Looking at some recent posts of decorative wraps and wondering to myself just how long did the poster spend doing these works of art. I know I'll never get to this level due to my lack of patience and skill.

Depends on the wrap and the ability of the person doing it. Some of the more simple wraps can be done in under an hour. Some take much time many times over.

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Mike, I felt the same way. Great You Tube beginner vids. I practiced using a small diameter PVC and yarn. Then I found a used book "Custom Rod Thread Art" by Dale Clemens. Now my only excuse for not being better is my laziness in studying it. haha Good luck. I've found thread work and weaving brings out the excitement of rod building. And everyone I do I improve a little bit.

Mike; You might give it a try and if you enjoy what you are doing you will find it may take some time but not "patience". I'm not what I would call a patient person, but I find weaving relaxing and gratifying, so from my perspective no patience required. Billy Vivona's book is the best on cross wraps and you might try mine on weaving.

Jump in, make mistakes and learn. Lot's of videos on the web. Lot's of advice here.

I enjoy doing decorative wraps. It does take some time but the rod looks like a piece of art work when I am done. I will spend less time on the wrap than the amount of time I will use the rod the first week on the water. So for me it is worth it.

Thanks for the replies, I'll have to work on your suggestions.

I echo most of the comments here. I started with the Clements book over 20 years ago and I still use it today. For me a simple cross wrap adds a real "zing" to the rod especially if everything is color coordinated. I just got in to weaving a few years ago and the process is not too difficult. For me I can't weave for more than an hour or so and have to stop. I enjoy the process, but have had problems skipping rows or dropping a thread along the line. More that once I have had to start all over again, but I firmly believe I learn more from mistakes than I do from successes. Just my two cents. Go for it, what have you got to lose other than time and right now most of us have plenty of that. I think you will be impressed with what you can do.

I also bought the Dale Clemments book. Very useful in understanding the principles of design spacing, lay-out, etc.. I started with simple cross-wraps/chevrons and progressed to some more complicated patterns. It takes me about twice as much time to do a nice decorative wrap as it does to build the rest of the rod - but it is worth it. I view my rods as works of art and have received many compliments to the same effect. I did have to go to a magnifying light to keep my wraps lying properly because of my aging eyes. One tip, don't use too much thread tension so you can still move the thread a bit. Try it - you'll like it!