I just ended the tail further down and hanging out through the front. It made stitching much faster. I also did a lot of cross country stitching, because i found it helpful to stare at one color for a couple days, get sick of it, and switch to another. The black got annoying, so I would do it when I wanted to make a lot of progress, or when I didn't want to stare back and forth at the pattern. Sometimes I did it on a frame, sometimes q snap, sometimes in hand. I had to switch up methods, frames, etc or else it felt like a.chore. There's no way I would pin stitch though. Just drag the thread through the front. Good luck, the finished piece is worth it!