I wish I could help you out with your French knots! I candelwicked the back of a patchwork cushion when I was 12 so I learnt to do them using thick embroidery thread. I didn't do them for years afterwards, but like you, I had a cross stitch of a white tiger crashing through the snow, so yeah, you guessed it, about two hundred white French knots to finish it off! They don't scare me! :)