stuff. One thing is for certain though, my next cross-stitch lesson will be very fruitful.

Toodles!
-VanaQB