Last weekend, I made it to a great little shop that I found while looking on the internet. It's called Fiddlesticks (in Honolulu.) They carry quite a few different lines of threads and other things for cross stitch (and other needlework) and I was able to buy a cylinder/bobbin/whatever of Kreinik nr. 4 gold braid. After I finished a project, I decided that I would start on a Christmas alphabet sampler-thingy and thought I would use the braid in place of the Glint of Gold recommended in the instructions. And I have to say I'm *much* happier working with the braid than I was with the icky gold threads from the kits I've been doing. It *does* still fray a bit on the end but it's so much easier to work with and looks much better than the other metallic thread.
I'm quite happy with it. Now, if I can just figure out what I'm going to do with this sampler-thingy once I get the alphabet done. :P
Tracey