$1911

I just made an account on here but I have been coming to the website for patterns for years. I come across the same problem every time I work on an alpha pattern, and I can't find any solutions online. My problem is that once I have used a thread for 5 or 6 rows, the thread becomes short and I leave it to the side to start a new one. By the end of my pattern, I am left with many of these little pieces of thread, and I wonder what people do with them when their pattern is finished. I don't want to just cut it short, because I'm afraid they might become loose and start to untie. Any solutions?

The best solution is glueing them. I always tie them two by two together, and then cut and glue them.

Thank you! That seemed to be the only idea that came to my mind, but i didn't know if anyone else glued them.

I think most of the alpha knotters glue them :-)

When you say 'leaving it to the side' do you mean the backside? Because then glueing shouldn't be a problem if you find a type of glue that works well for you.
I try to never replace my strings at the outer columns of a bracelet, so they wont stick out on the sides, because then they are alot harder to glue on the backside.

I know some people attach felt or fabric to the back to hide all the lose ends too.

I secure my loose ends by tying them in with a couple of nearby knots. It can be ANY 2 knots, although I like to avoid too close to the edge ... and you can certainly tie in with MORE than 2 knots, it's whatever you feel comfortable with :) Here's how :

Tie the first half of the knot around BOTH the loose end AND the base string ... for the second half of the knot, tie ONLY on the base string. And that's it. Do this for each knot you wish to secure your loose string into - as I said earlier, I only do this for 2 knots. When you are ready, turn your bracelet over and cut the loose end as close to the back of the bracelet as you can ... no glue necessary for this method.

So, I just knot my pattern as normal, only I include a loose end in the first half of my knots when needed :) by the way, I use the same method to start new colors or new strings, too !

I need to try that :-) Your alphas are always stunning! And I like the idea of not having to use glue.

I'm glad you like the idea ... I think it was Foz that I learned it from, she mentioned this method in a forum post a long time ago. And Thank you :) I've always admired your alphas, they are flawless !