In light of my last posts, let’s talk about something that’s in between starting a new thread and ending off – parking!
Parking a thread that you intend to use later is a smart idea. And it’s something we discuss in class frequently, especially when working with 2 or more needles, like a 2 color waffle stitch or double fan doubled.
I’ve heard it said that you should always park your thread on top of the canvas where you can keep your eye on it. It’s like teenagers – if you can’t see them, then they can wander around and get in trouble.
Learning to park your thread is not difficult, but takes a little getting used to. I always counsel my students to bring the needle up where it will be needed next, then park the thread. Once you learn how to do this it becomes second nature, and easy peasy to keep your thread handy for the next stitches.
But if you have difficulty with this, here’s something you can try: bring the needle up to do the last stitch with that thread, but don’t finish the stitch – park it at that point. Then when you’re ready for that thread again, finish the stitch and move to the next one. This is just as effective as bringing the thread up where you need it next, as it’s still parked on top of the canvas.
The reason why this is preferable to just bringing the thread up anywhere is two-fold. First, you may stitch over the tail and it require some undoing to avoid lumps or piercing the thread as you make the next stitches. Second, you have to unstitch or rethread the needle when you’re ready for that thread again.
So give it a try – I think you’ll prefer parking where you need it next!