A different way of storing floss for projects.

Thank you! I was not aware of this product and will have to go find one.
It could be the answer for a particularly complex piece of needlepoint I am
presently doing, which uses lots of different threads.

Pat in Illinois

Hey, I do the same thing! And here I thought I was being anal in a
completely unique way...

Meredith

Nerak wrote:
I have tried various methods of keeping floss for a particular
project, and have yet to find a way I find completely satisfactory.


In addition to a bobbin for each color with the correct number (cut into
lengths which are 1/8 of a skein) and stored in numerical order. I use a heavy
cardboard bobbin for each SYMBOL on the chart. I write the color number on the
body of the card and draw the symbol on the corner ears. I then put a length
of floss on each symbol card. If it is a blended color I put a length of each
color on the card.
As I work, I only have to look for the symbol and can ignore the color numbers
until the symbol bobbin needs re-filling.

On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 15:46:05 -0600, "explorer" wrote:


Am I the only one who doesn't use bobbins? They've never seemed necessary
to my personal style so I never got any.

I also prefer bobbins over other methods. In my opinion, the bobbins
keep the threads much neater than Floss Away bags or Stitch Bows, and
there's little to no tangling of partly stripped lengths of floss with
the bobbins because I wrap them around their bobbin and tuck the tails
in the slits. I even go so far as to throw away kit floss and rekit
projects from my bobbined stock so that I don't have to deal with
rat's nests or confusing loose colors.

Jenn L.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jaliace
http://sewu9corn.blogspot.com
Current projects:
Fall Harvest (Brittercup Designs)
Lady of the Flag (Mirabilia)

I know I saw a catalog or website that was selling a zippered storage
pouch for the Pako organizer. I just can't remember precisely which
store...

Jenn Liace wrote:
Perhaps the Pako organizer? I finally saw one "live" yesterday = it's
about 5 inches wide by about 12 inches long. It has 50 small foam
squares, 25 on each side (and no I did not count, I'm trusting in
truth in advertising LOL) to poke your threaded needles into, and then
a paper insert to write down the color number or symbol or however you
organize. I can see this being very helpful if you're the kind of
person who likes to get every possible stitch out of a length of floss
and reuse long tails, or if you've got a piece with blended colors.
But having younger kids and knowing the messes they can make, I'm
hesitant to obtain one for myself. I'd imagine thatcertain household
pets could create similar probems as my 6 year old with that kind of
temptation laying around!

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: "Big Bird", Janlynn -- *DONE!*

"Dr. Brat" wrote in message
...
explorer wrote:

Am I the only one who doesn't use bobbins? They've never seemed
necessary
to my personal style so I never got any.

I would love not to use bobbins, as I hate winding them (but I just
scored six boxes of floss all wound on Ebay). How do you store the
skeins when you're not using them in a particular project? Isn't it a
pain to go through them all to find the ones you want for the next
project?

I have a combination of skeins and bobbins in a bag right now for a
project and I always have trouble finding the next color I want to use
because the project uses multiple shades of muted grey, purple, pink,
and cream. Someone suggested floss away bags, but for some reason that
doesn't appeal to me.


For my complete array of floss, I just keep them in plastic bags. 200's in
one bag, 300's in a bag, and so on. All of the bags then fit easily into a
plastic grocery bag.

For individual projects, I pull out all the ones I will need and put them in
a bag by themselves and keep with the pattern, fabric, etc.

Works for me.

Am I the only one who doesn't use bobbins?

Nope. I hate bobbins myself. All that winding just to end up with "kinky"
floss!

I keep my stash of fibers in several different small cabinets specifically made
for that purpose. When I am getting ready to do a project it is a simple
matter then to "pull" the necessary fibers each from their own spot. Then I
put each skein (or embellishment) in it's own floss-away bag and arrange them
on a large ring in whatever order seems most logical for that particular
project. Alphabetically, numerically, by color family, by symbol or whatever.
I can easily pack and transport them by throwing "the ring" in any bag. I can
cut as much or as little as I need of any fiber as I go along. There is no
tangling, and no waste as any unused strands just go back in their respective
bags immediately.
Not the only way or "the best" way maybe but it works for me. And that's whats
important finding and using whatever method works best for you. I enjoy
hearing how others do things!
--
Happy Stitching!
Kathy :-)

CrossStitchGal wrote:

Am I the only one who doesn't use bobbins?

Nope. I hate bobbins myself. All that winding just to end up with "kinky"
floss!

I'm with you, Kathy! I HATE kinky floss!! There is nothing nicer than
to pull a length of floss from a skein! I keep my set of floss in
baggies, stored in 4 shoe box size containers. A pox upon
bobbins.....I hate'em, I hate'em, I hate'em!!!...plus I have an easy
way to store those unused strands.....did I say I hate kinks?

Mavia

I also dislike floss bobbins for that same reason. I have never built
the gadget I have in mind, but would like to someday. Herrschners has a
gadget called the Yarn Organizer which stores up to six skeins of yarn.
You knit/crochet with the yarn by pulling it through a hole in the top
of each storage compartment. What I envision for floss would require
storing the floss on round spools like sewing thread or Kreinik blending
filament. Pull the floss up through the hole, cut off the length you
need, strip out the number of strands you want, and wind the remaining
strands on two pegs over the corresponding hole in the gadget. If you
didn't like using the remaining pegs, you could always choose to strip
the strands before winding them on the spool (so you would cut two
strands of the same length instead of cutting one length, stripping out
two, and winding leftovers). There would have to be a small slit to
hold the loose end next to the hole as well as some way to label (by
color number/floss label or chart symbol as the user chooses) each
compartment. I debated whether it was necessary to use the round spools
but decided the floss would pull out easier if on the spools instead of
just placed in the compartment in skein form.

