Anyone who has developed an affinity for sewing or embroidery knows exactly how quickly piles upon piles of empty thread spools can accumulate in your crafting room. To complicate the matter further, ...

Long before timelines, feeds and clouds, there was the simple problem of length. Thread that tangled. Wire that kinked. Film that tore. Memory that snapped if mishandled. Spool is the word that grew ...

– Old wooden thread spool (at least 1 in wide) – Drill – Large drill bit – Smaller drill bit – Utility knife or other sharp knife – Pencil – Table vice or clamp (optional) – Earbuds Clamp spool in a ...

A lopsided pottery house sits on a high shelf in Anne Tyler’s writing room. The handicraft belonged to the novelist’s mother, who made it in her retirement home as her mind was starting to fade. Ms.

The characters in "A Spool of Blue Thread" look like the same Baltimore family members we've socialized with for 50 years in Anne Tyler's fiction. In fact, everything about her new novel — from its ...