A waste knot is a temporary-knotted start you place a short distance outside your stitching area, then cover with stitches as you work toward it; for more about stitch types and starts, see this practical embroidery guide. Once the tail is anchored under those stitches, you snip the knot away and never think about it again. It’s the go-to method when you’re starting an isolated motif or a long line with no neighboring stitches to sew into. Use it whenever you need a secure, no-fuss start on open fabric.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Waste Knot in Cross Stitch, and When Should You Use It?
- Materials and Prep Before You Start
- How to Tie and Remove an Away Waste Knot, Step by Step
- Adjusting the Waste Knot for Fabric Count and Thread Type
- Common Waste Knot Mistakes and How to Fix Them
- Waste Knot Alternatives and When to Use Them
- Why I Still Recommend the Waste Knot to New Stitchers
- Try the Waste Knot on Your Next Project
- Sources
- FAQ
What Is a Waste Knot in Cross Stitch, and When Should You Use It?
The away waste knot is the classic version of this technique. You tie a small overhand knot at the end of your floss, push the needle through the fabric front a short distance from where you’ll actually stitch, and let that knot sit on the surface while you carry the thread across the back. As you stitch toward the knot, each new stitch crosses over the tail on the back, locking it in place. Once enough stitches cover it, you clip the knot off the front and you’re left with a clean, secure start. This is the foundation of the away waste knot photo tutorial, which shows exactly how the couching happens in real time.
A close cousin, the not-so-far-away knot, works the same way but sits much closer to your first stitch, usually within an inch or so, rather than several inches out.
- Away waste knot: best for isolated motifs, scattered elements, or when you’re starting a large project and want extra working room.
- Not-so-far-away knot: best when your design has tight spacing and you don’t want to travel far across blank fabric.
- Compared to burying tails or loop starts: waste knots give you more control on open areas, while burying and loop starts shine when you already have neighboring stitches to hide into.
Materials and Prep Before You Start
Getting the setup right matters more than most beginners expect. For standard 14 or 16 count Aida, two strands of floss is typical; higher counts often call for finer thread or a single strand.
- Tail length: a few inches of thread for an away waste knot; shorter tails for the not-so-far-away version, per EGA’s guidance.
- Needle: a tapestry needle sized to your fabric count, blunt tip, no snagging.
- Orientation: keep the fabric front-up as you place the knot, then flip occasionally to check your couching.
- Habit to build: glance at the back every few rows to confirm the tail is staying flat and covered.
Pro Tip: Trapping loose ends and checking your back stitches regularly, a habit EGA also recommends for general cross stitch practice, keeps waste knots from tangling with your working thread later in the piece.
How to Tie and Remove an Away Waste Knot, Step by Step
This is the sequence you’ll actually use at the hoop. Photograph or bookmark it, because you’ll want to check it the first few times.
- Tie your knot. Make a simple overhand knot at the end of your floss and orient your fabric with the front facing you.
- Place the knot. Insert the needle from the front, about 1 inch away from where your first stitch will land, and pull the knot down so it rests on the fabric surface.
- Carry the tail. Run the thread across the back along the path your stitches will follow, so every stitch you make from here forward crosses directly over that tail.
- Stitch toward the knot. Work your first diagonals or a small set of stitches, checking the back after each one to confirm the tail is fully couched underneath.
- Cut the knot. Once the tail is covered, lift the knot away from the fabric with your fingers and clip it close to the surface with sharp embroidery scissors.
- Tidy the end. If a short bit of tail still peeks out, slip your needle tip under the last stitch near the cut end and nudge the tail underneath, then trim flush and keep stitching.
A useful rule of thumb from the Waste Knot Illustrated Tutorial: two to three overlapping stitches are usually enough to hold a tail securely, so you don’t need to stitch an entire row before you’re safe to cut.
- Never pull the cut tail toward the front. It should stay tucked on the back the whole time.
- Check coverage before cutting, not after. A knot removed too early is the single most common beginner mistake.
- If you’re working half crosses first and completing the full X later, that sequence actually makes it easier to couch the tail cleanly without the sewing method accidentally snagging it, a detail confirmed in the same photo tutorial.
Pro Tip: If your pattern has scattered isolated stitches, like French knots or single accent crosses, place your away waste knot so the carried thread runs under a section you’ll stitch anyway. That way you’re not adding extra travel thread across bare fabric.
According to that same EGA reference, once roughly an inch of stitching covers the tail, you’re generally safe to remove the knot, though working the full tail into completed stitches is always the more secure option on delicate fabrics.
Adjusting the Waste Knot for Fabric Count and Thread Type
The spacing you choose changes how visible and how secure your start ends up. An away waste knot gives you room to work, but it also means a longer stretch of thread crossing the back, which needs full coverage before you cut. A not-so-far-away knot shortens that stretch, which is why it’s often the better pick on smaller or busier design areas.
- High-count evenweave: shorten your tail and knot distance since stitches are smaller and cover less ground per crossing.
