Knots and shading

I'm a real fan of French knots, especially when they're clustered together on the top of an acorn or over a little hillock as they are here. I like the little, individual shiny knots and the squiggly patterns they make when they're all squished together.What I like most about these French knots are the colors! What a gorgeous combination of blues and greens. This might become my favorite bit of stitching on the Marriage Pillowe.I'm now just about 1/3 finished with the last large flower. This one has an interesting combination and placement of colors. The bottom two petals of the flower are worked in four shades of blue.With all the colors Appleton produces, it's easy to find four shades that are close together in color so the blending is gradual. Here the four blues from the Dull China Blue range seem to melt into one another. The stitches needed to make a gentle curve into the bottom of the center of the flower. In order to do this, I had to make some shorter stitches to get the angle to change slightly as I worked. Remember, shorter stitches to change direction. These first two are the petals on the bottom of the flower and worked only in blue shades.The last bit of long and short shading fills in the petals all the way around the center of this flower. The long and short shading on these remaining petals is more interesting. The shading begins with a medium gold color, stitched using a double thread so the subsequent layers blend better.The next layer will be stitched in a medium light green and then the last two layers are a slightly greenish blue. It looks simply stunning in the photo of the completed pillow that comes with the kit. The green and blues pull together this flower and the colors in the hillock. When these petals are finished, it should look like they're just beginning to turn golden yellow in the fall.When this large flower is done, I'll be finished with both the right and left fanciful flowers. The very last part (and the part I've been dying to do since the kit arrived!) are the man and woman. Stitching the costumes, the shoes, the hands and the faces will be a completely new experience for me. I've never done people before and I'm really looking forward to learning what techniques work best!Have you ever stitched people? Any tips for me?