what about knot's on the back?

[SLIMBOB]

As PEARL said, one clean continuous ring.  No Islands of extra wood and don't flatten them out.  Some will leave a knot with a bit of "proud flesh" over it, but come back and carefully remove it early on.  That's OK, I don't.  I just get it peeled back from the get go.  Taking it down to flatten it out will violate the ring and cause a weak spot. 

[osage outlaw]

An old pair of scissors makes a great tool for precision scraping around knots.  I left one side pointy and the other half I rounded the tip off. 

Could you email pictures to someone so they can post them for you?

[nsherve]

i rounded the tip of a cheap pocket knife for around the knots...still a bit more nitpicky. i'll try to post pics again tomorrow.

or, monday...going to church tomorrow. i may have made it a bit crooked. it looks like the string may be a bit off center.

[SLIMBOB]

Too far off center can be an issue, but a little is no biggie.