On 30 Jul 2005, at 18:42, Carolyn Hastings wrote:
My mother taught me fifty years ago to thread the needle from the end
that comes first off the spool, but in my experience it doesn't make
much
difference. (I've always wondered if it is a bit of an old wives tale
without much substance).
I tend to agree with you Carolyn. Some people may find that the
natural process is to use the end from the spool (or vice verca) and
that way will perhaps not tangle the thread so much, but logically
there is no reason that I can think of for specifiying which end to
thread first when using cotton or any other staple fibre such as spun
silk. The staples (short lengths of fibre) are initially lying in all
directions, the combing and carding processes make them lie more or
less parallel to each other but not necessarily all in the same
direction, some may have turned 180 degrees in relation to others.
Mechanical spinning then produces a product which is teh same from
either end. With hand spun thread where the thread passes through teh
fingers as it is formed just possibly there is a slight directional
nap.
For filament silk there could be a slight difference as all the fibres
in a thread would have been unwound from the cocoons starting from the
outside, but I don't think that would have any noticable effect as
under the microscope silk fibres are uniformly smooth as are man-made
fibres,
Linen is the one exception: bast fibres do have a definite top and
bottom and the various pre-spinning processes keep the bundles of
fibres in order so there will be a "top" and a 'bottom" to a linen
thread - but how often does one thread linen into a needle nowadays?
Brenda
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk
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