Making your own whipping line in exciting colors...

-or how to make your own rope, the procedure is almost the same, only the size is different.

1/ Find which color(s) you want, and how you'd like them to be distributed.
Here I've made the whipping line from 3 strands each containing two sewing lines, meaning that I have a total of six threads in the line.
You have a lot of options here, i.e. you could make a multicolored line from i.e. red / yellow / green / blue / black and white, almost getting a 'rainbow colored line, but bear in mind, that sewing lines are rather thin, so there is a limit to what's possible to actually see.
In the picture below I show you 3 lines, (from the top down) the rainbow colored line, a line made from 3 red, and 3 white lines, and finally the one I fancy the moist, being the one made up from 3 strands, of which 2 are white, and 1 is red.
As you might have guessed, it can be a balancing act, to find the right mix of colors, to get what you want, but it actually can be rather fun to play with.

NB: the lines you see here, are about 1 millimeter wide, so the 'fine details' tends to be hard to see, in the real world...

2/ Make sure that you have good tools. They do not have to be expensive (as you might see), but they'll need to be good for the job.
Here you see my tool collection for this task, apart from a pair of good scissors.

The blue clamp is from my local hardware store, and comes in bunches for almost no money.
The bend paperclip is used for a hook, in my miniature cordage, to hold the one end of the line.
The ball-pen-gadget is my replacement for a crochet hook, and you're welcome to copy the idea, if you haven't got a crochet hook around.

3/ At the following 2 pictures I show you the two 'ends' of my miniature cordage, at the time, where i have spun the strands, but prior to 'assembling them' to a single line..

(At the picture above, I have twisted yet a paperclip, in order to keep the strands clearly apart from one another).

(Here you see how I keep control of either strand prior to spinning them, as well as afterwards. If they were 'left to themselves', they'd just 'unspin', which is not a desirable situation).

4/ When you need to find out how much whipping line you will need for any given whipping, you could start out by whipping the rope in question, using any ordinary line or thread, but do not 'close' the whipping.
When you've (almost) completed the whipping, you cut away the excess line - remembering that you'll need some to hold on to while closing the whipping.
Next you peel off the whipping again, in order to measure the (adjusted) length of whipping line..

5/ In order to find the right length of the sewing threads, you now add 30-50% to the measure found in 4/.
The reason is twofold, a/ because you will get a certain 'shortening', as the sewing threads 'swirl around one another', and b/ because you'll get some 'loss' due to cutting off at the ends, as well as you'll need to tie the threads into place, prior to spinning them.
If you are making the line with 2 red threads and 4 white threads, you could tie the end of the red thread to the hook, pull out the length you need (and add a little).
Then you tie the other end to the hook (assuming that you're planning to build a line with any number of "two's").

6/ Now you repeat 5/ with the white line, two times.

7/ Next step is to spin the strands.
Start out by attaching the crochet hook to the loop, at the end of the red thread, upon wich you turn the crochet hook around itself approximately one zillion times, until you have a strand, which is spun like the strands you see in the picture above.
Following that, you secure the strand by i.e. a clamp, prior to releasing the end of it, from the crochet hook.

8/ Now you repeat 7/ until you have all your strands spun, like you see in the picture above.
Notice that must spin all the strands the same way around, in order to get them to assemble.
Likewise it's rather important that you make sure, that either strand is spun 'to the same degree' as the others, oin order to get a good result.

9/ Having made 3 (or any other number) of spun strands, you thread your crochet hook through all the loops, at the end(s) of your strands, at the end which is not attached to the hook.

10/ Keep the strands fairly tight, and grab all the strands some 10" from your crotchet hook, and release the crotchet hook gently.
Now your crochet hook will spin like mad, and the strands will tighten themselves from your crotchet hook, to your hand, shaping the first part of the line.

11/ When the crochet hook start to spin more gently, you hold your other hand under the strands, i.e. some 20" from your crochet hook, and release the strands, with your 'first hand'.
Now the rest of the line will assemble from the strands, as you gently slide your hands under the string, from the end where the string is still attached to the table, towards the end holding the crotchet hook. Let this process repeat, until the crotchet hook stops spinning.

12/ Now you have a piece of red/white whipping line (or which colors you chose).
Tie a knot at either end of it, and cut away any excess thread, prior to looking at your success with the pride you've earned..*G*

Here you see a whipping, made with the 'rainbow colored' line, on the 'core' of the rope I split, in order to make the handle for whip number two.

In the picture it looks rather spectacular, but please notice, that the core is only app. 1/8" thick..!
The general visual impression is a little 'muddy' in the real world...

Further options:

I just made a few more lines, to illustrate some of the other possibilities.

Something about the different lines and the differences between them:
I have 'named' them after countries (flags), and one named "Olympic Games".

Finland:
The line is 'double-spun' meaning that I've used 2 x 4 white threads and 2 x 4 blue threads.
These I've spun 4 at a time, meaning that I had an intermediate result of 2 spun strands, which were white, and 2 spun strands, which were blue.
Next to this, I've spun the two white, as well as the two blue strands together (separately), giving me one white line, and one blue line (strands).
Finally I've spun the blue strand and the white strand (lines) into one line.
As you see in the picture, this method give you a thicker, and more detailed line, due to the double spinning, as well as the increased number of threads in the finished line.
The difference is clearly seen, if you compare this line to the Danish line, which is made from a total of 4 threads, spun into two strands.
Denmark:
This line is made from 2 x 2 threads.
This is the thinnest of the lines I made, which should be obvious from the pictures.
Germany:
This line is made from 3 x 2 threads, 2 black, 2 red and 2 yellow.
It can be rather tricky to get the strands assembled in the correct sequence, but as long as you are working in 3 colors, you can use every possible outcome.
The 6 possible outcomes are here:

The correct sequence of the German flag (from the top down) is black, red, yellow.
If the assembling of the strands 'slip' and ends up with another sequence you need to do one of two possible things.
If you end up with sequences like the first 3 squares in a/, d/ or e/ you're lucky, as the colors will repeat themselves, which mean that you will get the correct sequence automatically more or less 'down the line' (see the boxed sequences).
If you end up, with the sequences b/, c/ or f/, you simply turn the line 180 degrees, which give you the correct sequence, as the colors 'repeats', giving you i.e. yellow, black, red, yellow, black, red (see the boxed sequences)...
So, in fact, you cannot mess this one up either!
Great Britain:
The British idea actually was rather amusing, as there are 3 colors in the Union Jack, being red, white and blue, but the line consist of four strands just the same.
The reason is, that the red and the blue colors always are separated by white.
Thus the line is made up of four strands, 1 red, 1 blue, and 2 whites. Every strand made from two threads of the respective colors.
Olympic (rings):
The line is build from 5 strands, holding 4 threads each, in the (intended) sequence blue, yellow, black, green and red.
I have been so unfortunate (as you might have noticed) that the sequence ended up as blue, yellow, black, red and green, but when I found out, I didn't have the energy to remedy this, and as the general idea of illustrating what can be done with this comes through just the same, you'll need to accept the fact, that I'm no more perfect, than everybody else ..*S*
This line is the thickest of the lines, as it consist of a total of 20 threads.

How it may look, when whipping with colored lines

Here I have used some of the lines, I just made, to whip the ends of the 'sleave' part of the rope I split, in order to make the handle of whip number two.
The whippings are made with (Left to right) Olympic (rings) - Germany - Finland - Great Britain.
As you'll see, the only one of the whippings giving a 'clear view' of the colorings, due to the double spinning, as well at the fact, that the Finland-line is the thickest of them.

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