I have a heck of a job using silk and or splitting it. Rough carpenters hands and silk just do not get on. However I have had some success splitting by unwinding as suggested, then lifting the tension of the bobbin with the palm of my left hand whilst pinning the thread on the hook with a finger of ...

Nice Kelly!

I like the idea of making my own dubbing brush bodies, have not tried it yet though. Nice work on these two. Really liking the old hooks and you have a nice "kick" on your tails.

Kelly, all three are really cool ties.
Getting variation is not a bad thing (in my opinion) for fishing flies. Sometimes a different shape or proportion will induce a take when others of the same pattern have failed.
I woud not shun any of them if they graced any of my fly boxes.

Over here..... we simplify things. In regard to as you would find flies in a fly box, not the natural insect, if it does not have a hackle or a wing it is a nymph. Matters not if it contains one of those modern fancy beads, weight or wingcase..... it's still classed as a nymph. Unless it is tied on ...

Really nice ties and photos!
I like the idea of finishing on a classic. Very nicely done.

Mark, that Hot Lips is a neat tie, funny thing is the pink is actually a killer colour at times. I'd bet any self respecting Steelhead would not let it pass by.

Bill, your Blymph- if photographed away from the vice jaws, would be hard to tell it was "oversized". Nice proportions.

John, very nice well proportioned tie.
I kind of like both colour variations shown by your photos.

That is a shame she lost some colour. Neat idea to support a cause through your ties though.
Over here blue ribbon is a symbol for prostrate cancer awareness...... so the hot steel blue has a cause to follow as well!

Very cool Hans. That hot spot certainly catches the eye, if it can on me then the fish should have no problems!

I do like this fly. I have a liking for blue flies, probably because it is Scotland's football strip. By-the-way, you'l notice I called it football, not 'soccer', yuk!! I think we were the penultimate country to drop the "soccer" tag from the beautiful game, we used to refer to rugby (90%...