Threads are counted in both direction. Thicker threads make for a coarser fabric and printing that looks 'muddled' or 'muddied' because of dye absorption. And, they fray easily. A another advantage of a higher thread count is that the yarns are more tightly twisted, thus they wear better. That is very important in some applications. More tightly twisted yarns provide more stability when bias direction is a factor. No, I don't think you are 'obsessed' you are asking questions that affect the end product.