Hi Theresa

I know two respondents already mentioned bobbins!
I just wanted to expound a little bit for you.

At your LNS (local needlework shop) you will find translucent plastic
boxes with the inside divided up into several squares, you might call
them button boxes too, and these are used to hold your bobbins.

A Bobbin consists of a nothing more than a die-cut piece of flat
pasteboard (cardboard) and usually come 25, 50 or 100 in a package.
They also make plastic or vinyl ones, but they are usually more
trouble than they are worth.

Many of us OPEN the skeins of floss and place them on the bobbins
immediately upon purchase of the floss.

How I do it is, I first write the COLOR NUMBER on the top edge of the
Bobbin. Then I feed about 1 inch of floss through the hole near the
bottom of the bobbin and hold this against the back as I wind the
floss onto the bobbin. Most bobbins have little slits in the
pasteboard near the top to hold the loose end of the floss. Then
these filled Bobbins are placed into the plastic box in numerical
order.

As an aside: Because some needlework calls for single strands, some
two strands, some three strands, etc. Before using the bobbins for
the first time, I add three additional slots to the bottom of the
bobbin on the protrusions. That way I have a place to rewrap divided
strands.

I had noticed that you said you use a single strand in the needle and
double it over, thus stitching with two strands.
Although there is nothing wrong with doing it this way, it can become
quite tiresome on the old arms.
An alternative method is to start with two strands about 18 inches
long, feeding BOTH strands through the eye of the needle, then
doubling back so that you have 4 strands passing through the material
when you stitch. However, you leave the leading end about 6 inches
short of the tail so that after pulling the needle and floss through
the backing you end up with only two strands making the stitch. This
way you are only moving your arms about 9 inches on the first stitches
and less as you progress consuming the floss. As the tail of the
floss nears the leading end, you allow the floss to slide through the
eye of the needle so you once again have about 6 inches of tail.

Everyone on this newsgroup will be glad to offer other tips that make
stitching more fun and enjoyable.

TTUL
Gary