Break for the Beauty Shop, Part Two

Reposting of April 8, 2006 article:

This week a new thread arrived in the mail, courtesy of a friend on the West Coast who visited Needle in a Haystack and picked some up for me. It's called Soy Luster and it's a fine perle type thread made from soy byproducts. I had hoped when I heard of Soy Luster that it would be a good substitute for silk floss since some people avoid using silk because the silkworms are killed during processing of the coccoons. However, although it has a nice sheen, it is not going to stand in for silk.

Instead, I'm going to use it for my geisha's hair. I have #497, Witching Hour.
http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/TPP_SoyLuster.html

Soy Luster comes in two versions--Solids and Shadows. Solids are one color while Shadows are shades of one color. As you can see from the link, Witching Hour is black shading into charcoal and then into very, very dark grey. It is Shadow Soy Luster.

It also is very, very well named. The stuff is bewitched! I carefully unwound the skein and cut the knot holding it together in the middle and it immediately, I'm talking 3 seconds or less here, tangled itself into a big wad. I'd claim it sprang at me like a jack-in-the-box but I'm pretty sure you'd think I was exaggerating.

Imagine a witch with tangled greying hair, going everywhich way like knotted snakes. You have a very good idea of what I have in my lap right now. I think the problem is that the skein is tied together with multiple knots and I only found and cut one before trying to unwind enough to start stitching.

Why do I bother with this mess instead of rapidly consigning it to the trash can? It is going to be perfect for my mother of the bride. The color is absolutely right and I need a black thread with a different texture than the black Impressions that I am using for the kimono. I need a black with texture and a tad grey showing. So I will patiently unwind my tangles and cut my knots and dream of my geisha's hairstyle as I work.

Needlework teaches you patience. And new swear words.


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow