On Jul 29, 2004, at 15:05, Panza, Robin wrote:
3. The embroiderers have these little plastic or cardboard "bobbins" (flat
cards) that they wind their floss onto. These floss bobbins are designed
for winding thread onto, with slits for the thread ends and space to write
identity on the bobbin end. This is a nice way to store the leftover thread
that you want to re-use.
I bought a load of those (cardboard) years ago, in my pre-BL days, to keep different colours and widths of silk ribbons (which I used for miniature work and for embroidery) organised. Had plenty left over, but it never occured to me to wind leftover thread onto them; I usually end up with short enough bits, which are not worth saving.
But, recently, I found a good - lacemaking - use for them... :) In March, Cathy Belleville (she of Chrysathemum lace, and of the new Rosa Libre lace) gave me a home-made, partially-filled colour card for Moravia linen thread; she'd bought a ready-made one, and didn't need hers any more. The thread samples were of good lengths (ca 1yd), but attached, hank-wise, to a single strip of card, like those posted on Holly Van Sciver's website.
I do not find that arrangement very convenient, because it's not easy to get two colours together to see how they'll mix in working. So I took the hanks out, and rewound them on those little embroidery "bobbins". A yard of Moravia 40/2, wound closely, makes about 8mm strip of solid colour. Then a little tail of the thread is left unwound, and is passed through both slits, separated from the rest. That shows the thickness and colour of a single thread against a white backgroiund, and also allows the "tail" to be twisted with another "tail", or to be put against another background; it's much easier to make your colour choices this way. The "bobbins" were then threaded onto those opening metal rings (sort of like in a binder. Don't know their name, nor what they're really for. I use them, instead of a lock, to keep the zippers of my suitcases together. Used to lose the keys to the "proper" locks all the time, and didn't feel any safer, either <g>), 10 colours per ring, for ease of handling. I wrote the thread name, size and colour number on each "bobbin" and "ticked" those where I have at least one spool of the colour.
I'm very happy with my "colour card", and it's filled up nicely since March; only a few empty bobbins (where I have no thread sample) and not many more without a 'tick"...
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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