Hi guys. New here. I am trying to do my first diamond wrap and had a few questions. I have spent maybe 10 hours tring to do one. I can do the wrap, but I can never get the diamonds to line up straight. When I start, they are straight, about 1/3 of the way in, they start to turn. I was wondering if it was because of different thread tensions pulling the thread, or could it be I am not using enough tension? I have tried all sorts of different ways. but I keep getting the same result. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I dont have a mentor.

It's important to get them straight at the outset. The first few threads determine how straight the finished wrap is going to be. I'd bet anything, that your centers are already off by the time you've put down a couple threads.

Try this - after you make your initial lay out and have put down just a few threads, use a straightedge to make sure the centers on both sides of the rod are perfectly straight. With just a few threads, it's a simple matter to move or shift the entire center a tad to get everything lined up. Once you've started straight, things should stay pretty straight.

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When I started I noticed I was packing the threads on only one side. Which kept pushing the threads in that directing - only. Then I go to pack from the right and always made sure I would also pack to the left. You can also grab the wrap and actually turn it if it gets twisted.

Bill - willierods.com

When you get the first few threads down and correctly aligned anchor the cross points with CP!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Especially early in the wrap it's easy to push the centers out of whack when you are packing.
Like Bill said, you need to pack in all 4 directions. Check often for straightness if you pack
often & early. Like Tom said, once you have enough thread down the centers shouldn't move
vary easily. I've found that even after I have quite a bit of thread down I can still move the centers
if I have to to straighten things back up should it go array.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

What I do, besides starting off straight ,is to use the line from the light reflection when alining threads.

I agree with the packing, last expo I went to see Mark Crouse's demonstration and he said it from the very begining, do NOT start packing any threads until you have at least 4 or 5 threads down, if you start packing immediatly you will move your layout thread. I have been doing it this way since and now all my wraps stay straight.
Rob

Most times when I do Diamond wraps I use several strands of threads at once, not one at a time.
If I want a wrap that has (5) strands of red in the center I'll put those down first and as the others say get it lined up straight (usually with the guides).
Then I'll wrap the next color, maybe (2) strands of silver on each side of the red, then maybe (4) strands of black on each side and so on.
I won't pack them until I get at least the second on third color on, otherwise you can push it out of alignment. .
When you pack push equally from both sides of the threads so as not to move things.

Thanks for all the help guys. Using what You told me, I was able to complete a full chevron wrap last night. Came out great, I just wish it was on a rod and not on a piece of dowel. :( The learning experience was well worth the 5 hours doing it. Tonight I will try to do a diamond again. Now if I can only learn the black widow wrap I will be set!