>>>From: rick &sharon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Can someone help me? I once had the directions for making a twisted cord out of embroidery thread....Does someone out there know how to do this? We're starting a class making lace amulet purses and I thought this would come in handy for the neck cord. <<<
Take out up to a foot of thread. Carefully unwind the rest of the skein and fold it in quarters (half, then half again). Pull the spare piece through the folded-over threads and tie this spare piece to anything sturdy. Or give it to a friend to hold *tightly*. The other end has one loop and two ends; it's easier to work with it if you tie an overhand knot so you're dealing with a single end. Twist like crazy (you can put a pencil through and spin the pencil, or even better would be to use an egg beater or drill, if you can attach the thread to the implement). Keep it straight (doesn't have to be taut, but not saggy). When you're sure you've put more than enough twist on, bring one end toward the other A LITTLE and see how much it twists over on itself. Not nearly there, are you? Twist like crazy and when you're sure there's 'way too much twist, test it again. Continue twisting till *you're* a bit crazy and your friend's about to walk away, and test again. When it merrily twists back on itself and spirals nicely, grab it halfway between the two ends, bring the ends together (hand it to your friend or have your friend hand it to you--work that out in advance) and carefully hold them evenly. Now you can let go the middle and watch it twist up on itself the whole way. You can brush it down with your free hand, to get the spiralling even and unkink any branches that appeared. Knot the ends that are in your hand so it doesn't untwist. When you go to use it, you can put glue on the cord *all* the way around just below the bulky knot. When the glue dries you can cut through the glue, which gives you ends that don't have bulky knots on them. Using a nearly-full skein folded in quarters gives you a nice thickness and nice length for a name tag or amulet bag. Some will want it a bit shorter, then glue and cut the length you want. Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
