Picking up another thread

The lady next to me picked a loose thread from my sleeve and said "you are going to get a letter".  It is not a saying I had ever heard before so I asked where it came from.  She said it was something her mother said and that her mother was from Yorkshire so perhaps it was a Yorkshire saying.  The thread she found was not very long but apparently if it had been a long thread it would have been a long letter.

It made me wonder about other sayings and traditions there are about threads, so I turned to the internet.

According to one source a loose piece of thread on your clothing also helos those seeking the name of their future love - drop the thread on the floor and see what initial it spells.  

Another source advices tying a thread around the finger of your left hand to help to remember something.  Tying a piece of thread around your little finger is supposed to stop a nose bleed and apparently tying a thread three times around a finger before dropping it to the ground is supposed to remove warts.  

A couple of sources said that if you are sewing and your thread tangles and forms into knots, someone is talking about you, but another source said that a knotted thread indicates an argument.  On the Mediterranean if a thread knots the person whose clothes are being mended will have prosperity and wealth.  

Apparently it is also bad luck to sew clothing while someone is wearing the item unless the person wearing the clothes holds a thread in their mouth.  If however you inadvertently sew something to your own clothes, the number of stitches you make is supposed to indicate the number of lies that will be told about you.

Whilst all these sayings could just be seen as a bit of fun, what I find interesting is the fact that they have get passed down the generations.  Of course we never know where it started and by whom.

Did I receive a letter?  I am still waiting.