It would be a large round outer container with layers (rings) of
compartments around a hollow center. The holes would be arranged around
the outside of the container for access to the fibers. There would also
be a snap on lid with a set of holes in the top for small projects or if
you wanted to remove the trays and use larger spools/cones. If you
didn't want to use the lid, a tool caddy insert could be put in the
middle instead. Each compartment should be large enough (long or deep
depending on how designed) to accommodate a Kreinik spool as well as a
variety of other common spools. Pins or some other mechanism on the
very bottom of the center of the container could accommodate larger
spools or cones of crochet cotton.

Fibers would be handled only when you wind the spools (except those that
are already spooled) and when you actually pull the length you want to
use. Otherwise they are stored in an enclosed system away from little
hands and paws (excepting short stripped lengths on the working pegs as
desired). The whole thing could be set on a spinner ($5 or less at
WalMart) if desired. With the multiple levels of trays it shouldn't
take too much space to store 90-100 colors for a large project. Such a
thing could also be used for master storage with a smaller matching
"travel" container (12-20 colors) for small projects. The one thing I
haven't totally figured out is how to refill a spool in a lower tray
without having to disturb everything above it. If the separate spool
compartments could be snapped into a storage tower or project pack, it
would work, but that makes the whole thing a lot harder to design from
common household objects and more expensive if anyone wanted to produce
them for sale.

Maybe someday I'll figure out how to rig this up. In the meantime if
anyone else wants to give it a try, go for it!

Mavia Beaulieu wrote:
I'm with you, Kathy! I HATE kinky floss!! There is nothing nicer than
to pull a length of floss from a skein! I keep my set of floss in
baggies, stored in 4 shoe box size containers. A pox upon
bobbins.....I hate'em, I hate'em, I hate'em!!!...plus I have an easy
way to store those unused strands.....did I say I hate kinks?

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: "Big Bird", Janlynn -- *DONE!*

"explorer" wrote in message ...
"F.James Cripwell" wrote in message
...
I have tried various methods of keeping floss for a particular
project, and have yet to find a way I find completely satisfactory.
I have had cardboard strips with holes in them. I don't like all the
ends of the different colours getting twisted together, and find the
holes are too close to each other. For my maidens, with 90 or so
colours, I used the "rats nest in a bag"; all the colours on skeins in a
bag. I would put the colours in order on a tray, and since I live alone,
this is fine. Occasionally one needs to put all the colours back in the
bag, and then sort them out later on. But I did not find this approach
to be satisfactory for all sorts of reasons.
For Psyche, I tried the plastic box and bobbin way. I solemnly
would each colour onto a bobbin, labeled of course, and put them all
in numerical order. They looked lovely to start. But as I used them,
I found numerical order not particularly efficient. It is sometimes
better to have them stored by colour. Or if one is using a few different
colours a lot in one part of the project, it is nice to have these where
one can easily find them, get them out, and put them back. I also found
that I hate winding bobbins.
So for my next project, a trillium, I am trying something slightly
different. The main stock of colours is stored, on skeins, in my
"rats nest in a bag". When I need one particular colour, I get the
skein out of the bag, cut one or more standard lengths, get a single
strand to stitch with, and tie the rest through the hole in a labeled
bobbin. I can easily wrap the ends round the bobbin, and secure them.
Then I am going to put them in an "appropriate" place in a plastic box,
with compartments for bobbins. Where this place will be, will depend
on what I feel like. All that is required is for me to be able to find
that
colour next time I want it. When I run out of floss on any bobbin, it
should be easy to find that particular colour in the bag, cut standards
length(s) from it, and put these onto the appropriate bobbin.
Whether anyone is interested in these "idle thoughts of an idle
fellow", I am not sure, but it may give rctners a slightly different
approach to a common problem.
--
Jim Cripwell.
The gods do not subtract from the allotted span of one's life, any
time that is spent in stitching.
Adapted from a sign on The Cobb, Lyme Regis, England.


I am a bobbin use, I don't find that the thread kinks but then I only wind bobbins as I am about to start each project. I have never figured out how to deal with the thicker cottons other than making it into a ball ala knitting wool - any suggestions.
I use "Ferrero Rocher" chocolate box for storing skiens of thread as
they have clear lids. I cannot eat the sweets as they contain wheat
but my family always keep the boxes for me. I have a little ziplock
bag that I use for small projects got it when I purchased
underwear!!!.

Emer. (suffering from the near project end woes/blues with my ship
Dads Xmas present so spent the weekend doing cards for a break.)

/de-lurk
I have two of these which I use for some projects. I find it works
best for me if I only use one row of needles (to minimise tangling and
easier viewing of symbols). I also found that the foam ceased to hold
the needles firmly after several insertions and have had to replace
the foam.
HTH
Bob Palmer
/back to the realms of lurkdom

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 21:46:38 GMT, animaux
wrote:

Here is the one I bought. I adore it.

http://www.joann.com/catalog.jhtml?C...74 3&PID=3214

Victoria




On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 13:30:23 -0600, "Patricia Rogers"
opined:

I'm sure this has been discussed here before - what is a needle caddy?

Pat in Illinois

"animaux" wrote in message
. ..
I forget now where I got mine, but I only paid about 11 dollars for the
needle
caddy and it was a great investment.

Victoria