Top Tip for Gold work

I have finished the gold work on the cross I am doing to put on Matthews Stole. He is being ordained in a few weeks as an Uniting Church Minister. The stole had to be red and I dyed two scarves and a selection on pieces of silk at Fibre Forum back in April. Matthew designed the cross and I have embroidered it in double whipped running stitch. I still have to add it to the stole and then shape the scarves somehow. I'll show you when it is done.
I have a long love hate relationship with metallic threads. They split and shred and get hard to work with. No longer, now it is just a love relationship.
I did an Elizabethan Embroidery workshop with Maree Talbot recently and she recommended Dorothy Clark's book 'Exploring Elizabethan Embroidery'. this is an excellent book I sat down and read the book right through when I got it. It is peppered with hints and advice and there on page 11 under Handy Hints Dorothy said and I quote"When using DMC gold or silver thread I dab the cut end, where the threads have a tendency to seperate, on to my UHU glue stick."
Well how brilliant, how simple. Dorothy goes on to say that it won't hurt your embroidery because you are going to wash it and it will wash out.
I have a small acid free glue pen I bought from a scrapbooking shop and it was just the thing. I dabbed the glue on as soon as I cut it and then dabbed the cut end on the reel of butterfly gold thread I was using and good heavens, It works. No shredding no seperating like magic. I didn't waste a bit of thread. I am in love. Thanks Dorothy I'd send her an email but I couldn't find her address.