- Metallics and delicate threads: EGA’s stitching guidance recommends avoiding knotted starts here entirely, since metallic filaments can fray or leave a visible bump under tight weaves.
- Specialty threads (silk, rayon blends): test on scrap first. Some hold a waste knot fine; others slip or fray at the knot point.
- Two-over-two stitching on high counts: the spacing rules shift again, so it helps to understand counted stitching on higher counts before you commit to a start.
When in doubt, drop the knot and bury the tail instead. It’s a small trade-off in setup time for a flatter, safer result on fussy threads.
Common Waste Knot Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Most waste knot problems trace back to timing or tension, and both are fixable without unpicking your whole start.
- Knot or tail shows on the front: use your needle tip to tuck the tail under the nearest stitches on the back, then check the front again before continuing.
- Cut tail pulls out: re-couch it by threading it back onto your needle and running it under two or three nearby stitches, or restart the thread cleanly if it’s too short to grab.
- Tension looks uneven: you may be pulling the wrong end of your floss. Stop, check which strand is the working thread versus the tail, and adjust.
- The waste knot keeps failing on this fabric: switch methods. A loop start works well with an even number of strands, and burying a tail suits areas with existing stitches nearby.
Pro Tip: If you’re consistently losing tails on a particular fabric, the issue is often thread management, not the knot itself. Good habits around avoiding tangles usually solve it faster than switching techniques.
Waste Knot Alternatives and When to Use Them
The waste knot isn’t the only starting method worth knowing, and it’s not always the right one.
- Loop start: best when you’re working an even number of strands and want a start with zero knots at all, ideal for backstitch outlines or clean-back projects.
- Burying under stitches: best for finishing off threads, or starting near existing stitching where there’s already coverage to hide into. See more options in this finishing techniques overview.
- Sewing or couching without a knot: useful for long floats, decorative backstitch edges, or specialty threads where any knot risks showing through.
A comparison of common starting methods shows the real trade-off clearly: waste knots are fast and reliable on open fabric, but they cost you a couple of extra steps that loop starts and burying skip entirely.
Why I Still Recommend the Waste Knot to New Stitchers
The waste knot gets a bad reputation among stitchers who’ve had one pull loose mid-project, but most of those failures come down to cutting too early, not the method itself. I recommend it specifically for pattern starts where you’re working an isolated element with nothing nearby to bury into. It’s the most forgiving option for a beginner because you can see the knot the entire time, unlike a loop start buried on the back where mistakes hide until they don’t.
Every pattern includes technique notes so you’re never guessing which start fits a given section. Before you try it on your actual project, practice the sequence on a scrap of leftover fabric two or three times. Muscle memory here saves you more frustration than any written guide can.
— Simone
Try the Waste Knot on Your Next Project
You’ve got the technique down, so the next step is putting it to work on a design worth the effort. Simone Balman Art’s digital patterns are hand-designed and test-stitched with clear charts and stitch notes built in, so you’re never left wondering where to start or how to finish a thread cleanly.
If you’d rather stitch from a printed page than a screen, the printed pattern books carry the same clarity in a bound format. And if floss quantities are your next worry, the free floss calculator takes the guesswork out of shopping before you sit down at the hoop. Pick a pattern, grab your floss, and give that waste knot a real project to earn its keep.
Sources
This guide draws on the EGA’s technique glossary and a detailed photo tutorial for step accuracy.
- A Little Book of Basics
- Starting your thread: away waste knot photo tutorial
- Waste Knot Illustrated Tutorial
- 10 essential things to know before starting cross stitch
FAQ
What Is a Waste Knot?
A waste knot is a temporary knot placed on the fabric front, a short distance from your stitching, that gets covered by stitches on the back and then cut away once the tail is secure. It’s a starting method, not a permanent feature of the finished piece, and it’s especially useful for isolated stitches or design elements with no neighboring stitches nearby.
How Do You Do a Waste Knot?
Tie an overhand knot, insert the needle from the front about an inch from your starting point, and carry the thread across the back so your stitches cross over it as you work toward the knot. Once two or three stitches cover the tail, lift the knot and snip it close to the fabric, per the step-by-step photo method.
What Is the Forbidden Stitch in Embroidery?
The “forbidden stitch” usually refers to the Peking knot, a densely packed satin stitch technique historically associated with Chinese imperial embroidery, unrelated to cross stitch starting methods like the waste knot. It’s a separate embroidery tradition, not a cross stitch stitch type.
What Is No-Count Cross Stitch?
No-count cross stitch refers to pre-printed fabric where the design is already stamped onto the material, so you stitch directly over the printed pattern instead of counting squares from a chart. It’s a different fabric approach entirely from counted cross stitch, though starting methods like the waste knot still apply on either surface.
Does Simone Balman Art Cover Starting Techniques Like This in Its Patterns?
Yes, every pattern from Simone Balman Art includes technique notes so stitchers know exactly which starting method fits each section of a design. Current prices for individual patterns are listed on the site.
