Whether I have been "lucky" or not, over the last couple of years I have been
using the Colcoton Unikat threads quite a lot - including pale green and pale
turquoise-green and have had no problems at all with any of the colours
breaking, in either of the thicknesses. Unfortunately there is not a very fine
one.
They are a 2ply, S twist thread whereas the Madeira Cotona and Tanne are Z
twist. I note that the original problem was not really *breaking* so much as
the thread pulling apart which happens when it becomes untwisted. I have had
students with this problem with the white Madeira and I feel it is maybe
something to do with the way they handle the thread when winding or how they move
their bobbins, but I have never been able to analyse quite what. They all use
spangled bobbins, but as one student will have the problem and another not even
though they are using the same spool of thread.......... The way to solve it
is to regularly stop and overtwist any bobbins where the thread is starting
to untwist. For some reason it seems to be worse with the 30 and 50 than the
80. Not logical.
But this doesn't explain why you may have the problem with one colour and not
another, and why the pale greens seem to be so vunerable.
Take all the normal care such as pulling the thread off the side of the reel
and winding the bobbin onto the thread rather than thread onto bobbin. But
having said that, if you were to pull the thread off the right end of the reel
as you are winding you would actually be adding a little extra twist which
would help to strengthen the thread.
It has also been suggested previously on arachne that Z twist threads benefit
from being wound anti-clockwise; if you try this don't forget you need to
reverse your hitch as well.
There is quite an interesting web site about thread www.ylicorp.com which
includes an interesting printable booklet on all aspects of thread such as twist,
weight, fibre and the different processes that are used in manufacture.
Although basically designed for sewers, there is a lot of interesting info there.
A couple of relevant things I spotted are that a Z twist is better for sewing
machines (hence the Madeira Z twist as they are basically machine embroidery
thread not originally lace thread) as the machine action tends to increase a Z
twist but untwist and weaken an S twist - maybe the reverse applies to bobbin
lace if the thread is wound in the normal clockwise manner. And that
amongst the things to look for in a good thread such as strength and uniformity,
one of the factors is "ply security". Perhaps the pale greens need an extra
process in dying that dries the thread, or even makes it more springy so the ply
security is affected and it just doesn't find it easy to stay together.
Jacquie
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