Ruthie ) writes:

Do I need to actually separate each strand?

Then F.James Cripwell wrote:
My reason for commenting was that in the
past I have come across people who know how important it is to strip
threads, but forget when it comes to using all 6 together.
Another side benefit from separating strands is that the floss seems to
knot less once separated. I'd guess that my knot-creation went down
probably by at least 85% when I learned about separating strands!
I became an expert at untying them. Now I'm surprised when I get one!

Ruthie also asked:
snip
The other thing is, I frequently started with two strands of wool
with equal length, but wound up with one strand shorter. It
happened with the floss, too, but not to the same extent.
This is just a normal occurance. It happens from the threads lying on
top of each other on the back side (where it's not laid/railroaded).
Sometimes there's more variance, sometimes less. I've had it range from
no difference in length at all to an inch difference by the end of the
length. I usually don't pay any attention to my floss ends until I pull
the needle through and only 1 thread comes with the needle!
HTH!
--
Joan

See my first-ever design he
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/joan.jpg

"Stitch when you are young and poor, frame when you are old and rich."
- Elizabeth's (rctn'r) sister's MIL (Barbara Marr)