I was never a hippy

but I do love fringe.  Nice heavy, thick, neat fringe.  Not the wimpy pieces that I carry on my clothing in various places.  Why after all these years do I have no idea how to keep the floss lengths from adorning my arms?  Many of you use bobbins.  Some use thread cards, hornbook styles, decorative woods, cut shapes, hand painted, corner squares with holes, a nice selection for those that know what they want.   You lucky people.

I remove the skein from its bag, pull a length and cut, and it's that piece I am using that has never had a rightful place during a stitching session.  I find more pieces on my clothes, the floor, the washing machine, than I do when needed!  No matter where I put it, it ends up on my sleeves or side.  If using a bobbin, I guess you wind it back on and secure in the slot, but I've never liked them.  Using these cards would require the skein to be cut, does a strand pull out nicely or tangle?  The cut piece would be looped back on?  But then I have to sort through the ring again to find the color or remove/return that thread card, opening and closing the large ring clip ... a lot.  Too many times for my aging crooked hand.  But so is opening and closing the zip lock bags.

Strawberry Lane on Etsy

Snuggly Monkey on Etsy.

What do you do when using cards such as these?  I would think having many threads on one and close together would be a hassle trying to add it back.

From Tristan Brooks

Although I don't want to change from using skeins in a floss bag, I can certainly see the advantage of switching to these.  This hole seems large enough for ease of use and there is a second tiny hole for the 6 strand that is now a four strand waiting to be used.  Those are the pieces that hang from me, become play things for Missy when they hit the floor, and send me into a search every time I need another thread.  I think I will order a set or buy the pretty ones and punch another hole.  They will fit into my floss bags, I can quickly see if a thread has already been divided, and the zip bags will only be opened to remove the cards and then returned when the project is complete.  At my speed, maybe twice a year.  But will I be able to grab the thread and pull it out of the loop with these fingers?  Testing will begin soon, there will be quite a bit of color changes in the next pages of Ann.

What do you do with that piece once you pull a thread or two out when stitching in hand?  What should I have been doing with it for the last 40 years?  What simple solution has eluded me?  Should I just throw it over my shoulder?  Well, yes, you twit.  That would work.  Why did it take all these years and this post for it to come to me at the very end?  What a putz.

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