I thread the needle and knot at the end you are suppose to and the other quilter's in our group knot the same way but still no difference with the Thread Heaven. I use YLI thread that comes on the wooden spool and love it!! It has a stiff feel to it! One of the Quilter's told us recently about threading several needle on the spool of thread! She had learned it from a quilt speaker. I had forgot about it until you just reminded me!!